<p>I heard Cal Tech is harder than MIT because MIT tries to admit and enroll more women.</p>
<p>This sounds so much like a ■■■■■…</p>
<p>Caltech also gives females a boost.</p>
<p>Caltech, at least officially, doesn’t practice affirmative action, gender or otherwise. I’ve had several friends work for the admissions committee, and they make a big point of this. The recent change in gender ratio of the incoming classes (this year, 63/37 m/f) has been accompanied by large increases in the number of female applicants. There are probably some administrators that want to give some sort of preference to URM’s or women or recruited athletes, but it’s very hard to know if they’re having any effect versus the recent increased efforts to recruit such students AFTER they’ve been admitted. In reality, I really don’t know if they’re unofficially giving certain groups a boost. But admissions has to admit people that they think can do the work.</p>
<p>I don’t see what the gender ratio has to do with difficulty. The Caltech vs MIT and which one is “harder” thing has been done to death. I think it’s naive to try and debate how one is somehow “harder” than the other. People often try to compare the difficulty and amounts of the minimum requirements for their core curriculums or various majors; this completely ignores the fact that by their nature, most Caltech and MIT students go well beyond the minimum in what they do. And the atmosphere is collaborative, not competitive. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, you should just feel privileged if you have the opportunity to study at either place at some point in your career. And if you don’t, that’s ok too, because there are many other programs at other schools that can be just as good (and sometimes, even better).</p>
<p>^^First put on your critical thinking glasses. Then look at the data, which is available for all to see. (Caltech publishes its Common Data Set.) Then come back with the spin. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>CalTech does not practice affirmative action. Look at the gender and ethnic make-up of the school.</p>
<p>CalTech is “harder” in the sense that neither faculty members nor administrators will go easy on a given student, barring extraordinary circumstances. Most everyone at CalTech “deserves” to be there. No excuses–if you fall, you will fall hard.</p>
<p>MIT, on the other hand, faculty and administrators face overwhelming pressure to ensure that affirmative action enrollees graduate from the institution. A given student may indirectly benefit from whatever policies such authorities may implement to accommodate these special cases, and, in that respect, MIT may be easier overall.</p>
<p>…How is trying to enroll women relevant? I get the point, but it is an insult to STEM females that get into schools on their own merit.
Caltech is 40% female, MIT is 45% which is pretty close.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Try again.
Caltech: 34% female
MIT: 45% female</p>
<p>That would imply that MIT gives a 32% preference to females. </p>
<p>[Caltech</a> Profile - California Institute of Technology - Find SAT Scores and Admissions Data in this Caltech Profile](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/Caltech_Profile.htm]Caltech”>Caltech: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores)
[MIT</a> Profile - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/MIT_Profile.htm]MIT”>MIT: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores)</p>
<p>Applications Caltech 2010 - There is preference at Caltech too.</p>
<p>C1 men appl 3,685
C1 women appl 1,174
C1 men admit 338
C1 women admit 272<br>
C1 men enroll 133
C1
C1 women enroll 89</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>ok, let’s…</p>
<p>Again, using Caltech’s own published reports:</p>
<p>Male admit rate: 390/3318 = 12%</p>
<p>Female admite rate: 26%</p>
<p>Difference: 26/12 = 117% in admit rates</p>
<p>Are the female applicants to Caltech more than twice as strong as the male applicants? If not… :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Step down from the soap box and recognize that females receive a boost at all eng/tech schools (as well as undergrad biz), while males tend to receive a boost at many liberal arts colleges without D1 sports. It’s a fact of life that is well documented.</p>
<p>
Using actual data from the colleges:
<a href=“http://finance.caltech.edu/budget/cds2011%20FINAL%204_28_11.pdf[/url]”>http://finance.caltech.edu/budget/cds2011%20FINAL%204_28_11.pdf</a> Caltech 40%
[MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research](<a href=“MIT Institutional Research”>MIT Institutional Research) MIT 45%</p>
<p>By the OP’s logic, the most difficult schools in the US include Hampden-Sydney College,
Morehouse College, Wabash College, and Deep Springs College. ;)</p>
<p>Don’t feed the trolls.</p>
<p>@Sheepgetkilled
Safe to say you got owned, use reliable data sources next time you want to disprove someone :P</p>