Chances: Caltech to UPenn?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi all,
I'm a freshman at Caltech, and was wondering what you think my chances might be for a successful transfer to the Wharton School next year, whether it would be something worth doing, and what kind of financial aid UPenn would shell out for a family making ~50-60k/year, with hefty medical expenses totalling 50k from a bypass operation in 2004.</p>

<p>You might be wondering why I would transfer, and the reason is that I've really discovered I don't particularly like math or science -- at least, not enough to major in them. Given that Caltech is such a painfully focused school, this presents a problem. They do have a business major, but it's probably not the best, and if I'm going to do business, I figure I should go to Wharton, anyway -- I hear it's the best there is (is this true?).</p>

<p>Now, Caltech is pass-fail for the first two terms (we're in the middle of second term right now), so I don't have any real grades yet (and the school doesn't record your percentages for P-F classes); what I can tell you is that I've passed every class so far. These classes include:
Math 1a
Chem 1a
Physics 1a
Computer Science 1
Knowledge and Reality (Philosophy class)</p>

<p>For a total of 45 units (a unit is one hour of work per week, though most classes are under-united; a more realistic number would be 60).</p>

<p>I'm taking 51 units this term (considered a heavy load even by Caltech standards), and passing everything (so far....fingers crossed).</p>

<p>I don't know if high school stuff matters in transfer admissions, but here are my stats:
1550 SAT I
800 SAT II Writing
760 SAT II Chem
750 SAT II Math II
AP National Scholar (I passed 14 AP tests w/ an avg. score of 4.5+, and I only had classes for 3 of the tests)
AP Scholar with Honor
AP Scholar with Distinction
Washington State Scholar (the highest scholarly distinction awarded by Washington State)
National Merit Commended Student
Ninth place (out of 700) in Washington state Knowledge Bowl
Ranked #1 out of ~400 in HS class
UW GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: ~4.1 (I got A's in all AP's offered)
I speak/read/write German (the Hochdeutsch or "High German" dialect) and Russian (the Muscovite dialect)
President of German club
Knowledge Bowl team captain
Hi-Q team captain (another knowledge competition)
Section leader, concert band (alto saxophone)
Amateur opera singer (I prefer Wagner, but Mozart has his moments)
Member, National Honor Society (not a big distinction, but hey)</p>

<p>That's all I can think of for now, but there may have been more.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help! It still amazes me there are so many nice people here to help out young folks in need.</p>

2

<p>Don't be shy, speak up....I have a hard time believing ALL of you have no opinion. :)</p>

3

<p>I would say you are in at Wharton. You have a great reason to transfer and a top academic record regardless of the first year passes.</p>

4

<p>I don't undetstand why you wanna transfer out of Caltech. You seem to be doing really well there.</p>

5

<p>If he wants to go into business, both Caltech and Wharton can get you there. But I totally understand not wanting to go to such a techie school.</p>

6

<p>Rooster:
You're right, I am doing pretty well. For me, it's just a matter of interest. I get the feeling the business major at Caltech isn't top-notch (though not bad), and that Wharton might (?) have a better program. What are your feelings on it? Thanks!</p>

<p>slipper:
Thanks for the input. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.</p>

<p>All:
Do you think the benefit of transferring to Penn in terms of education quality (I'm talking about business and maybe social sciences here) would be worth it? Are there any of you out there with experience with Caltech and/or Penn who could share some anecdotes, pointers, etc., that might help me decide? Could you tell me how the social life compares between Caltech and UPenn?<br>
(sorry for all the questions!)
Thanks again!</p>

7

<p><strong><em>bump</em></strong></p>

8

<p>you can get in to the school, but i don't think anyone who is not a senior from high school can get into their joint degree program, b/c they are for freshmen only!
plus, wat's wrong with caltech?</p>

9

<p>Can I ask you what other schools you were admitted to last April? That would really help in assessing the strength of your recommendations, essays, and other intangible factors. Although transfer admissions are usually more competitive, that could give us a good starting point from which to help you out. On the surface, your chances look strong. However, it's nice to get more information where one can find it.</p>

<p>Or did you apply Early Action to CalTech, get admitted, and then withdraw all of your other applications?</p>

<p>Joey</p>

10

<p>To answer your question, I think you are strong and "admissions"-attractive enough to warrant a transfer.</p>

<p>Having that said, do you really want to leave Caltech? It's a dream for many persons to matriculate into that school, myself included.</p>

11

<p>Well according to usnews, Penn last year took 369 out of 1775 for transfer (20.8%), I don't know if Wharton has its own admissions. That's roughly Penn's freshman admit rate. You don't have a gpa, but you do have 1- a good high school record, 2- you're at a top school with a heavy workload, 3- a compelling reason to transfer.</p>

<p>I think you'd have as good a shot as anyone. I don't think <em>educational quality</em> would be any different at Penn, but you wouldn't be transferring for that reason. An obvious advantage to Wharton- you'd be surrounded by lots more people with same interests.</p>

<p>Social life- can't compare because I don't know Caltech, but I went to Penn 4 yrs for grad school, and if you want you can have a very good time at Penn.</p>

12

<p>Newbyreborn:
Nothing's wrong with Caltech. I'm just beginning to realize my interests may be elsewhere.</p>

<p>jprencipe:
My other admissions (as far as I can remember them) were: Cornell, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, UMich, and U Washington.</p>

<p>Fabrizio:
You bring up a good point. Caltech is, for many, a dream school. I'm just gathering information in the hopes of making an informed decision.</p>

<p>2331clk:
Thanks for your help. Even though you were a grad student, what was your perception of the school's level of concern for undergrads? Are the profs there more of the "teacher" variety or the "research" variety?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

13

<p>Falstaff:
If you've decided against Engineering, get out of CalTech. It has a zero reputation as a business school. </p>

<p>Before you decide on your list of transfer schools, think about where you might want to live and work. If you're OK with the East Coast, you can't beat Wharton or Econ at Harvard or Yale. </p>

<p>For the West Coast, look at Econ at Stanford. Or, if you like the SoCal sunshine, look at USC--you will graduate with connections all over Southern California.</p>

<p>One more thing, I thinkStanford's Engineering program allows you to major in Engineering Management. That might be worth a look since you obviously like science and engineering--even if you don't love it (at least not right now).</p>

<p>Also consider this: CalTech has a reputation for making life miserable for students, you might ENJOY engineering at Stanford or even MIT.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

14

<p>I have a friend at CalTech who absolutely hates the social life, and I think that will improve tremendously if you transfer. At Penn, people work really hard but play really hard too, and there are always things to do, whether it's in the city or around campus.</p>

<p>If you really are interested in straying from math/engineering and going into business, I would look at the Wharton curriculum, because it's very specific. You have to take the core classes (which, in reality, aren't the greatest classes), but they get better when you begin higher level classes (which is true, I'm sure, for most schools.)</p>

<p>I think one of the biggest values of Wharton is the Wharton name and the insane recruiting that goes on around campus. People are interviewing all the time and many of the big companies come on campus to recruit. You're almost guaranteed a job graduating from Wharton, plus the alumni connections are great. (I can't speak for Caltech though)</p>

15

<p>Falstaff, if you do not want to major in a science/Engineering field, trasnfer out of CalTech, but I think a person with your special gifts should at least major in a field that is academic rather than Business. As such, I would urge you to look into transfering to Harvard, Stanford or MIT and double major in Economics and Math or something less limited than Business. Just my two cents.</p>