Some large state universities have an "Honors College" or "Honors Program" where you can get a little extra attention, challenge and prestige:

Big state universities in general have several advantages: you can major in in almost any subject everybody has heard of them the cost is low for in-state residents many are not too hard to get into.

However, a lot of the instruction at these places is in large lecture halls where there isn't much opportunity for individualized attention or discussing ideas. The instructor may never even learn your name. Your work may be graded by graduate students, and the standards they set for you may be pretty low.

By entering your university's "Honors College" or "Honors Program" you get access to small, challenging classes lead by professors who will get to know you personally. Your fellow students in these classes will more interested in ideas than most. And of course graduating from the Honors College makes you look good.

University of Washington Honors Program
University of Oregon Robert D. Clark Honors College
Oregon State University Honors College
University of Arizona Honors College
Arizona State University Barrett Honors College
University of Colorado Honors Program
Davis Honors Challenge at the University of California at Davis
The College Honors Program and the College of Creative Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara
The Honors Collegium and the College Honors Program at the University of California at Los Angeles
(The University of California at San Diego has the Revelle College Freshman Honors Program, the Muir College Honors Seminar, the Warren College Honors Program, the Eleanor Roosevelt College First Year Honors Seminar, and several others.)
California State University at Chico Honors in General Education
San Diego State University Honors Program
California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo's University Honors Program
California Polytechnic State University at Pomona's Keith & Jean Kellog Honors College

The other way to get this kind of personalized attention and quality education at a large state university is to choose a major in a small department. Even the largest universities have small departments, who only graduate a few students per year. Those students have a VERY different college experience than the ones in programs with hundreds of other students.

Examples of departments with just a few students: linguistics, classics, physics.
Exapmles of departments with hundreds of students: English, economics, biology.

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