He is right about the competition at Caltech.

If you read the FISKE College guide, you may find a "toughest colleges list". I remember U of CHicago, Caltech, Calton, Harvey Mudd... are on the very top.

UIUC CS is good, and the competition is not as high as Caltech. And it take more students from other state now since the university does not have enough money. I heard that a lot of students come from Mainland China now.