I planning to go for a Chemistry and Biology Graduate Major in college. MIT and Caltech are my dream colleges (one of them), but I was wondering if I was accepted, what would life be like in those colleges. How much do students study, what do they do for fun, etc.
I’ll be 16 when I get to college, by the way.
Why so early? I dislike when students go to college that early in their life
@NASA2014 Umm, presumably because that’s when OP finished school? I graduated HS at 16, and I’m doing just fine at my Uni. Let OP do what’s best for him/her.
I can only comment as a rejected applicant and visitor to MIT, but I’ll do my best. From what I understood, it was a very tough school and you did have to study quite a bit. In terms of work, however, supposedly you were encouraged to work together and socialize to get everyone to do better, I can’t verify the validity of this. However, they do get enough time to party. My parents and I had to stop at the hospital (long story) and the nurse was very open to my dad when he said why we were visiting that she’d seen plenty of drunken MIT students with broken arms and the like from falling, so they’re clearly socializing and partying enough.
You want to go to to MIT or Caltech and expect to actually have a LIFE?!
Are you bloody mad, mate?
@SusieAnne this is true - professors generally encourage collaboration on homework/psets.
As for the OP, I used to have a social life, be in 4 clubs, do a UROP, and maintain a 5.0 GPA as a double major at MIT, then I took an arrow to the knee (not really). But seriously, people here do get enough time to party/do other things. Of course, during hell weeks, that time might be severely limited, but for the most part, we do manage to have a life outside of classes/projects.
Going to college that early is analogous to a 40 year old woman getting pregnant. It’s fairly rare, it can happen normally, but there is an increased risk of complications/issues associated with it.
Isn’t there like an 11 year old triple majoring at UC Berkeley? (I may be exaggerating but there is definitely a middle school-aged student attending UCB majoring in at least one rigorous STEM field.)
I met a kid in a civil engineering class I took that started college at 16. He didn’t have any friends, but he also said a lot of socially inappropriate things and didn’t have the best hygiene. I figure as long as you’re capable of being social at least some of the time (I say this as I’m not super social but still have friends) and clean, then you’ll be able to find a friend group despite any age difference. I also know a kid at mit, and he posts a lot of facebook of things he’s doing with his friends, so there is enough time for fun.
@preamble1776 He has a major and a minor in molecular/cell biology and bioengineering.
Still impressive, just not quite a triple major 
Good lord, quit hating on this kid because he/she happens to be advanced. I guess he/she should have not challenged themselves and dallied in high school longer just to please the social norms. You don’t know this person at all, so telling them that starting college early is nasty. Your point about a younger person having trouble at college is quite evident in this thread - if you went to college with him/her, I’m sure you’d make it difficult.
I mean, that’s more impressive than triple majoring in three humanities or social sciences; so it’s pretty remarkable in that regard. He has still procured intellectual achievements that most of us will never dream of achieving, lol. Cut from a different cloth, I suppose. @hungryteenager