MIT/Caltech

[meson800]

So pi day 2015 rolled around and...
I got denied from MIT , but accepted into Caltech .

I really really really really really really wanted to go to MIT, but I'll take Caltech :lol:

This probably breaks some rules of internet etiquette, but are there any Caltech orbinauts out there?

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Congratulations from a failed MIT/Caltech applicant several years ago! As I'm applying from overseas I didn't have much luck with US universities and I end up settled in one of the local ones (which are still very good if you read those "useless rankings").

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Isn't Caltech the home of JPL? Not exactly small potatoes, Caltech has some fine pedigree.

 

[meson800]

Isn't Caltech the home of JPL? Not exactly small potatoes, Caltech has some fine pedigree.

Yes, Caltech has JPL.

I'm not discounting Caltech- Caltech is really awesome too

 

[fsci123]

What is the usual sat scores that most people have when going into MIT or caltech?

 

[Urwumpe]

What is the usual sat scores that most people have when going into MIT or caltech?

A lot of SAT and/or some amounts of legal bribery.... :lol:

I would say 1550 in the new system for MIT and 1450 for the Caltech, judging the number of people who actually get accepted of a year.

 

[meson800]

I would say 1550 in the new system for MIT and 1450 for the Caltech

That must be a math-english subscore....

Personally, I got a 1590 for the SAT math-english subscore, and a 2250 overall. 35 on the ACT.

But, as the top colleges say and it seems like, SAT/ACT give diminishing returns. After a certain point (probably 34 ACT/2300 SAT), a high score doesn't really matter; you can handle the workload.

A lot of SAT and/or some amounts of legal bribery.... :lol:

True that.

 

[Urwumpe]

That must be a math-english subscore....

Oh, I calculated with the new 2016 SAT scores, which go back to 1600 max instead of the current 2400 max scores.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

That must be a math-english subscore....

Personally, I got a 1590 for the SAT math-english subscore, and a 2250 overall. 35 on the ACT.

But, as the top colleges say and it seems like, SAT/ACT give diminishing returns. After a certain point (probably 34 ACT/2300 SAT), a high score doesn't really matter; you can handle the workload.


True that.

This reminds me of the painful memories of taking the SAT....the 2 English sections are soooo hard for me who uses it as a secondary language (well, for a dozen years)....

Oh wait, I still got 2140..... :facepalm:

(P.S. What is the math-english subscore?)

 

[Artlav]

A parallel question - do you have to pay for the education in either regardless, or do you only pay if you failed to get a high enough score?

In Russian universities there is usually a free passing score, and below it is a paid passing score.

 

[meson800]

(P.S. What is the math-english subscore?)

I've seen a couple colleges that only count the reading and math sections added together. I would guess that they do that because if you do the essay with the SAT, the writing section score changes.

A parallel question - do you have to pay for the education in either regardless, or do you only pay if you failed to get a high enough score?

In Russian universities there is usually a free passing score, and below it is a paid passing score.

You have to pay for it, minus scholarships and financial aid.

Unfortunately, for the top schools, there are no merit scholarships (MIT, Caltech). One thing though is colleges are switching to "need-met" financial aid- they calculate how much they think you can afford to pay and only charge you that much.

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------

It looks like, for example, at Caltech, even though tutition+room and board+everything else is $63,000, the average financial aid package is $38,756 (so it would be $24,244 per year, which still sucks )

 

[Urwumpe]

It looks like, for example, at Caltech, even though tutition+room and board+everything else is $63,000, the average financial aid package is $38,756 (so it would be $24,244 per year, which still sucks )

And I complained about 1500 €/year for Braunschweig...

 

[Unstung]

It looks like, for example, at Caltech, even though tutition+room and board+everything else is $63,000, the average financial aid package is $38,756 (so it would be $24,244 per year, which still sucks )

Tuition fees for Caltech are $44k annually. That's four times the cost of an in-state, public university. Both public and private universities will be accredited but one costs a fraction of the other. These assumptions do not even include the potential scholarships one could be awarded from a different university. That's something to think about.

What is it that you hope to gain by going to a more prestigious university that costs as much as a house over four years? Networking?

I'm being harsh but I don't see the purpose of spending so much more to become equally qualified. Due to my personal biases, I did not even bother applying to any out-of-state universities because they would almost certainly be more expensive.

EDIT: I missed the part about the financial aid. If you receive that much, great, but Caltech is still more expensive than an in-state university, excluding scholarships. Have you applied to OSU, for example, to compare prices?

EDIT 2: To come clean, I'm not amused by people who flaunt their fortune. I find being an engineering major discouragingly difficult even at my mere public school, hugely impacting my confidence. It may turn out that I'm horrible at problem solving, but there are classes that I can put in 20 hours of effort weekly yet barely pass. Maybe that will give you an idea of what you might be getting into, or as I said, I could just be a special case.

 

[Urwumpe]

What is it that you hope to gain by going to a more prestigious university that costs as much as a house over four years? Networking?

Exactly that. Also it can mean participation in more interesting research projects, if you have some special interests.

But if you look at the careers of successful managers, aborting your studies at such an university (again: Advantages of networking are clearly visible) or attending a less-prestigious university first and go to such a university as post-graduate is better.

 

[Unstung]

Exactly that. Also it can mean participation in more interesting research projects, if you have some special interests.

But if you look at the careers of successful managers, aborting your studies at such an university (again: Advantages of networking are clearly visible) or attending a less-prestigious university first and go to such a university as post-graduate is better.

One has to still devote time and effort to make good contacts. If coursework ends up requiring too much time and networking becomes impossible, then going to a more prestigious school is pointless.

 

[Urwumpe]

One has to still devote time and effort to make good contacts. If coursework ends up requiring too much time and networking becomes impossible, then going to a more prestigious school is pointless.

But it is simpler, if the "entertainment program" at the university is all about networking.

 

[Hielor]

What do you want to do with your education?

If you want to get a bachelor's and go straight into a job, a large public school is fine. As long as the school's program is large enough to draw recruiters from your desired companies, after you get hired it doesn't matter.

If you want to get a master's degree before heading out into the workforce...again, a large public school is fine. As long as the program is accredited, once you've gotten into the master's program nobody cares where you went for your undergrad.

If you want to go into commercial research, see above. It's just a specialized job.

The only career course for which I think going to such a prestigious school for undergraduate work would be if you want to get into university research. In that case, you can make contacts with professors earlier on and get a bit of a leg up over people from another school--but not that much of a leg up. It's also worth remembering that a lot of the larger public schools (I went to UT-Austin, for example) have research as well. It would be a lot better for your future research possibilities for you to go to a school where people are doing research you'd be interested in, and that may not necessarily be Caltech or MIT.

It's also worth noting that the people responsible for determining what your family can afford to pay for college have a rather distorted version of reality, and there will invariably be a difference between what they think you can afford to pay and what you can actually afford to pay. Their goal isn't "make sure you can get through college without accruing debt," it's "make this person think they can afford to go to our college so we make money off of them." Student loans will likely be an expected part of your contribution, and those are never fun.

My recommendation would be to spend a lot of time thinking about what your actual goal is, and not to be blinded by a big name school, since it may not make a difference in the long run.

 

[fsci123]

That must be a math-english subscore....

Personally, I got a 1590 for the SAT math-english subscore, and a 2250 overall. 35 on the ACT.

But, as the top colleges say and it seems like, SAT/ACT give diminishing returns. After a certain point (probably 34 ACT/2300 SAT), a high score doesn't really matter; you can handle the workload.


True that.

I took the sat recently and I got a 640 in math and a 650 in reading...with a 300 in writing. I'm going to try to take it maybe 2 more times to get a higher score since I was distracted but the results will arrive too late for submission. If I do apply And I get accepted I may take the year off and attend in 2016.

 

[meson800]

Tuition fees for Caltech are $44k annually. That's four times the cost of an in-state, public university. Both public and private universities will be accredited but one costs a fraction of the other. These assumptions do not even include the potential scholarships one could be awarded from a different university. That's something to think about.

I will think about that.

EDIT: I missed the part about the financial aid. If you receive that much, great, but Caltech is still more expensive than an in-state university, excluding scholarships. Have you applied to OSU, for example, to compare prices?

Yes. At least from the other schools that have returned financial aid offers/ scholarships, the difference between private and public is on the level of 15-30%

EDIT 2: To come clean, I'm not amused by people who flaunt their fortune. I find being an engineering major discouragingly difficult even at my mere public school, hugely impacting my confidence. It may turn out that I'm horrible at problem solving, but there are classes that I can put in 20 hours of effort weekly yet barely pass. Maybe that will give you an idea of what you might be getting into, or as I said, I could just be a special case.

I'm sorry if my posts have come across as flaunting or bragging. My impetuous for my original post was to see if there were any Caltech alum/students on OF.

But it is simpler, if the "entertainment program" at the university is all about networking.

What do you mean?

What do you want to do with your education?

If you want to get a bachelor's and go straight into a job, a large public school is fine. As long as the school's program is large enough to draw recruiters from your desired companies, after you get hired it doesn't matter.

If you want to get a master's degree before heading out into the workforce...again, a large public school is fine. As long as the program is accredited, once you've gotten into the master's program nobody cares where you went for your undergrad.

If you want to go into commercial research, see above. It's just a specialized job

I agree. An additional benefit of public schools is more of my APs/dual enrollment credits transfer.

My recommendation would be to spend a lot of time thinking about what your actual goal is, and not to be blinded by a big name school, since it may not make a difference in the long run.

My question is are there actually education benefits? I would like to believe that having a more prestigious university would attract better professers etc which would result in a better education, but I wonder how large that benefit, if it exists, is.

 

[Urwumpe]

What do you mean?

If more evening events at the university are about meeting managers, you get an idea.