<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm having trouble with decisions. I was invited to the Vagelos Scholar program at UPenn, but I've also been named a Rabi Scholar for Columbia, gotten admitted to Caltech, and gotten Berkeley Regents. My major is Physics for the first 3, and EECS for Berkeley. Any advice? (I'm interested in not only Physics, but other sciences, Engineering, and possibly Economics, Business and Finance). Thanks!</p>
<p>First, if at all possible visit these places but especially visit Caltech as it is quite different from the other 3 on that list (small, tech school).</p>
<p>Second, Caltech is also very different socially from those 3 schools. Caltech’s social scene is smaller and generally less busy. Most importantly, Caltech students are “nerdy.” Not necessarily socially awkward or shy (I thought Caltech was going to filled with people who didn’t know how to communicate but the vast majority of students are very social), but very math and science oriented. For example, everyone here will not only understand your faster-than-light neutrinos joke but laugh at it too. Tech is full of people like you in terms of the fact that they love science just as much as you do. For some people (like me), being surrounded by nerds is amazing but some people want to be surrounded by people who might love dance, economics, or English just as much as they love physics. Caltech does definitely have people who are also interested in the arts, sports, dance, humanities, etc. (and even quite good at it) but everyone at least loves math/science/engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! They all seem like great options, but the one thing that’s bothering me about Caltech is that I won’t get to pursue Economics and Finance as much as I’d like (at least, that’s my perception, please correct me if I’m wrong) and at Columbia, Wall Street is like right there. Visiting seems like the best thing to do now.</p>
<p>In comparison to Columbia and Wharton, Caltech’s business and economics program is obviously going to be smaller and less well known.</p>
<p>However, Caltech is great for quantitative finance as we focus so much on math here. The economics department is also pretty good but because its small it isn’t great at all topics. It does have a focus in behavioral economics and so we have some really excellent behavioral economics profs here. </p>
<p>As for how much economics or finance you’ll be able to do here while also doing a physics degree, it won’t be as much as at Columbia or Wharton. On average, you’d be able to do roughly one business or economics class per term which is 12 classes over four years which is good but not equal to a business or finance degree at Columbia or Wharton, which would be roughly 24 classes. </p>
<p>If your main focus is to go into finance, Columbia or Wharton probably makes more sense but people do go into finance from Tech and we have a lot of consulting/financial companies recruiting on campus. </p>
<p>Visiting would be good but good luck in making your decision!</p>