<p>I received my letter of admission to CALTECH today. This is one of the happiest moments of my life. After returning home from my Intro to Japanese class--which is taught by a rather animated and easy-to-amuse Japanese woman--I saw this gray envelope with tiny rectangular orange strip from CALTECH on the sofa and I immediately assumed that I was rejected. But alas, it was an offer of admission to one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Now, ladies and gentlemen, here is my dilemma: I ALREADY SUBMITTED AN SIR TO CAL YESTERDAY. And I'm not sure if I really want to go CALTECH, not because I don't like it, but because it approximately costs $50,000/year and most transfers start as sophomores, unlike CAL where they start as juniors. I know this decision is solely mine, but I need advice from anyone. Most folks at my community college, including the all knowing counselors, don't even what CALTECH is; someone even corrected me, saying that, "Do you mean Cal Pomona." If anyone plans to transfer to CALTECH, let me know if I could be of help. You need not be a genius. Trust me, you do not. I employ all to try; it doesn't hurt.
Thanks,</p>
<p>I would say go to Caltech, just because I live in Pasadena and I would love to go there (even though im not into math and science haha)
the man thing is, will you be able to pay for it? If not, or it would be a lot cheaper to go to Cal (not sure what your financial aid package is like for both schools) then I would say go to Cal and then for grad school go to Caltech</p>
<p>but if money is the same for both I would say go to Caltech</p>
<p>Congratulations!
You have a few things to consider-- which one has a better department? (your intended major’s), whats the monetary difference?, do you plan to go to grad school?
Caltech isn’t as familiar as Stanford, MIT, or Harvard among “common” people, but, i can promise you, that it’s very well known among professionals (google, yahoo, and etc…). Besides, no one should go to a school because of its name only.
You are given a unique opportunity, and it’s solely your decision whether to take it or not.</p>
<p>Yeah, i got a community college and a lot of ppl dont even know what Cornell University is, not even my transfer advisor knows what Cornell University is. I as so excited to tell other ppl and they were like “huh…” but regardless im going to attend Cornell.</p>
<p>Wow… firstly, I sure know what Caltech implies, so congratulations! If your intended major is in the sciences, Caltech’s intimate campus is much much better than Berkeley’s enormous campus/student population. I’d say Caltech.</p>
<p>I’ll be visiting Caltech next week to talk with my admission officer and to take a tour around this “dignified, educational Guantanamo bay.” If I like the experience, I’ll withdraw my SIR from CAL and head for my cell in September.</p>
<p>haha yay!
plus there is a show about people from there, The Big Bang Theory
is there one about students from cal? i dont think so (if there is then that is news to me! lol)</p>
<p>also if you want to know anything about the city, such as the best places to eat, the cheap movie theater (2 bucks before 6pm, 3 after!), what to do, dont be afraid to pm me :)</p>
<p>but they arent students are they? i thought they were faculty there? considering sheldon got like his masters when he was 16 or whatever it was… at least thats the impression i got :P</p>
<p>HOWEVER, that would make a lot of sense because i always wondered how sheldon and leonard together(both being faculty at a super famous, awesome school), could only afford to live in the same place as penny does on her own(being a cheesecake factory waitress)… the reason i say afford is because 1. sheldon says if he could afford it, hed kick leonard out… and 2. in the first episode when they go to donate sperm, theyre doing it so they can afford better internet </p>
<p>sorry this post isnt about what youre talking about, but yea :P</p>
<p>like i said b4, id probably go caltech, but then again, the environment is very important :)</p>
<p>As I currently attend a school similar to Caltech in the sense that it is among the very top tier of schools, I can tell you there is a big advantage to going there. People who matter know what kind of school Caltech is and it will really help you. I know that I have gotten interview for jobs and internships just because of the school I go to. I also know that I am one step ahead of most other people because of the name and reputation of school I go to.</p>
<p>yo barry, its ben from your bio winter class LOL. just randomly ran into this thread when i was checking the USC blog. congrats on cal and caltech</p>
Hey, what’s up Ben? I suppose you got an ‘A’ in the Bio class. I’d expect nothing less. So, what mischief are you currently up to? And thanks for hollering. Peace out Bro.</p>
<p>Haha of course . I just received my acceptance letter from USC for Economics, but I might not stick with it and choose to graduate with a social science major instead. Have you made a decision yet?</p>
<p>First, I have to say Go MIT! Always been a fan. But CalTech is an amazing school and one of the most difficult to get accepted!</p>
<p>With that said, having submitted an SIR to berkeley does not mean that you have to go there. Colleges know that people are still receiving acceptance/decline letters. Just inform Berkeley that you will not be attending, you will lose your deposit, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>It is an expensive school, but the quality of education, and the prestige behind the name can never be matched.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, even if barely, I would highly suggest you go to CalTech.</p>
at least thats the impression i got :P</p>