<p>For one of my firend (he does not have a username)</p>
<p>Math / computer science / physics major</p>
<p>He likes doing research and will apply for grad school.</p>
<p>Are you just sharing some information about your friend, or do you have a question? If you are asking which of these 4 schools might be “best” for your friend, then the answer is, “it depends.” Is cost an issue? If so, would he qualify for in-state tuition at UM or UI? Would he qualify for need-based financial aid at Oberlin or USC? Does he prefer large schools or small? Is weather important to him? Etc.</p>
<p>@tk21769:</p>
<p>The question is:</p>
<p>Which one is the best for undergraduate teaching? And which one for prestige?</p>
<p>He is an international transfer and he can afford all four school. Money is not a problem.</p>
<p>@tk21769:</p>
<p>He said he has no preference in weather and school size.</p>
<p>
In my opinion, probably Oberlin, if only because it has smaller average class sizes than the other 3, and because the school is entirely focused on undergraduates. </p>
<p>
In the United States, none of them clearly stands above the others in all fields and among people in all regions. Michigan is generally considered one of the top public universities in America, but selective private colleges are more prestigious than public universities to some people. </p>
<p>If your friend wants the best preparation for graduate school, and does not yet have well-defined research interests, I’d recommend Oberlin. If he is ready to start doing research, I’d recommend Illinois or Michigan (especially if he can identify specific professors or projects that appeal to him and are available to undergraduates). Graduate department rankings might help him find areas of strength.</p>
<p>Here’s some data on the baccalaureate origins of Science and Engineering PhDs.
[nsf.gov</a> - NCSES Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/)
Michigan and Illinois are among the top 5 producers, by absolute numbers. Oberlin produces more than the others on a per capita basis.</p>
<p>Oberlin accepts 16% of transfer apps, UMich 41%, UIUC 47% and USC does not publish their CDS. Just one more point of info.</p>
<p>Class size is irrelevant in this case as your friend will likely be a junior. Math/physics upper level classes are small even for large publics like Michigan and Illinois. If undergraduate research is important to your friend, the edge here goes to Michigan/Illinois as these schools have more established faculties who are leaders in their own fields.</p>
<p>UIUC and UMich’s acceptance rates might be so high because of in-state CC transfers. I don’t know if that’s the case, but bear in mind that it might be.</p>
<p>UIUC accepts lots of Asian students as far as I know, Chinese kids in particular. Is your friend Asian? The large number of internationals might appeal to him and make the adjustment to American life easier (or turn him off and prevent him from fully experiencing the local culture, I don’t know).</p>
<p>USC has a large Asian contingent as well. It recruits heavily in Southeast Asia and consequently its name carries a lot of weight there.</p>
<p>I’d recommend either Oberlin or UMich, depending on where your friend stands on the small school vs big school issue. He’d probably get more research opportunities at Oberlin, but on the other hand UMich is a large research university and would give him the opportunity to interact with/learn from profs and grad students who’re truly at the forefront of their fields.</p>
<p>UIUC lags behind the other three in terms of overall ‘prestige,’ but I’ve heard it’s very good in some technical disciplines–unfortunately I can’t give you more details on its reputation for math/science as that’s not where my strengths lie.</p>
<p>Good luck to him :)</p>