<p>Speaking about your choice in a general manner: Caltech and Wellesley are pretty much opposites in many ways. 30/70 ratio vs. 100/0 ratio (girls:guys obviously), Research University vs. LAC… etc. I think visiting is very important (it was the most important part for me after I had narrowed down my college choices). Thatb eing said, from an objective standpoint, you’re going to have very different opportunities available to you depending on where you go. </p>
<p>I can tell you that Wellesley is not going to have the same research opportunities that Caltech has. Yes, you can do UROPs at MIT, but they aren’t funded by MIT apparently. You can find more info at: <a href=“http://web.mit.edu/UROP/students/wellesley/options.html[/url]”>http://web.mit.edu/UROP/students/wellesley/options.html</a> At Caltech, you’ll have the opportunity to do SURFs on-campus or off (which is an awesome program… you can get info at <a href=“http://surf.caltech.edu/[/url]”>http://surf.caltech.edu/</a> ) and you’ll also be able to do whatever research during the school year that you’d like. You’ll also have the opportunity to make important relationships here with professors through your classes that lead to research–an opportunity you won’t really have if you’re doing research at a school you don’t attend.</p>
<p>As for keeping your options open, Caltech allows you to cross register at three different institutions and take courses there for free…
“Caltech has formal agreements with three nearby institutions—Occidental College, Scripps College, and Art Center College of Design—that allow students to take classes that Caltech doesn’t offer and receive Caltech credit. Caltech students are not required to pay tuition to these colleges to take courses there (although they must pay any special fees required).” I mean, if you want to be a liberal arts major Caltech probably isn’t the best place for you, but I’d argue if you want to be a math/science/engineering major, Wellesley is not really the place for you. So if you want to major in math/science/engineering but keep your options open in terms of what classes you take, Caltech can certainly be a good choice. If you think there’s a good chance you’re going to become a prelaw major or something… I’m not sure I can recommend it. </p>
<p>When it comes to grad school placement, it’s worth noting that Caltech has the highest percentage of students in the US that go onto graduate school (although at the moment I can’t find a citation for this…). Caltech is one of the finest Universities in the world for math, science, and engineering and both grad schools and employers are very aware of this. I’m not saying you can’t be successful in one of these fields coming from Wellesley, but a Caltech degree may open doors for you that a LAC degree can’t.</p>