Bit of a conspiracy, but a friend once pointed out that courses at elite colleges are much more in-depth than what you'd receive at other schools, even when you're talking about something as simple as Biology 101 or Calculus 101, where you wouldn't think there'd be a lot of discrepancy.
I'll repeat what I wrote in an earlier thread since I think it's relevant:
I earned a 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam. When I went to Harvard, I glanced a few times at the homework and exam questions being given to Harvard's "regular" calculus class (the one taken by biology, economics and other non-math majors). The questions were on material I had seen and were not above the level of my high school calculus class. In fact, the calculus textbooks authored by Harvard instructor Deborah Hughes-Hallett have often been criticized for their lack of rigor. I started with multivariable calculus and was not hampered by not having taken single-variable calculus at college.
I doubt that Harvard's "regular" calculus class is much more difficult than that of other colleges. Its Math 55 course probably has counterparts at only a few selective schools. Harvard et al. are so expensive that it makes sense to take courses at them which are not offered at other places (including high schools).
You can find the syllabi (and often lecture notes and homework assignments) of many college courses online and compare the rigor of courses at various colleges. It's not my impression that Harvard's CS50 (introductory computer science) is more "in-depth" than the equivalent course at other schools.
When I started physics graduate school, we were given a "free shot" to pass the qualifying exam based on first-year graduate courses. People normally took the exam after one year of graduate study. I did notice that U.S. students coming from elite undergrad schools and foreign students tended to pass on the free shot, whereas U.S. students from non-elite student were not ready for it. However I'd guess that physics majors at
elite schools are more likely to have AP credits in Physics C and Calculus, so that they start with 2nd-year courses and are often taking gradate level courses as juniors and seniors. So the difference in free shot passing rate may reflect not the greater rigor of courses at elite schools but the fact that the students are a little smarter and better prepared coming in.
