CMU v. Caltech (and misc. questions)

dianal
Sat, 28 Apr 2007 20:42:13 +0000

Caltech definitely is a lot more quirky than CMU as the application implied but as mathmom said it’s a love it or hate it thing. From what I hear CS is definitely not Caltech’s forte though they are decent whereas CS is CMU’s (My father really wanted me to apply because he’s in CS).

I can tell you this though. Sometimes departmental rankings are more important than the overall schools. I think this is a weird reference especially for techie schools, but I think it wouldn’t be particularly wise for a biochemistry/bioengineering major to go to Wellesley over UCSD even though there is more prestige in the former. There’s simply a more robust program. However, wellesley would be better overall. Go with your interests.