I’m a prefrosh deciding between MIT and Caltech. After going to Caltech’s Prefrosh Weekend and MIT’s Campus Preview Weekend I’m completely torn. I created a spreadsheet of all the pros and cons of each place, and I’ve narrowed it down to a few factors I’d like some insight on.
Bit of a background on me first: I play water polo and I’m from Los Angeles. At Caltech I would likely double major in Computer Science and Economics with a potential minor in Philosophy or something. At MIT I would most likely do course 6-14 with a minor in CMS. I’m pretty extroverted (myers-briggs ENTP) and would rather chill with my friends than sit around and play video games. At MIT, I’d probably try to stay in Maseeh or Baker, maybe Burton-Connor so I can cook for myself and save some money. I would definitely rush a frat freshman year, definitely one that is off-campus. At Caltech I’d probably end up in Fleming house because that’s where most of the athletes are and people there seemed to be pretty social (however I’m a bit biased cause I stayed there during PFW). I am a chronic procrastinator, especially now since I’m a second semester high school senior. I do video production and love TV/movies, but it’s not something I’d pursue professionally.
The social environment is definitely the number one deciding factor for me. People at Caltech are definitely more socially awkward, but when I visited I was able to find people I connected with pretty well. I found that I’m more socially adept than most the other Techers, while that wasn’t necessarily the case at MIT. There’s also the fact that Caltech is an extremely small community, (smaller than my high school) and I don’t really know if that would appeal to me or not. The people are also different: at Caltech everyone is very laid back and nobody cares what other people think about them (obviously a generalization, but that’s the vibe I got) while MIT has more of your stereotypical “frat bros” and people are definitely more judgmental and care more for social status (again, just my experience). The only problem is Caltech’s lack of social diversity and there were also plenty of people at MIT I meshed well with.
The second deciding factor is the rigor of double majoring and the amount of time I would need to spend on coursework each day/week. Cost is also a small concern for me, so I’d like to be able to work during the school year. What kind of work-study and job opportunities are available during the school year and how compatible is that with majoring in CS/econ?
Other factors are the size of the campus (at MIT it’s a 10-minute walk to get literally anywhere, at Caltech you can walk across the whole campus in 10 minutes), location (Caltech is a 2-hour drive from where I live), weather (gotta love Cali weather), music (I’m a big music fan and people at Caltech definitely had tastes similar to mine), and the fact that at Caltech I’d definitely want to get a car (you need one in LA). Of course these ones as important to my decision
Any information relating to what I said or insight into the cost of housing/meal plans, work-study/job options, and research would be very much appreciated. I only have 8 days to make my decision. Thanks in advance to anybody who replies!