For small departments, your experience can vary strongly from the school in general.
I went to UC Irvine in physics, which both has an extremely high teacher:student ratio (42 teachers, graduating class of 18 students) and abundant funding. While the university is known for its research, having that kind of ratio can have a drastic effect on your education. My favorite class ever had only five students in it. It was an upper division math class.
Just my two cents - look at the departments you're interested in. It can make a much bigger difference than the schools, especially in terms of research.
I went to UC Irvine in physics, which both has an extremely high teacher:student ratio (42 teachers, graduating class of 18 students) and abundant funding. While the university is known for its research, having that kind of ratio can have a drastic effect on your education. My favorite class ever had only five students in it. It was an upper division math class.
Just my two cents - look at the departments you're interested in. It can make a much bigger difference than the schools, especially in terms of research.