Caltech is much the same way though, outside of engineering nobody has heard of it. Like Harvey Mudd, it's a small *private school that hasn't yet become a household name.
I didn't say it is unknown. It's well known, but only in certain circles. As contrasted with, say, Harvard which is known by just about every mother, brother, and child.
As a graduate of both Harvard and Caltech, I can confirm that this is true. Even many people in Pasadena, where Caltech is located, are only vaguely aware of its existence, and even many southern Californians confuse it with Cal Poly Pomona. Of course, Caltech is universally known and respected among technical people, but the contrast with Harvard—which, as you say, is known by just about every mother, brother, and child—is unmistakable. (Indeed, it's telling that many references to Caltech in these comments misspell its name. Hell, even many Pasadena city street signs misspell its name. Apparently the Institute is embarking on an ambitious new branding strategy—I suggest that getting Caltech's home town to spell its name right would be a good place to start.)
I went to a suburban high school in the southeast, and while I'd heard of Stanford, I literally had no idea where it was. I thought it was in the northeast. No one from my high school had ever gone there, and I'd never even met anyone who went there (not that I knew of, anyway). It's probably different now, that was the mid 80s.
I'd heard plenty about all the ivy league schools, and kids from my high school went to them.
I was very aware of MIT as THE best tech school (in the reputation I'd heard), but I also had heard of CalTech at the hardest school.
Other schools that were on my radar did include Harvey Mudd, though I had no clue at all where it was. Colorado School Of Mines too, for some reason. Probably more because of the weird name than anything else.
I did well on the SAT and had a large box full of brochures schools sent me, so I got exposed to a lot of lesser-known places that way.
There was one that had me utterly fascinated, Deep Springs College. It's a 2 year school out in the desert. You basically work a ranch and take a sort of custom curriculum, then transfer to another school to finish a degree. I was too chicken to go, but if I could change one decision in my past, I'd go. I think it would have made for a radically different experience.
> I did well on the SAT and had a large box full of brochures schools sent me, so I got exposed to a lot of lesser-known places that way.
Is this typical? I did well on the SAT (in 2003) and had exactly one school sending me literature, a university in Tulsa, OK. And I'm pretty sure they were doing it based on my PSAT score, not the SAT.
