College decision: a Caltech perspective

<p>See my original post</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1120610-cornell-vs-caltech-vs-uga.html#post12356223%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1120610-cornell-vs-caltech-vs-uga.html#post12356223&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm a bio major who's interested in PhD/MD-PhD. One of my concern is that:
1) Have you seen Caltech bio students with their GPA toasted getting in top bio grad programs? Conversely, have you seen students who got murdered by Caltech GPAwise who have to go to lower tier school?
2) One of the major concerns coming to institutions like Caltech is the fact that prolific professors have a large number of grad students and post-docs and others. Do you get lost among the crowd? What was your process like? Did the professor directly guide you or indirectly via assigning you to a grad student/post-doc? </p>

<p>Any insights are highly appreciated. Thanks
Boom</p>

<p>So I can lend some insight on this. I’m a senior chem major, but I did bio research and I applied to grad school in bio. </p>

<p>1) What do you consider a “toasted” GPA? Everyone I know who had 3.5+ has done very well in grad school admissions (got into 1st or 2nd choice, with these being places like MIT, Stanford, UNC, Berkeley, etc.) I don’t know how people with 3.0-3.5 fare. With below a 3.0 it’d be very difficult to get into grad school, but I don’t think you would have a problem in the Biology major getting above a 3.0. </p>

<p>2) This is hugely lab dependent. If you work for a particularly famous prof with a large lab, you are unlikely to interact with him/her directly very often. However, if you choose a smaller lab, you will have more direct contact with the PI. (This is the same thing you hear when you apply to grad school, btw). Most labs will have you work with a graduate student or postdoc, at least at first. I don’t think you will find the system very different at any other institution. What I will say is that if you want to do research at Caltech you will have plenty of opportunities to do so. About 80% of our students participate in one way or another. Also I think the quality of our students’ research and the respect other schools have for our faculty definitely shows in graduate school admissions.</p>

<p>Working with a grad student or a postdoc is actually quite beneficial to the UG. The senior chem major I had ended up at Yale.</p>

<p>I love math and science and really want to immerse myself in that particular environment. However, I came from a limited background, and my concern is that I will have to work my butt off and still get bad GPA, and spend more than 15k over the course of 4 yrs than my state school. This is a huge risk. If i screw up in Caltech, everything will be for nothing and I will really regret it.</p>

<p>Nearby Pomona or Mudd would be good alternatives.</p>

<p>Most everyone who enters Caltech has the “Can I make it?” jitters… It is normal to feel that way. You are used to being the very best of the best at your school, and you will be mixed in with others who are all amazing. However, it is true that they will not admit you if you cannot do the work. That is really true. It is a bit daunting to be working with the best minds of our generation, but it also spurs you on to be better than you would be otherwise. You will be challenged at Caltech, no doubt, but challenged in a way to make you push yourself to be better than you would be coming from any other place. Seriously.</p>

<p>I’m exactly in your position… some advice would be really appreciated!</p>

<p>The problem is I would like to go for MD/PhD. Idk if it’s GPA based as normal MD admission. I’m really into research, but wouldn’t like to toast my GPA (namely <3.5). Would a Caltech GPA of below 3.5 pretty much ruins one’s chance of going for MD/PhD programs granted that one has great research experience? Is the admission similar to grad school for bio?</p>

<p>in ur opinion, is Caltech a good place for MD/PhD preparation? How has techers fare in admission in the past?</p>