<p>I’m getting a lot of pressure to go to Caltech because of Caltech’s science program. I really loved the atmosphere at Amherst, but I was wondering if there was any data on the strength of Amherst’s science program, that may help me get into grad schools etc. Thanks.</p>
<p>I don't know if this helps (I know things are due today) but I recently had a deliemma between Cornell and Amherst for Biology. While I love Cornell's course offerings I wasn't too crazy about the large classes and liked the overall atmosphere at Amherst better. My parents, who went to really large, impersonal schools, convinced me that I would like it much better at Amherst since I'm such an interactive person and that not having all the esoteric Cornell Biology classes wouldn't matter too much in the long run because that's what graduate school is for. I chose Amherst but I am still nervous about it. Whatever you choose is great, I just felt that I would be happier at Amherst.</p>
<p>Kamikazewave, Caltech is the way to go of course if you want to do science in the future...Caltech is AMAAAZINNNNG and probably one of the most reknowned universities in the world!! Amherst is small and sweet and very comfy but liberal-artsy and science there is OBVIOUSLY not as good as amherst..choose wisely</p>
<p>Here's my $.02. It depends on how sure you are about pursuing science, and how interested you are in discplines outside of science. If you are dead-set on science and nothing else, there is no better place than Caltech. However, if you also enjoy the humanities and social sciences, and are not 100% sure you want to be a scientist, then I would suggest Amherst. At Amherst you can still get a great science education and get into good graduate schools, and also take classes in a variety of disciplines that you are interested in, and you might find something other than science that interests you.</p>
<p>Here's a focussed call to make, even at this late hour:</p>
<p>Contact the alumni department at Amherst to see where their science grads went off to for grad school, during the past 5-10 years. </p>
<p>While you're on hold there, see if you feel you have enough undergrad science courses from the course catalogue at Amherst (and the Five Colleges) to keep you happy as a scientist. Read the faculty biographies of the science teachers at Amherst. Assume/imagine a better (than Caltech) exposure to the thinking and friendship of smart people in every other discipline, which you might value as a scientist forever. Then, if you like the sound of where the Amherst grads go to for science grad school, then that's a reason to go to Amherst.<br>
My S was "artsy" there but a very close friend studied string theory in Physics and is working on a PhD at Brandeis now...that's just one guy..best to check your own field for its outcome/ graduates. Both young men were in choir because the physicist also loved music.
In other words, OF COURSE you can be a scientist from Amherst. The presence of others studying other disciplines could only enlarge your thinking -- as a scientist.</p>
<p>Here's an interesting little tidbit: <a href="http://www.collegejournal.com/special/top50feeder.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegejournal.com/special/top50feeder.pdf</a></p>
<p>Amherst ranked 9th for getting applicants into top grad schools on a percentage basis, Caltech ranked 28th.</p>
<p>At Amherst, you will get world-class instruction on an intimate and personal level. Additionally, you may be one of a handful of science majors on the Amherst campus competing for professors' attention, as opposed to the multitudes of science majors at Caltech. </p>
<p>You may not be on the cutting edge of research, but there are definite research opportunities starting freshman year at Amherst where you get the opportunity to work closely with professors in their works (many with authorship), and you will be as well educated as you would have been at Caltech (probably better considering the superiority of Amherst's humanities departments).</p>
<p>AMHERST!</p>
<p>Amherst is a great place to do science if you also want to broaden your horizons in humanities and social sciences and have friends with a wider range of interests, in addition to pursuing your passion in science.<br>
My roomate junior year was a Physics major who went to grad school at Yale, and later was a professor at Princeton and UVa. Several of my classmates in the Chem department went to Harvard (two) and Cornell (one, to work with Nobel Prize winner Roald Hoffman) for Ph.D. programs. All of them took literature, language, and social science courses seriously and felt it was an important part of their general education. I think Harold Varmus epitomizes this type of education: English major at Amherst, Masters in Medieval Literature at Harvard, M.D. at Columbia, Faculty member and Nobel Prize winner for Medicine for basic science research in virology and cancer at UCSF. It seems that Amherst still is doing a great job training young scientists as two students were selected as Churchill Scholars this year and will do research at Cambridge University. Not bad for a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>
Hey, no, that's just not true - no need to lie here. Those rankings are for law, business, and medical school and have nothing to do with graduate school. Caltech has an enormous advantage over Amherst in graduate school (specifically PhD) placement, but really, both of those statistics have more to do with the overall focus of the applicant pools.</p>
<p>
You do realize that Caltech has a 3:1 student faculty ratio, and that the ratio of faculty roughly corresponds to the ratio of students in majors, so what you're saying is completely false. Indeed, there are around 40 physics professors at Caltech with about 120 total physics majors at any given time (for all four years).</p>
<p>
Meh, part of the strength of the Caltech science education is the availability of very strong graduate classes and a very strong peer group focused in science; Amherst has neither of these so I think you really have nothing to base this claim on (besides getting a more 'rounded' education).</p>
<p>But Caltech is where fun goes to die!</p>
<p>My host told me that too...</p>
<p>but yeah, now it seems as if Amherst could be great for me as well.</p>
<p>My parents are paying for my schooling though, and they told me they wanted me to go to Caltech. I just sent in my stuff. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the helpful responses everyone. It may very well be that I made a huge mistake, and didn't really fit in or belong at Caltech. In that case I hope Amherst accepts me as a transfer student in the future...hopefully I didn't make a mistake though.</p>
<p>Thanks again everyone. Met a lot of really cool people at pre-frosh, hope we cross paths again.</p>
<p>Kamikazewave,
I know I gave a strong sell for Amherst but I think you should go where your heart is set. CalTech undergraduate is small, and thus has some of the intimacy and community that Amherst has, just a very different student body and focus. On the other hand, if you are very passionate about science, and it certainly seems you are, the research and other opportunities for undergrads will be unparalleled. CalTech is a great university but it also provides a great undergraduate science education due to the small size of its undergraduate class. I personally think you will have much more faculty contact and research opportunities than say MIT which is a great university but harder for some undergrads to navigate due to its size. Wish you a wonderful college experience ahead!</p>
<p>good luck to you kamikazewave, I'm sure Caltech will work out great for you.</p>
<p>cghen- </p>
<p>Med schools, business schools, and law schools ARE graduate schools. So, yes, on a percentage basis, as of 2005 (when this list was compiled), Amherst performs better in applying to what they deem "top grad schools." There's nothing false in that statement.</p>
<p>I will, however, concede that you're right about the whole science major thing...I know very little about Caltech, and I guess I was wrong about superior focus at Amherst. </p>
<p>You still can't go wrong with sciences at Amherst, though.</p>
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<p>But even if that were not the case, the whole point is that the work that you cited was only covering med, law, and business school. Hence it did not include masters or PhD programs - the two that are the most relevant for science majors - i.e. that ranking still has nothing to do with the OPs question.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's help again. To be truthful I never met a cooler group than the people at Amherst. Peace out and hope we all meet again, maybe in graduate school :).</p>