Occidental College is the perfect launch pad?

nocterne99
Sun, 02 Oct 2016 20:58:39 +0000

Occidental College seems like the best place for students to attend if they didn’t work as hard in high school but want to get serious in college (so this would not apply for students that don’t want to up their game), and these are my reasons as to why:

Occidental College has a 3-2 program with Caltech.

Their website says that most students that were recommended have received admission, and the students get enough financial aid to attend.

http://www.oxy.edu/physics/32-engineering-program/3-2-engineering-faq

“we never submit applications to Caltech unless we truly feel the student is up to the challenge – and in the last many years most of the names we’ve submitted have been accepted for admission. But it’s not automatic.”

“we have not had a single case in which a 3-2 student was unable to attend Caltech or Columbia due to financial constraints.”

I know that big reasons students don’t follow through with programs like these is because they want to stay back with their friends, lose their passion for engineering, or think the affiliate school will be too hard for them, but it would be quite different in this case. Caltech and Oxy are about 7 miles apart, close enough that a student would not feel like they’re leaving their friends. In addition, Caltech allows admitted students to choose from any of their options, not just engineering, including humanities and hard sciences. Finally, Oxy and Caltech students can cross-register for classes, meaning Oxy students know what they will be getting into beforehand and can properly prepare for it.

In the end, if a student does not get admitted to Caltech, they will still have a fantastic fallback in Columbia if they still want to do engineering.

The only negative I can’t address is the extra year they will spend in school (and the money that it would cost), but I would think the opportunities a Caltech (or Columbia) degree will provide can negate that for most people.

If none of that sounds appealing, Occidental feeds well into USC too as far as transfers go, I think.

What do you think? Is this a worthwhile plan for underachievers that want to start fresh?