<p>A few months ago I was knocking on a friend who goes to Caltech because Caltech seems to never do well on the Putnam anymore. (I was actually kidding; I think the Putnam, as well as any test, is incapable of measuring intelligence to a great degree.)</p>
<p>I got the response, “That’s because, firstly, Caltech students are surprisingly non-competitive. Secondly, we’re more concerned with finding solutions to serious problems than studying up for a silly contest that isn’t going to do anyone any good.”</p>
<p>That’s one of the reasons I applied to Caltech, actually. In my high school especially, there’s just so much competition, and it gets tiring after a while… competition often brings up the goal of winning instead of acquiring knowledge and it’s often malignant to a student body’s intelligence and personality.</p>