What do most people become after graduating Caltech?

tech_fan
Tue, 04 Jul 2006 00:21:08 +0000

First, I think cghen was remarkably laid back and calm in responding to the absurd lies about the Caltech experience posted on the HMC board and quoted above.

(Just to take the easiest case: contrary to rocketDA’s claim, in computing the 3:1 student:faculty ratio at Caltech, the only people who count as faculty are people with the title of “Assistant Professor”, “Associate Professor”, or “Professor.” Every single professor at Caltech – except for about 10 division heads and high-level administrators – teaches courses virtually every year. I can’t believe that anyone would have the audacity to lie about something that’s so easy to verify by looking at the Registrar’s site. If you include research faculty, like Staff Scientists and Postdocs, Caltech’s student:Ph.D. holding scientist ratio becomes 1:1. Eat that. I won’t even get into how there is not a single lab on campus off limits to undergrads and how nobody I know has ever met an undergrad who wanted to research but couldn’t.)

If cghen’s calm (and in my view understated) corrections of this nonsense count as hurtful, you should see what I would have done to you.

From the image you guys project on this forum, one might surmise that all you do at Harvey Mudd is talk in hushed tones about the (false and silly) rumors you heard about Caltech. Chill out. As you could see from our resident alum’s reaction to this nonsense (see Not quite old’s post above at #45), Techers like Harvey Mudd just fine and don’t have any bone to pick with you. It’s only when you start insulting our fine school and telling lies about it that we are obliged to put you in your place.

Calm down and realize that insulting Caltech’s world-class successes is not necessary for you to consider yourself a good college. In fact, just the opposite is true. The more you snipe and whine about how Caltech’s Nobels are “a crock of shiz”, to use rocketDA’s choice phrase, the clearer it becomes that you consider yourselves to be on a rung below us and are trying to compensate.

Think less about pulling us down, and more about pulling yourselves up. Maybe if you work quite hard, you can come to a point where you don’t have to denigrate Caltech’s world-class accomplishments, because you’ll have some of your own to show.