Why is Caltech's graduation rate so low?

mazewanderer
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:02:28 +0000

mathboy98: I would think that the issue here is that students change their mind all the time. They think and show they can handle the math/science, but when the rubber hits the road, they decide that they cannot handle or do not want to handle it.

Someone I talked to told me this, “kids sometimes come in Caltech expecting that they will breeze through the classes as they are good in math/science. They not only find the classes challenging, they also find that their classmates are no slouches.” So you have to work extra hard to keep up and there are people who do not want to do it. I have heard the same of some majors in Berkeley.

I am not sure how you would measure this maturity by an essay. It may have to be experiential. Yes some more education is possible, but I would say almost all Caltech applications realize it is going to difficult, but not how much.