<p>I called Caltech and the admission officer say if you don't pass the transfer exam in physics and mathematics they won't even read the application. It seems a significant number of applicant don't even pass the test.</p>
<p>The reason I called them in the first place was because I wanted to know what's a competitive score on those exams. For example, I took the math and physics exam and I think I got 7 problems out of 8 (on both exams) right. Would that be considered "great" or "good enough to consider." Or would "good" be something like 50%?</p>
<p>Anyway, one more thing. From the caltech website it seems Caltech accept more percentage of people from 2 year colleges than 4 years colleges when it comes to transfers. </p>
<p>I'm just really curious to why. Shouldn't 4 years colleges be more competitive?</p>
<p>I don't have any insider information, but 7/8 correct answers is very good. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm just really curious to why. Shouldn't 4 years colleges be more competitive?
[/quote]
Yeah, it's a little strange. The best rationale I can come up with is that people at two year colleges could be more motivated to improve from where they were in high school.</p>
<p>I believe I've read somewhere that the average two-year college student spends more hours per week on academics than the average four-year college student. I'm not really convinced that most four-year colleges are all that competitive.</p>
<p>If that is true.... then I just completely waisted the application fee. I wonder what they define as "Pass." If "Pass" is 30%, then I might be in the running. I think those tests were brutal. I've aced every class that had material covered on those exams yet many of those questions I couldn't figure out in the length of the exam.</p>
<p>I don't want to talk too much about the details of the exams even though they had to be returned to Caltech on the first of this month for fear that my application could be rejected, but I’ll make a more philosophical statement about how I feel about the exams and their impact on me. </p>
<p>I was first under the impression that I or any of the examinees wasn't expected to prepare heavily for the exams. I didn't believe that I was required to memorize equations and that the exams would test the general reasoning and more or less our conceptual understanding of the material comparatively like the SATs but for students who have more math and science. It ended up that I had a lot of other school work due which is of greater priority to me during the same the time frame that the entrance exams had to be taken, thus I spent virtually no time preparing for them. I didn’t think that would put me at too much of a disadvantage</p>
<p>In every one of my classes thus far, my instructors have told me that we were not required or even desirable to know the derivation of many of the equations that we use in class as long as we know that they can be derived. I've been told that the derivations were taught in graduate school and were usually beyond the scope of my undergraduate courses. I felt that many of the exam questions required you to either memorized rather specific equations or know how to derive them on the spot. I ended up not answering many of those questions with an equation or number which was ask for, but rather just stating conceptually what should happen and if I had the equations, how I would use them to solve the problem.</p>
<p>I can't accurately predict the percentage that I have earned and how other examinees feel. I have no idea what is actually being tested for in these exams. I don't know if we were being tested on the approached instead of the final solutions or simply our reaction to problems where we needed to derive an equation that we are not yet supposed to be able to do until graduate school, according to my instructors in lecture. Perhaps they actually are testing the examinees ability to derive and prove the equations.</p>
<p>My much larger concern is not with doing well on these exams and getting admitted to Caltech, but with my current education. If these exams among other things show that the education that I’m currently receiving (and acing my way through) is really not equivalent to the education of the schools of the other applicants as advertised by my university and the accreditation licenses, it would not only be extremely upsetting to me (I wont be prepared enough for graduate school), but would be an issue I feel I should take action upon. One of my reasons for applying to transfer is that I feel my current college is so oriented towards getting the students out to work in the local industry that much of the more theoretical education which I feel is very important is being lost or de-emphasized.</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m just taking this out of proportion because I feel I should have done better.</p>
<p>It's true that Caltech puts a lot of emphasis on derivations and theoretical approaches. That's why linear algebra is taught before multivariate calculus and special relativity before magnetism here, which I believe is not how it is done at most schools. </p>
<p>Best of luck, Brendank. You seem like an intelligent and ambitious student; I'm sure you'll do well in grad school no matter what. :)</p>
<p>I am planning to transfer to CalTech next year. Since you have already taken Placement Exam, can you tell me more about it? In addition, can you update any sample test?</p>
<p>I don’t think the “not supposed to do this until graduate school” rule applies to Caltech, in general. Bear in mind that upper level classes that you would take at Caltech junior/senior year are also taken by graduate students. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about not being prepared for graduate school just because of Caltech’s transfer exam.</p>
<p>A1rr32A, this thread is over two years old. The people you are asking probably aren’t around to answer your question any longer. You might want to make a new thread.</p>
<p>@ A1rr32A, while we (people who took the exam) cannot tell you any specifics of the exam, I can tell you that you might find it beneficial to look at various home work problems (problem sets). If you have a particular question, I’ll be happy to answer (I’m a transfer student).</p>
I want to transfer to Caltech, but I want to make sure I prepare for the entrance exam, I know no one can tell me exactly what’s on the exam but can anyone give me a clue of what should I be studying, or what can help me prepare for it?
@wanderbread You just necroed an 8 year old thread. Really pretty sure they’re gone at this point; I would recommend just starting your own thread. In addition, I would do some more digging on this site because there are at least a few recent transfer threads on here that I can recall. As far as studying is concerned, a good place to start would be the Caltech core websites. Try the old quiz/HW problems posted on them.