<p>Heard rumors that this school offers a very tough curriculum compared to other similar caliber schools.</p>
<p>Caltech forces all its students to go through a brutal curriculum, so yes, it’s very tough. A similar school is Harvey Mudd. The subject matter at many other schools is comparably interesting + difficult, but these two make it especially boot-camp-style, given that’s just their character.</p>
<p>Caltech is more difficult than harvey mudd right?</p>
<p>all caltech tests are taken without a proctor i believe, mostly in your dorm when you have time for yourself. I guess this is one way to relieve the massive amounts of stress the students have. However, to answer the thread, once you are accepted, you will most likely succeed in any field you choose, so in that sense it is very easy to succeed after you get out. Caltech’s courseload is probably more rigorous than other schools, only because they focus so in-depth in certain subjects.</p>
<p>Why are you certain you are going to Caltech, when it is not one of you top choice schools? You ought to have a bit more optimism than that.</p>
<p>Also, in terms of succeeding, I’ve heard Cornell is worse because of the excessive competition among students.</p>
<p>Yes, I have a friend at Caltech and she says the curriculum is insane! But, apparently she’s very satisfied with the environment and teacher attention along with a plethora of activities and clubs to join.</p>
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<p>I don’t think this is clear. They’re probably both very hard. Honestly, it’s probably pointless to compare them. Ask a few of the Harvey Mudd students who frequent CC, like rocketDA or atomicfusion, and they’ll probably disagree that the former is tougher. </p>
<p>Yes, “success” being defined in terms of how well students actually do academically…there are worse schools in the sense that raw competition is worse elsewhere. As far as rigor of average courseload, Caltech is probably not to be beaten easily at all.</p>
<p>Sandra Tsing Loh on Caltech exams:</p>
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<p>(from her Caltech commencement address [Caltech</a> Commencement](<a href=“http://pr.caltech.edu/commencement/05/loh_speech.html]Caltech”>http://pr.caltech.edu/commencement/05/loh_speech.html))</p>
<p>Where would Missouri S&T fall in the killer-curriculum spectrum? The internal competition spectrum? as compared with Caltech and Mudd</p>
<p>davezhan wrote:</p>
<p>"…compared to other similar caliber schools. "</p>
<p>where exactly is there a “similar caliber school”? That’s a funny one (at least as far as math/science is concerned.)</p>
<p>There is no student body in the world remotely on par (on average) with that at Caltech. The course difficulty has evolved to be challenging to the smartest students in the world.</p>
<p>The chemistry department at Brown frequently uses open book take-home tests with near infinite time (due in a week or so from when we get them)…</p>
<p>They’re the most fun I’ve ever had taken a test, but definitely in a sadistic sense. I can see how that can get absolutely absurd if it’s across every class you take.</p>
<p>Indian Institutes of Technology and some other Asian universities are probably tougher.</p>
<p>Aren’t you usually measured against your classmates in college, so it’s all relative? Maybe the workload is tougher at Caltech, but that makes it tougher for everyone else too. I wonder how the workload there stacks up to those of other schools known for lots of work, like Cornell, Princeton, Chicago.</p>
<p>cherokeejew – that is possible. nothing in the U.S. though…</p>
<p>I would imagine West Point is harder to succeed in if you count more than just academics</p>
<p>Yes mephist0, I was thinking the same of all the academies.</p>
<p>Is MIT not harder than Caltech?</p>
<p>There have been countless debates over which one is harder than the other, Caltech or MIT. It usually comes to about the same conclusion every time; it depends on too many factors (major, classes chosen, work style, etc.) to come to any definitive conclusion at all. Caltech does require a more extensive core than MIT, but that does not necessarily mean it’s harder. </p>
<p>I have a very hard time imagining any place being definitively harder than Caltech (other than perhaps an Asian university like IIT where the selection process is beyond insane). We have one of the smartest student bodies on average (if not the smartest on average) in the country, and this place kicks our butts all over the place. I can say with some confidence that Cornell is probably easier than Caltech, since I considered them for college for science and engineering, and if I had thought they were more difficult, I frankly would’ve gone there instead. But that’s my opinion. I can’t really speak for Princeton or UChicago.</p>
<p>On another note, you can make any place you go to difficult. Take 6 engineering classes at the same time and you’ll probably be having a fun time no matter where you go.</p>
<p>Dauntless9 – “smartest” is an interesting term. As regards facility with math, undoubtedly Caltech is far separated (on average) from any other campus in the U.S., as befits its focus. But let’s not forget intelligence takes many forms – mathematical, emotional, social, spacial, artistic, physical coordination, linguistic, etc. On the one scale, Caltech pwns all. On the others…</p>
<p>I knew a dude who took classes with me at Harvard SSP that dominated calculus there.</p>
<p>He is at Caltech right now and while he was taking calc 1/2, he was studying multivariable. lol. Later I found out that he took calc before coming to Harvard SSP and that is why he aced all the tests and got an A… :-(</p>
<p>That’s the only student I know who went to Caltech. I know countless other MIT students tho…</p>