<p>GD, in my opinion, there is virtually no difference in quality between #3 and #6. You can attribute the difference to size of faculty. </p>
<p>And UC is isolated. It is a three hour drive from Chicago and no other major city is within close driving distance. Ann Arbor has a major international airport at its disposal. the Detroit metropolitan airport, which has direct flights to most majorcities in Europe and Asia, is within a 20 minute drive from downtown Ann Arbor. I guess many of you here aren’t international. I am. The last thing you want to do after 15 hours of plane travel is get on a small propeller plane for a 45 minute flight. I did that when I was a graduate student at Cornell and it wasn’t fun. </p>
<p>Finally, tuition-wise, UIUC is indeed cheaper than Michigan. Michigan will cost anywhere from $5,000-$7,000 more per year. Out of $40,000, that’s significant, but probably not the main determinant. Purdue on the other had is much cheaper than Michigan, though not significantly cheaper than UIUC.</p>
<p>If the OP is to spend $150+ k on his college education, I highly recommend he actually hop on a plane a visit all three schools before making his decision.</p>