re post #16. The large schools can have so many advantages over the small schools for many reasons. Undergrads get to take grad level courses unavailable at some schools and get to interact with upper echelon grad students and research. The grad level DOES filter down to the undergrad level- at least for top students. For most college students it won’t matter. One of my worst undergrad chem classes was taught by an American, head of the theoretical chem institute of my U. His problem wasn’t pronunciation but making the highly mathematical understandable. Other opportunities far outweighed this one prof. Some people are to be valued for skills other than teaching basics (or advanced material) to undergrads. I also remember the American honors class physics TA who we countered with his analogy of problem solving to entering a building on the first floor- because of hills UW had entrances on as high as the 4th or 6th floor as we pointed out.
OP- is your son more in need of easily followed teachers or being in the midst of current advances in the field? There is no perfect college with everything on any checklist. Most college students are average and choices will reflect more than academic intensity.