I am not sure why anyone would find the notion of classes being more difficult at top schools than state schools or less rigorous private schools hard to believe. First, the material covered is not spoon fed to students. The information is not simply memorized but applied and there are no study guides, examples provided or clues to what may be given on the exams. I have four kids and they have many friends that attend schools all over the country. There is no comparison to MIT and Cornell to the lesser schools. There is a reason these kids are accepted to these schools and they are not for everyone.