<p>Honestly, any of the top schools will have a pretty good program in physics, since it’s a very fundamental field. Northwestern would be a great place to come from as a physics major, but so would many other schools. For the most part, physics majors will be learning the same things, often from the same standard textbooks.</p>
<p>By the way, your son won’t really be able to major in “theoretical physics,” although he can be a physics major who has the intention of going into theory. Either way, even as a theorist he should get involved with physics research in undergrad, as this is considered very important for grad school admissions.</p>