<p>Just wonder. What is the strength of MIT over Caltech, and vice versa? I heard Caltech's professor is more of research type, is MIT's professor the same?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is MIT Harder to get in than Caltech?
[/quote]
The difference in admissions chances are minimal ... what stands out is that both schools are absolutely terrifc and both are very-very difficult to gain admitance to.</p>
<p>They look for different things. MIT puts a lot of emphasis on personality while anything other than science and math is useless for gaining admissions into caltech.</p>
<p>He was not feeling so bad when rejected by MIT. Then devestated now because he just found out several of his school mates get in with equal or less caliber. Don't know what to think now. On Saturday morning we were ok because we were pretty sure all these who got in are either research award recipients or Siemans semi finalist, or Intel finalist.. or won math olympiads.. but it is not the case apparently. </p>
<p>Can you tell me more about good thing on Caltech so I can soothe his mind?</p>
<p>According to the Princeton Review list of the hardest schools to get into MIT ranks as number 1. Than I think it is Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and finally Caltech. So MIT is harder to get into. Of course this list could be inaccurate.</p>
<p>Every year my S' school sends around 2 to Harvard, but there are about 8 to 10 to MIT..</p>
<p>Do they tend to do research better than teaching? How about the professors in MIT?</p>
<p>I would say Caltech is harder to get into MIT just because of the fact that Caltech is a much smaller school than MIT, the number of undergrads at MIT being around 4100 and at Caltech 900. (Btw, I am a caltech student ;D</p>
<p>Are they good at teaching? In general..</p>
<p>You will find that many admitted to Caltech get rejected by MIT and vice versa. Difficulty of admission is close to the same. Both MIT and Caltech professors are research oriented. Nationally both are of about the same "prestige" level for science and engineering. Any lists of difficulty to get into in comparison to HYP are pointless. Those colleges have large LAS schools, and comparing admission rates of a college that is mainly science and engineering to such universities is like comparing apples with oranges. Moreover, MIT's admission rate is actually higher than HYP, as is Caltech's but the pool of applicants for both CalTech and MIT are extremely self-selective and have the highest GPAs/test scores over HYP. Caltech's middle 50% range for SAT is, year after year, higher than any college in the US, MIT is second on that factor. If I recall correctly MIT has never been named No.1 in USNews rankings. Caltech was in the 1999 edition (for the year 2000). That ranking service is biased toward HYP because they use those three universities as the model for comparing all others to. Caltech became number one because USNews changed the weight for some factors that year. It was supposed to be a permanent change but the USNews high ups were so aghast that one of HYP was not No.1 that they promptly went back to the older weighting to assure Caltech could never be ranked No. 1 again.</p>
<p>cadad,</p>
<p>Let me see if I can help. My son attends Caltech now. He chose it over MIT a couple of years ago. I wish I could tell why but I don't think it was a decision based on logic. In the end it was a gut decision. I agree with the previous comments about the similarities between the two institutions. There are also significant differences that probably influence the way in which admissions decisions are made.</p>
<p>[I obviously have a view that is biased towards Caltech so please take that into account as you read the rest of this reply]</p>
<p>Caltech has made my son work harder that he ever thought he could or perhaps should. The intensity of the education is such that it absolutely requires love and passion for math and science (which is not news to anybody familiar with the Institute.) It also requires a level of perseverance and determination that forces the students to dig very deep into their will. In return Caltech will almost certainly guarantee that they come out better prepared than they could have at any other place, and more importantly, it will give the confidence that they can tackle any problem (within their field) that is thrown at them. I am sure some students at MIT and other schools have similar experiences but Caltech requires the same commitment and offers the same rewards to everybody.</p>
<p>Size is a significant factor at Caltech. Access to resources, such as top notch research opportunities (e.g. SURF), is there for the asking. Professors are not universally known for the teaching skills but there are good lecturers and they are almost always there to support the students.</p>
<p>Without a doubt the student body is skewed towards the "nerd" side. My son will acknowledge that much. An interesting effect I have observed is that within that population there are differences that were not visible in the context of a high school class. In my son's case he has found out that he has the ability and interest to take on student government and leadership positions. He gave us some indications of this in HS but was never able, or willing, to step our of his comfort zone which was being the math and science "guru." It took him no more that a couple of weeks to figure out that that would not be his role at Caltech. Instead he chose to pursue activities that require dealing with people. I am not sure he would have done this at MIT or other schools with broader student populations. Being that I make a living in the industrial R&D world I can tell you that aspect of his Caltech education will serve him very well. The collaborative environment and forced reliance on each other is another extremely valuable part of the Tech experience.</p>
<p>There are other aspects of Caltech, such as the housing system and the honor code, that are a significant part of what makes Caltech unique but I will leave that for another post. For now I hope this little bit of information helps you convey to your son the fact that being admitted to Caltech is an amazing opportunity and if Caltech is indeed right for him, there is no better place.</p>
<p>At the risk of stepping out of bounds let me finish the message with a personal recommendation about your son's concerns for the admission results of other students in his class. I know this will not be easy but if you can convince him not to compare himself to others a way that makes him "fell devastated" you will do him a great favor. When a student steps into a place like Caltech or other similar schools chances are there will be people with higher and lower credentials than him/her. An open mind and the willingness to learn from everybody else will make his education better and his life easier!</p>
<p>I wouldn't use the princeton review lists as anything definitive. Those lists are based on student polls which - as you can tell - are extremely subjective. If you look at the current list and then go back even just a year - you'll see them dramatically changed. Some schools appearing at the top of certain lists (even no. 1's) drop of lists completely.</p>
<p>Some are good, some are ok, some aren't so ok, but for classes you can almost always find a TA that's absolutely awesome. Most of the professors are pretty hardcore people, i.e. they really know what they're talking about and they're damned good at their research (for the core classes at least, I'm a freshman).</p>
<p>Yesterday when he told one of his friends about the admittance, his friend(admitted to MIT) told him that he did not bother to apply to Caltech but Caltech kept on rcruiting him, that totally threw him off. However later on he started to hear some comment about how difficult to get in Caltech, he then felt better. I think by the end of this month, there will be another of this cycle, I am really not expecting it.</p>
<p>Is Caltech good for premed program?</p>
<p>Antiesdad, thank you very much. I am expecting your another post on Caltech.</p>
<p>This year, five from my school were accepted into Caltech. Four out of the five also applied to MIT. Only one of those four (who attended RSI) was also accepted into MIT.</p>
<p>If you don't have an interview for MIT, the acceptance rate is 6%.</p>
<p>Once you are in range at MIT (in their 50% ranges), your scores really don't matter. MIT wants to see a passion besides science and math. They want to something else, esp. a good essay.</p>
<p>I would imagine Caltech is the same. Remeber, the difference between a 2100 and a 2400 is only minimal. Also, remember that you are competing with many, many applicants all of whom have different strengths.</p>
<p>cadad, getting into caltech is an accomplishment. I hope your son realizes that both are great schools and getting into one is great.</p>
<p>
I'm sure it is in terms of academic preparation, however many other schools are better for getting into medical school. Caltech's GPAs aren't particularly inflated, and it's very tough work. Moreover, all students must take 5 terms of physics and 5 terms of math (3 of each on grades), and most premeds aren't particularly fond of math and physics.</p>
<p>This isn't to say it can't be done - many brilliant people go on to medical school from Caltech, but there are easier and more assured choices.</p>
<p>Also, as for the comments of more students getting into Caltech than MIT from a particular school, maybe MIT values diversity of high schools more than Caltech. Consequently MIT may only accept one to two students per school, where Caltech (to my knowledge) really doesn't care where the students are from so long as they are amazing and are able to do the required work here.</p>
<p>2006 College Results</p>
<p>MIT Accepted
CIT Waitlisted</p>
<p>hmmm... ? lol... but my essays for CIT were really really bad.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech are totally in the same league in terms of prestige. They are the only two engineering college in that league. You may as well try to compare Harvard and Yale and Princeton.</p>
<p>I like MIT 'cause it doesn't make stupid training videos to show in high schools.</p>