Dilemma between Caltech and Columbia

artiesdad
Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:10:48 +0000

cadad,

My S chose Caltech over Columbia. I cannot tell you exactly how the Bio programs compare but Caltech’s overall prestige may be higher. Having said this, I would look well beyond the quality of specific programs.

We live in NJ and my S attended Columbia’s Science Honors program for a couple of years. That gave him a partial view of life at Columbia. He will tell you the environment (size, location, intensity, housing…) is very different. For that matter Caltech is very different from any other place I have seen. I would recommend to look at the overall experience first, and within that context compare the Bio programs.

The issues of med school admissions and Caltech has been discussed extensively in this board (see for example http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=173471.) The majority opinion seems to be that Caltech tough grading and comparatively lower GPAs penalize students that want to go to professional schools (not PhD programs)

I hope this helps.