A Curious Difference Between Caltech and other Elite Colleges

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>Most people I know who are not interested in science (Joe the Plumber?) haven’t heard of MIT or Caltech. Most people I know who are interested in science have heard of both. Maybe this is because the town I live in is surrounded by (and largely made up of) farms, but I didn’t realize there was much in between…</p>

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<p>I bet it’s because Gordon Freeman got his Ph.D in Theoretical Physics at MIT rather than Caltech.</p>

<p>…</p>

<p>I personally believe that it’s mostly the small size: less people graduating to spread the word about it. Not that I mind, I’d rather have less competition to get in ;D.</p>

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<p>“Is that like ITT” I LOL’ed</p>

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<p>CalTech is ridiculously prestigious, mostly perceived as the scientific genius school amongst the masses. I think the Big Bang Theory really helped with spreading CalTech’s name though. Those who don’t know what CalTech is account for the lower end of the proletariat, disregard them.</p>

<p>My question for you techies is how you think people perceive Princeton.</p>

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<p>it’s because MIT is superior</p>

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<p>Hahaha, gotta agree with ib6. Go Big Bang Theory!!!</p>

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<p>Well, everyone knows MIT because of a certain wicked smaht janitor. Everyone knows Princeton because of a certain crazy man.</p>

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<p>And soon people will know Caltech because of certain tall, nerdy theoretical physicist with 2 PhDs (and his four friends.)!</p>

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<p>^ So I meant to hint :D</p>

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<p>UChicago is a rigorous and highly ranked school, but people think it’s just another random school unless they actually read USNWR</p>

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<p>Caltech is slightly more slanted toward pure science in comparison to MIT in spite of Caltech’s high engineering ranking. I don’t know if it’s atmosphere or what.<br>
Anyway, so I think that’s why people who are knowledgeable don’t tend to refer to Caltech when they talk about engineering schools.</p>

<p>There are others, of course, who mix it up with Cal Poly and who probably think MIT is in Michigan, but that’s a whole different issue.</p>

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<p>it’s really quite strange that Caltech’s not very well known outside of the scientific community. (ok at least my spell-checker knows Caltech for it capitalized it LOL)</p>

<p>physics and chemistry seem like slow-moving fields nowadays. perhaps that add to the “lower” profile of the institute.</p>