College Confidential - View Single Post - MIT Admissions Have Become A Complete Joke

simfish · 04-12-2007, 05:24 PM

Anyways, here's an interesting thread from *********. I'll leave it to to the others to discuss this:

http://www.auto admit.com/thread.php?thread_id=600663&mc=88&forum_id=1#78044 87

Quote:

I graduated from Caltech a week ago. This is the only college review I have written, and quite possibly the only one I will have ever written.

Summary: Very few people can happily make it through Caltech. If you are one of those people, this is the best educational and social college opportunity you have.

Probably half of the student body shouldn't be here (academically speaking, at least. They seem to enjoy the social scene). There are probably about 500 graduating high school seniors every year who can happily handle Caltech. Unfortunately, we only get 100 of those. Why? Because places like MIT and Harvard are more reputable. Not better (and not worse), but more reputable. If you want to go to a reputable school, don't come here. Caltech will likely push you to your limits, and you will become a better or a worse person because of it. There will not be a higher salary, better grad school placement, or anything else material as a result.

Enjoying, and being very good at, math and physics is a must. I'm not talking getting A's in your high school classes and 5's on the AP exams. I'm talking about you being the best student your teacher has seen in the last few years, and that you would stack up well on math and physics olympiads, even if you haven't done them. That being said, dedication makes up for where knowledge lacks -- if you're dedicated and enthused about the subjects, you don't need to be a genius, just close to one. Not everyone here is a math or physics major, but most people who hate it here hate it because they're not very good at math/physics.

The amount of knowledge a genius can acquire out of Caltech is nearly limitless, whether this knowledge is theoretical physics or building robots or environmental science. Your knowledge will not be fed to you by the, on average subpar, professors. You'll learn from a mixture of classmates, books, and professors.

The social life is a direct result of this. If you are looking to get a broad life view, this is unfortunately not the place to go. My dream school would be Caltech-caliber academics in all subject areas. However, all the well-rounded schools are unfortunately comparatively worse than Caltech at physics. But if you're looking for very intelligent people (including intelligence in the humanities, although this is not what they're pursuing), you will find plenty.

In conclusion: Caltech is an amazing school for a very small fraction of people. If you fall into this fraction (I did), I recommend it over any other school because of the endless opportunities you can pursue. If not, it's just another Harvey Mudd, or place for MIT/Harvard rejects. Those people make up the half of the student population who hates it here. Sometimes they like the social life, and can somehow get through the academics. In any case, I would most often not recommend it.

I'll be glad to field some intelligent questions at veritedefolie@msn.com. My personal background is a middle-of-the-road-at-Caltech physics major (3.2 GPA).

One last thing. Caltech is represented on most college discussion boards by about 3 people. Two of these, I would label, and I think majority of the rest student body would label, as very much out of touch with what's going on at Caltech.