<p>If you mean harder I don’t agree. I went to Polytechnique because I happened to be very good in math and physics in high school. Polytechnique is extremely selective in the sense that if you were not a superstar in math (or physics) in high school you just do not stand a chance at being admitted. MIT is also very selective but in a different way. Not every admitted student is a superstar in math but you certainly have to have excelled academically at least in the sciences. What makes MIT different is that you need to have gone beyond academics and shown something extra. I interview applicants to MIT and those that get accepted generally have some additional accomplishments or genuine passion for technology. It does not have to be some major award (which helps) but it could be research involvement or something else beyond the ordinary that demonstrates strong interest in the sciences or technology. Caltech is more numbers driven than MIT and arguably more selective on paper. Caltech is actually closer to Polytechnique in student profile than MIT. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Many of the students at Polytechnique were among the brightest I have ever met, but they were somewhat one-dimensional: exceptionally good at math and well beyond the average at MIT. On the other hand, they were typically lacking in creativity and ambition. Nobody was interested in starting their own business and entrepreneurship was considered somewhat crass. This probably why I left France to come to the US.</p>
<p>I don’t know whatever Polytechnique is hard to get in or not but you need to understand that as an international applicant getting into MIT will be way harder compared to ANY school in your country(not even mentioning MIT is considired the best engineering/applied science school in world). Less Seats + More Applicants = Harder chances…</p>
<p>However this shouldn’t encourage you, instead, you should be motivated by the fact that MIT(and other US schools) looks beyond classical test scores unlike most of the European schools. You may have a few scratches from your SAT scores, but you can cover it by your school grades… or vice versa.
I assume the first condition would be being academicly qualified(tests/grades). However this alone doesn’t get you admitted. If you are academicly qualified, then your recommendation letters, extracurriculars, essays, awards and unfortunatly the student quote will decide whatever you are in or not.</p>
<p>Go for Caltech. Caltech is very strong in pure science, has the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has a president who is French. </p>
<p>However, be aware that Caltech is generally considered to be a bit more challenging than MIT. It’s students have higher average SAT scores. It’s a school where a C might equal an A in other top colleges. But, for your goals, it would be a prime school to study at.</p>
<p>My son got into both MIT and Caltech, as well as ten other science/tech schools. His test scores were all perfect the first time, his grades were all A’s, and his extracurriculars were top notch. He worked tutoring college students for years, and he did this against a lot of odds in terms of finances, having only one parent, etc. He was offered multiple full rides. </p>
<p>So, he did well. However, he did not have as much research experience as some other applicants, and he didn’t so all the things some other students did. His courses were quite advanced but not as much as some other students who had access to other programs.</p>
<p>The point is not to do the most or best. The point is to do the most and best you can in your circumstances. </p>
<p>Also, be prepared for the $55,000 in annual expenses plus incidentals if you don’t have scholarships, which are less available for international students. </p>
<p>Again, I would go for Caltech, but be working out your finances in advance. Perhaps France has some special scholarship for students who get accepted to such institutions?</p>
<p>My son has already graduated from MIT and he was not a genious. He worked hard and did very well. I also disagree with Piper in that an A at MIT is an A at any peer university (the Ivy league). I had my son at MIT and a son at Cornell who took several of the same courses so the statement above was based on what they told me. </p>
<p>When you graduate from MIT people seem to be very impressed. I personally think it is no different than grads from any of the other top schools with great math, science, or CS departments. My son who graduated MIT plans on attending Cornell for grad school, based on his experiences with what he saw his brother doing and of course his experiences visiting Cornell.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can confirm that too. There are ways in which Caltech is harder, but not in aerospace. In that field, I think MIT is probably harder. I don’t think there is an equivalent to the Unified curriculum, for instance. In contrast, even though chem E is one of the harder majors at MIT, anecdotal evidence from Caltech tells me that Caltech’s is even harder (although I’m not sure it’s actually better.) At Caltech, they force you to take the more rigorous math and physics classes for a couple of years, whereas at MIT you have a choice whether you take the harder or more normal math/physics track. For example, in the harder physics track, for the first year you use (Kolenkow/Purcell) instead of Halliday/Resnick textbooks.</p>