<p>A few years ago Olin didn't even exist. Now, people say it's as good as MIT, Caltech, Stanford, etc. if not better. Why?</p>
<p>I'll do my best to answer this question, but there are plenty of other Oliners who might be able to do justice to this question better than I can.</p>
<p>While developing Olin, the admin and faculty took a look at some of the best engineering schools in the nation (including some of the ones on your list) and figured out what they thought were the best ways to try and teach an engineering curriculum. They also tried to implement new, slightly unorthodox methods in order to try to be innovative and break away from the norm. This kind of laid the base for how Olin was planning to teach. Once the first students arrived, the school became "real" and the idea of a "do-learn" curriculum was brought to life. </p>
<p>Now to me, one of the best qualities of Olin that to me puts in par with many of the other top institutions is the people at Olin. Not just the students, but also the amazing staff and faculty. Almost everyone at Olin is committed to making it being the top college in the nation (not just in academics) and to Olin's spirit of continual improvement and innovation.</p>
<p>As a recent alum, I can say that I had three different curricula while attending Olin. Each for the most part was an improvement over the past. I think a lot of us have a small worry that as our school has now hit a full student body and we have graduated our first class, that the school is going to just keep doing what's worked well and not continue to innovate. However, knowing the type of students that Olin has continued to search for in its admission process (risk-takers, leaders, inventors), I think that worry is going to be well taken care of.</p>
<p>If you really want to get to know Olin and find out why some are calling it better than those other institutions, try and make a visit to the school and see for yourself. :-)</p>