So have the folks who think MIT should be like Caltech/Cambridge heard of ISP (the Integrated Science Program) at Northwestern? It’s designed to send kids to science PhD programs (so like Caltech or Cambridge Natural Science on a B10 campus) and sends a ton. You could finish it in 3 years if you want to as well (vast majority of classes being science/math). Lots of research opportunities. Small classes all taught by profs (not TA’s). And they seem to always have trouble filling up as every year, they send emails to strong engineering applicants already accepted to NU asking them to apply (switch majors) to ISP.
Yet I never hear anything about it from folks who think tippy-top STEM applicants should go in to tippy-top STEM schools/programs.
BTW, @QuantMech, did the Hertz Fellow apply to Caltech? NU ISP?