<p>csnsc – I would suggest you take a close look at liberal arts colleges with a math/science focus. Harvey Mudd right here in sunny SoCal, Rose-Hulman, Cooper Union, Reed College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (though perhaps that’s not a classic liberal arts college) are all good examples. </p>
<p>The people who teach at these places typically got Ph.D.'s from the best programs in the country, but just weren’t interested in the rat race of top level research. So they can run circles around your high school teachers, and they really care about teaching. At Caltech, professors actually care most about their next Nature paper, and while that’s great in the sense that you can work hard and be a coauthor on that paper, it doesn’t really sound like scientific research is what you’re passionate about. What you’re looking for – great teaching and personal interaction – are very likely to be found at those superb schools I listed. </p>
<p>Caltech I think would actually cause whiplash. The professors don’t simply understand the material. They understand it so well that they sometimes can’t understand how someone might not understand it. That’s not to deny that many Caltech profs are superb teachers. But what they’re best at is taking very self-motivated students who are nuts about research to the frontiers of knowledge and mentoring them in research. If you want that, it’s worth it to do a little more self-teaching and to give up a little on some other things… I think that’s not primarily what you’re looking for. </p>
<p>If you got your scores up a little, I think you’d have a very solid chance at some of those schools I listed.</p>