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P.S. You might also note that 7 Caltech (undergrad alums) have won the Nobel while about 9 or 10 from MIT have. Since MIT produced nearly 10 times as many students in the 20th century as Caltech (Remember there were very few Caltech alums before WWII) the difference in ratios is astonishing, with Caltech being something like 7/10,000 or better.
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<p>Wait a minute now, I think this is rather unfair. The fact is, ALL schools, not just Caltech, became significantly larger since WW2. American higher education in general grew tremendously in the post-war period because of government policy, particularly the GI Bill, as well as the shift of science leadership from Europe to the US during WW2 (because of the devestation of the war, the flight of top European Jewish scientists from Nazi persecution, and the development of large military-related science projects like the Manhattan Project and the Cold War military-industrial complex which were stoked by world events), as well as demographic changes (especially the Baby Boom). </p>
<p>Hence, while I don't have the data right now, but I strongly suspect that MIT, like Caltech and like most other US schools, was a far smaller school during the prewar days than it is today. </p>
<p>Furthermore, more importantly, your line of reasoning leads to another, more interesting question. You say that (and I agree) Caltech was a smaller school before WW2 than it is today. Yet you also pointed out that 5 out of the 7 Caltech undergrad Nobel Prize winners studied at Caltech before the end of the war. I haven't checked that fact, but I'll take your word for it. So then, if that's really true, then that would that the Caltech undergraduate program has actually become LESS productive after the war on both an absolute and a per-capita basis (because Caltech, like most American schools, got bigger after the war), right? If so, then why is that? I've heard Ben Golub remark before that Caltech has actually become a less rigorous school than it was in the past. Might that have something to do with it? </p>
<p>Now don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to hate on Caltech. In fact, for various personal reasons, I happen to like Caltech a lot. Furthermore, I freely agree that the Caltech undergrad program is still one of the most productive, perhaps the most productive, in the world. But the issues you raised elicit good questions. Is the Caltech undergrad program not as productive as it was in the past glory days, which seem to be during the 20's-30's when the undergrad program produced people like Anderson, McMillan, Shockley, & Rainwater? If so, why?</p>