<p>I will back that up, for what it’s worth. A Caltech student who takes core math and maybe one more course will be conversant in the mathematics necessary to speak intelligently the language of any science except theoretical physics and pure mathematics (you need a little bit more for that). You can go to an econ seminar, a biology conference, an applied physics lecture, and the math will make sense. I think it’s easy for Techers to take this for granted (while whining about core) but being so comfortable with the toolkit of so many disciplines is an immense advantage – in applying to grad school as well as many other things. There is also no other place which gives every single undergraduate that kind of background.</p>