<p>"It’s not the material, it’s the degree of difficulty of the problems you are expected to be able to do that makes all the difference. "</p>
<p>Actually I think it’s the material too, it may be taught at a higher level. I recall perusing a text used at MIT for intro physics, it was used in the Honors course in that subject at Cornell. As I recall it utilized a more advanced level of calculus than the “regular” course for engineers at Cornell, which used Halliday & Resnick.</p>
<p>This may even out more in higher level courses, I don’t know.</p>
<p>But this is a course that everyone at MIT has to take, whereas at Cornell the same level seems to be reserved for aspiring physical science majors and some well-prepared engineers.</p>