Is CalTech a good fit for me? - Page 2

IMSAgeek · 10-25-2009, 02:13 AM

Those stats are from Fall 2008, which was last year. Since this freshman class is 42% women, which I believe is a higher percentage than last year's senior class, the gender ratio is probably off. The last three entering classes have been upwards of 30% women, and it has increased every year.

T-bird · 10-25-2009, 08:31 AM

ah, I see. now I definitely want to visit to see what campus is like with an uneven gender ratio...

lizzardfire · 10-25-2009, 11:00 PM

I think the ratios of the current classes are like:

Current Seniors: 28% female
Current Juniors: 38% female
Current Sophomores: 40% female
Current Freshmen: 42% female

Our class (2010) was a fluke in terms of low lady-count.

T-bird · 10-26-2009, 04:59 PM

thanks for the extra info.

ohhhhhh.... just to make sure and calm my nerves regarding the issue, CalTech EA is non-binding and non-restrictive, right? So I can apply early elsewhere as long as I'm not violating their policies? (like MIT?)

I'm pretty sure I can, but it'd be pretty bad if I only found out later that I couldn't.

lizzardfire · 10-26-2009, 05:31 PM

I believe so...

JNT · 10-26-2009, 06:50 PM

you absolutely can apply to both early. I found it reduced the stress significantly, especially if you get in to one of them early.

T-bird · 10-26-2009, 07:49 PM

thanks JNT. I'm lucky that my stress level just dropped an order of magnitude after getting accepted to UMich rolling the other day, though (my state flagship), so I'm not really sure how much less stressed I can get. :P

JNT · 10-26-2009, 10:52 PM

congratulations. and good luck with your other applications

swimmy · 10-29-2009, 06:10 PM

re: lizzardfire's claim that "Caltech is harder than MIT."

Although I don't go to Caltech, I really really don't think this is a good way to choose between the two (I did (partially), and it was stupid.)

While it is true that MIT has a lot of easy versions of classes (I guess these would be called the regular versions), the honors versions of the classes I'm taking now at MIT (5.112, 8.012 and 18.022) seem to be equivalent in difficulty to the core classes my Caltech friend is taking --his aren't impossible, and mine aren't impossible.

If you do decide to apply to both schools and get in, I recommend choosing based on something other than academics, as contradictory as it sounds. The locations, culture, how you like the dorms/ houses will probably have more impact on your experience & what you remember later on.

Of course, I guess I should make a caveat: if you got into both by a fluke and you are not actually interested in science-to-the-max, MIT might be better, because there is the option of taking easy classes. However, if you would not elect to take the simple versions of classes even if they are available (that is like me), then you should not worry that Caltech is too hard, because you'll be taking classes of the same difficulty anyway.

re: Do you current CalTechers know of any generalized differences between the two schools that might mean that someone very happy over in Cambridge might not enjoy Pasadena as well?

The question has to do with both schools, so my perspective might still be helpful, although of dubious accuracy. (:

An observation that I want to mention is that MIT has this split culture between "West Campus" and "East Campus". West Campus has nice buildings and normal people, but there's less unity. I feel East Campus is sort of like Caltech's houses, with murals, pranking, exploring, and hall traditions/stereotypes. (They're still very different because our buildings are much more run down & we don't have dining, and each hall is only 30 people, but the cultural feel is probably similar.) So, if you are turned away by East Campus at MIT, you might not like Caltech's culture either.

T-bird · 10-29-2009, 07:41 PM

actually, Swimmy, from what I've gathered about East Campus (statements like yours), I think i'm definitely an East Campus kind of person. :3

I'm trying to not think too much about either school at this point though. I just submitted my CalTech application today, and my MIT one on Tuesday... so at this point all I can do is wait. :3 worrying is kind of pointless, although I'm going to do it anyway.

swimmy · 10-29-2009, 08:16 PM

yeah, East Campus is fun. If it appeals to you, you'd probably like either school. best of luck!

T-bird · 10-29-2009, 08:38 PM

yeah - I really appreciated your clarification on school difficulty, by the way. I really can see myself enjoying either school.

lizzardfire · 10-30-2009, 07:30 AM

Swimmy-- I never suggested that academic difficulty was a good way to pick a school. In fact, you'll see that in my "Open Letter" stickied at the top of the forum, I specifically mention something like "our top notch academics... don't differentiate us from other schools you may be considering". Of course, you probably haven't read this, in which case you probably shouldn't make implications about my statements that I clearly did not intend.

Let me please clarify. By "Caltech is harder than MIT" I mean that the average applicant to one of these schools will find Caltech more difficult. This is because, as you point out, Caltech requires you to take harder courses than MIT. Evaluating the minimum standard of difficulty is often useful for a number of reasons--one, because there is no true upper bound on difficulty; two, because most reasonable schools have very difficult classes; and three, because students are forced to take at least the minimum (by definition, and some students will be quite stressed out by it. Your point that someone who will take the most difficult courses anyway won't notice a difference is valid, except that 95% of high school students have no idea what "the most difficult courses" at a place like Caltech or MIT entails, and they aren't really capable of making such a decision. Instead of making your argument, I would just assume that students will be stressed and say something like "If you can't handle stress, you're going to be in big trouble at Caltech". I'm sure this is also true of MIT, I just feel there are slightly less stressful alternatives available.

To answer your question: The lack of diversity at Caltech in terms of clubs, people's majors, knowledge, interests, etc. The lack of an off-campus social life (not sure how many people get off campus at MIT but at least there is Harvard). Also I guess if you prefer cold nasty weather to warm sunshine :P As I tried to mention in my previous posts, most of these things are tradeoffs. There is strength in diversity of thought but also strength in unity.

swimmy · 10-30-2009, 05:08 PM

):

I did read your open letter, and I didn't mean to imply that the idea of picking schools based on difficulty was yours. I just felt like commenting because when you make a statement like "Caltech is harder than MIT," it could end up scaring people away, some who would probably actually be a good fit and enjoy the challenge.

But hey, you're probably trying to scare away babies on purpose :P

T-bird · 10-30-2009, 05:59 PM

I didn't assume that the idea came from anyone, if that's any help?

I'm glad you mentioned that it's not a great criteria to choose your school based on difficulty, but I do like a challenge which I feel like I'm going to get wherever I go.