@PurpleTitan @TheAtlantic @cobrat @CALSmom : Just to show I wasn’t pulling your legs or being super shady lol: http://www.businessinsider.com/colleges-with-the-hardest-working-students-2015-12/#17-harvey-mudd-college-34
This definitely reveals little about rigor, but it does reveal a lot about perceptions of students. Like H at 25…not surprised. They tend to be much more self-critical and criticize the school a lot (maybe one reason they stay in solid shape despite unfairly functioning as a poster child of a lot of negative things occurring in higher education. Hey, if you are at the top, you are a big target in every respect). JHU could be up there partly because it is very rigorous and students expectations for it (created by its reputation) were met versus their ability levels. Some student bodies may be more self-aggrandizing or complacent with the current state or status quo and some may be more humble, aware, or critical. Who knows?
PT: Many of the schools producing lots of PhD’s do seem to have special strengths in areas that they feed from. It is likely a mixture of the nature of coursework along with a heavy encouragement for students to engage in more co-curricular opps as opposed to only EC. Basically, intellectual engagement goes beyond random late night convs. at said schools. Takes a particular sort of institutional culture which could include more students taking academic risks (especially since some graduate schools actually do consider the level of course work you took a lot when just evaluating the transcript portion of the profile). They aren’t like: “bring me some shiny objects, even if fool’s gold and we may interview you”. It is more like: “Do we have evidence that you can survive this or see through independent projects driven by your own inquiry”. The latter case is more complex than just selecting bright people and great test takers. Also, to get an unusual amount of students to even attempt a PhD takes a curriculum, opps, and mentoring that actually inspire students to go in that field as opposed to kind of just using it as a vehicle.