<p>I was an engineering undergrad at two different large state universities (University of Virginia & University of Florida (transferred after freshman year for financial reasons)) and did grad work through PhD at MIT, and I also was a faculty member at Michigan (which sounds comparable to the school you are considering for your son). My own opinion is that IF your son is extremely well-motivated, then which school he attends does not make that much of a difference. However, most students are at least somewhat affected by peer pressure. If you think your son MIGHT want to pursue grad school and you would want him to be encouraged in that regard, then I would opt for the private school. While in grad school, I was a graduate resident at MIT, living in an undergrad dorm and being responsible for about 45 students on the floor, for about 3 years. I found the top students at MIT to know their material about as well as the top students at UVa or UF (median and average were obviously much higher at MIT). Biggest difference: peer pressure due to where your graduating friends are thinking of going after graduation. At MIT, many of the graduates were considering going to grad school at MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. At University of Florida (where I received my BS) only a very small percentage of my colleagues were pursuing grad school, and fewer still were interested in the top grad schools. At Michigan, a significant number of the students were considering grad school, but fewer than at MIT and primarily at schools a rung down. For the grads at MIT, Michigan was typically the backup school for grad school. In terms of the actual material you learn, there is not that much of a difference. When I entered grad school, I was definitely just as prepared as any student entering MIT, and I never had any academic difficulties. </p>
<p>I never found large lecture courses combined with TA discussion sections to be a minus, and I do not think you can easily avoid them. However, mikemac's comment that TAs may not speak english that well may be a factor. In my academic studies and in my job search (I interviewed with and was offered a faculty job at Penn State, Georgia Tech and Maryland) I found that the percentage of foreign grad students was not necessarily a function of ranking as much as the English-speaking ability of the grad students who were there. In other words, as you go down in ranking, there are many more grad students whose English speaking skills are poor.</p>
<p>From what I can gather in my experiences, the school you attend does not have that much affect on your starting salary. It does, however, appear to have a signifcaint effect on the required GPA to get into various grad schools (including med school, law school, etc.).</p>
<p>My advice to others has always been that if money is no object, then go to the best college you can get into. But for me (I left academia and I now fiddle around as a consultant, where I enjoy my work immensely and make a good but not great income), my oldest son was able to obtain a full tuition scholarship to USC and my 15 year old daughter will start college in fall 2006, likely attending in-state university (because I can tell she will very likely graduate college with close to 4.0 GPA and will not have a problem getting into med school). Hence, in lieu of peer pressure, I have just influenced my kids directly to recognize the rewards of grad school. </p>
<p>I only have finite resources, and I am hoping to use them to help defray grad school costs for my kids.</p>