<p>Being a Purdue grad and having a son at USC, I am biased. Engineering (overall): Purdue hands down. MIT and USC have the advantage of location (major metropolitan areas) while Purdue is in Indiana (not near Indianapolis). Purdue is situated in a conservative state. But in general, you cannot go wrong with any of the three. All three have good engineering programs and business programs. The key differences are in other majors (like cinematic arts, pharmacy, sciences, liberal arts, music, etc). MIT and USC are private, Purdue is a public institution.</p>