Don't get so wrapped up in school name recognition. It's really all about the best fit (how the professors in the program match your specific research interests, and other personal factors). I kept telling everyone and was trying to convince myself that Berkeley was my top choice when I started my applications, and in the end, I didn't even apply to Berkeley because the research fit was quite poor. After that, I kept telling everyone and was trying to convince myself that Stanford was my top choice after I got my interview offers, but once again, the research fit was less than stellar (but I kept saying that it was my top choice during and after the interview). I wasn't accepted after the interview, which was actually a good thing. If Berkeley and Stanford were replaced by two lesser-known schools, but everything else about the programs/professors were kept the same, I wouldn't even have considered applying to them.