Nerf2111

Blindfaith,

I wouldn't have recommended talking about the bad teaching at Caltech; one of the things colleges don't like to see is a transfer talking ill about their college. While I understand that you don't like it -- reflecting it in your essays can often make you sound more pompous than your character actually is. The other reasons were fine, imo, but I wouldn't have talked about the teaching.

Best of luck to you, I know you'll certainly go far!

blindfaith

Anyone want to read my main essay?

BetweenBars

are you applying to say ucla at all. it might be lower than your other schools, but many noteworthy alumni have come from there and have gone to great grad schools. as i hear it...its workload is somewhat different from that of caltech. I also think recs are really important in this process, and can make you or break you. since caltech is such a small community, maybe you can have an afternoon chat with a prof and it can really help. think about social science and humanities professors as they are usually quite willing to talk, and i'm sure colleges would prefer an eloquent recommender as well.

blindfaith

I already submitted all of my applications (essays too) and my recs have been sent out.

blindfaith

I'm not applying to UCLA at all - I think the deadline has passed as well. I live on the east coast so if I'm going to a public school I wouldn't mind going to my state U which is decent.

Serj T.

Hi blindfaith,

I think you have a shot. I know a couple of people from Caltech who applied to Harvard last year and were accepted-- one went to Harvard, the other stayed at Caltech and is still there now probably. I know another student from Caltech who transferred to Stanford a couple years ago. It seems like schools definitely understand the "Caltech sucks" reason for wanting to transfer. It is as good a reason as any.

I dropped out of Caltech after my first term a few years ago, so I had to re-apply to college as a freshman and I ended up going to my state university. Now I am trying to transfer somewhere else-- I applied to Harvard, Brown, and Yale. I doubt that I will be accepted by any of them, but I figured I might as well try. I think my chances would have been better if I had finished the year at Caltech and tried to transfer after that.

By the way, I am very sorry that things at Caltech are not working out for you. I totally understand where you are coming from. When people say 'Tech is hell,' they are not exaggerating.

I am curious-- what schools did you end up applying to?

blindfaith

Yale, Stanford, Duke, Washu, and Decent State School

Missed the Harvard deadline though.

Idk about colleges being of Tech's rather unique situation. When I talk to upperclassmen they chuckle and say that it's extremely hard to leave from Caltech. I kinda think this is because people here have tons of work and as a result make a half asses effort on their apps- not sure though. I guess I do have a shot, but I'm kinda mad that I gave away such awesome opportunities. And to any prefrosh considering Caltech reading this - realize that Tech is not for everyone. I'm doing well in my classes and I guess I'm slightly above average here but that does not mean that this is the ideal college for me even if I love math and science. From my short but revealing time here, I've come to the conclusion that Tech is best for kids who are extremely focused on *just* math and science. Our extracurriculars and student life are quite limited and if you really do enjoy things outside of academics in the sciences please do not come here.

But Serj T. don't worry about me - I'll be fine. I don't regret one bit of my experience here even if i made the wrong decision - I've learned so much about myself - my limits, my abilities, my goals in life and I've gained a better perspective on life after just about 2 terms here. The way I see it I'm going from Point A to Point B (whatever those points maybe) with inevitable detours along the way. Tech's just one of those detours .

kelsmom

Blindfaith, your last post is exactly what you need to say in your transfer essay!

2331clk

blindfaith, good luck. Just curious, are those the exact words you used in your essay..."the teaching blows"?

blindfaith

Hah, of course not. I talked about how Caltech is first and foremost a research institution and that it's very apparent that professors are here to research and then to teach. I gave two examples that showed what teaching was like here, and then I left it at that. I think giving examples without saying "Tech sucks or teaching here blows" is much better because it lets the adcoms arrive at their own decision on what Tech is like.

My essays were about how tech is rigorous and how it leaves little time to spare for things outside of math and science. I emphasized how stifling the place was for me as I like to participate in clubs and activities as well as to take classes in the humanities. I did however say that people were depressed here, and said that many people are not happy with Tech. I mentioned the bad teaching, but all of the "tech sucks" stuff was limited to about 250-300 words out of 1.5k.

The rest of the essay was about what I want from college and how going elsewhere would help me achieve them. At the end of the essay I said something to the effect of - I dont regret my time here and that I learned alot - but nevertheless tech is not for me.

I'll keep you guys informed, also how good or bad is being at the 75% percentile for my physics class (my prof giving me a rec is going to write this)? (As in 1 above 3 below) It's certainly not *the best student I've seen in years* - so will I be able to get into good places even though Im not the best or close to it in my classes? (I'm simply average maybe a little tiny bit above average)

blindfaith

Sorry, it's actually the 87% percentile.

Serj T.

Being above average at Caltech makes you outstanding pretty much everywhere else, I think. It's tough getting recommendations as a frosh because of the large core classes, but I think that if you are in the 87 percentile, your physics prof. is likely to give a positive rec. And it probably helps if your professor is David Politzer or someone like that. I get the impression that transfer admissions people are understanding about the difficulty in getting recommendations from professors who know you well, especially when you have been there less than one year.

I would not spend too much time worrying about all of this, though. If you have finished your applications, then there is nothing to do but wait until May.

blindfaith

You're right Serg T - I'm going to forgot about all of this until May comes.

Yequalsfofx

We also have a transfer student here who sent in his app to Harvard late. It's usually not a problem as long as you're sincere and honest in your application. I'm the transfer student who ended up going from Caltech to Harvard this past year. Also, going on sabbatical and traveling a bit before you apply next year is not a bad idea. I personally would not risk more time at Caltech than you need to. Alums talk about failing in--where your viability as a transfer candidate is decreased because sophomore courses tend to depress your GPA.

Sam Lee

Northwestern has relatively high admit rate for transfers. Pretty much every engg department is ranked in the top-20 and mat sci, industrial/management sci, and civil are in the top-10.