Everyone around me is saying that I should just go to state college ASU. If it doesnt matter where you go for undergrad for engineering, whats the point of even wanting to go to Caltech if the ASU person can end up in the same paygrade and job positions as the Caltech grad?
Its really hard to put yourself out there with applications. The likelihood of rejection is high, and rejections hurt (even if we understand the percentages on these elite school admissions). This is something you’ve obviously worked for and wanted. You have multiple threads on applying to MIT. Take the risk and apply. If you get into one of these schools you can do the research then on whether its worth the money. I think you will find multiple differences between an education at MIT and ASU. However, isn’t it nice to know, that if you do not get into MIT/Caltech you still have a great option with ASU! Good luck.
Depends on how much you want super intense academics (Caltech) versus highly intense academics (MIT) versus normal engineering intense academics (ASU and lots of other schools). Of course, Caltech and MIT are extremely difficult to get admitted to as well.
I would go to a better school for the better education, better research, better contacts, better jobs, etc. If you have a shot at Caltech or MIT I would apply. It’s amazing how much more attractive schools are when you actually have an acceptance.
Agree with jmk518. The good news is that you seem to have a match/safety you like. If you have the stats for a Caltech or MIT, put in the applications and see what happens. The only reason you shouldn’t is if the net price calculator on the college websites show they would be unaffordable. You aren’t deciding by applying now. You are maybe giving yourself choices this spring.
You can do very well at ASU.
If you go to MIT or Caltech, then expect to be competing with very smart very intense students while taking classes that go very fast with a lot of homework and very hard exams. Being a student at MIT has been compared to drinking water from a fire hose. As such, it is not enough to just be the strongest STEM student in you high school, more importantly, for MIT or Caltech YOU HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT. At pretty much any academically very challenging school, some students will love it and some will hate it. Raw intelligence is not a good predictor regarding which students will love it and which will hate it.
I live in New England and as such do not happen to have run into graduates from ASU or Caltech. I have worked with lots of MIT graduates. Typically I see MIT graduates and UMass graduates and Rutgers graduates and IIT graduates working side by side, and no one cares anymore which school they came from. However, the UMass and Rutgers graduates that I work with were probably all in the top 1/2 of their university class, which might or might not be true of the MIT graduates.
You do more at a school than study and learn, it is a social arena for you and a place to find your peers and forge relationships in many forms at an influential time of your life. Students grow a lot personally and socially during this time and the people you surround yourself with influence that. For many, these four years also lead to life long friends and contacts.
Paygrades and job definitions aren’t always set in stone and clearly defined, there is a lot of play in them, particularly at smaller and start up companies. As a side note, Cal Tech and MIT are private schools, not typically called OOS schools which generally refers to public schools located in a state other than your home state.