<p>Let me chime in to the original question (ISP vs. traditional science-oriented program such as Caltech, the other institute of technology out east, and etc.) Sorry for a lengthy post.</p>
<p>–> From my understanding, the ISP program is very comparable. In fact, anywhere you go for top schools is comparable. (Most) top research professors don’t necessarily have the ability to teach. So if you want to learn science in undergrad, I found that it makes little difference whether the professor is a Nobel prize winner or not (but if he/she has a teaching award–that may make a difference.) I personally hate classes with world class professors who all they do is talk about their research and how the class materials are related to their works.</p>
<p>Graduate school of course is an entirely different story.</p>
<p>Ok that does not help, so let me try to count what I think are the biggest differences between ISP and other programs that I can think of are:
(1) Smaller class size (ISP average is like < 20? Caltech is definitely close to this but not MIT, on average)
(2) Broader variety of classes offered at NU. NU has like gazillions of departments, so taking classes in ancient China history is probably possible there. This is probably appealing to people who are not 100% sure they want to be scientist, or want to be a part of a decent musical show during their undergraduate (before heading off in the eternal land of science.) If you are dead set on science and care for nothing else, this point does not apply to you.
(3) I also personally found that undergraduate research at NU is more meaningful than (some) other top research schools because NU is a rather undergraduate-centric school. Other schools, the PIs are more concerned about the graduate students; hence you are just a lab worker and don’t get much personal attention, which is crucial in the early stage of learning how to do research. But this is just my experience, yours may be different.
(4) While NU has a more meaningful undergraduate research, Caltech, on average, has more famous faculty members, whom if you manage to get a smile on their face, will get you into any graduate school you wish. Then again, not that by going to NU will put you at any disadvantage, especially if you work for like Chad Mirkin, but on average, Caltech faculty letters will probably catch more attention of the graduate admission in general.
(5) If you ever travel to Asia, Caltech/MIT carries more significant bragging right than NU. I believe this also applies to Boston, where NU stands for Northeastern :-)</p>
<p>FYI, the majority of ISP dropouts is neither stupid nor failed people. They are in the (2) category, whether they rather focus on one discipline, or found something else more meaningful to life, than being forced to take a bunch of interdisciplinary science classes.</p>