The Hot Schools Of 2004

Many St. John's students also apply to Swarthmore, Bard, Wellesley and Smith.

MOST TECH-SAVVY (IT'S A TIE)

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, Ind.

We are not all things to all people," says Charles Howard, dean of admissions. Isn't that the truth--until 1995, Rose-Hulman didn't admit women. Today, it's a rising star among tech peers like Caltech and MIT. Rose's 1,650 students work on group engineering projects, redesigning everything from Hot Wheels-style racetracks to the Halo brace that's screwed into patients' skulls. Extracurricular activities are similarly inventive: one of the most popular is racing flying robots. General Motors recently narrowed its recruiting list to 20 colleges. Rose is one of them.

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh The dot-economy is history, but don't cry for techie-mecca Carnegie Mellon. It's already moved on, giving students a broader education with an emphasis on information technology and the arts. Its robotics program--home to such academic celebrities as Hans Moravec, who pioneered robotic walking--is as strong as ever. For years the campus joke has been that there are more undergraduates named Dave than there are female students. As of 1995, it was true. These days the "Dave to girl" ratio is much lower--women make up 39 percent of the 5,347 students.

Rose and Carnegie Mellon fans also consider MIT, Caltech and Case Western Reserve.