<p>Dear members of the Caltech community,</p>
<p>I am a student from Montreal in Canada and ever since I can remember, I have had a great passion and talent for science. After winning numerous scientific research competitions in my country and in international competitions, I more closely investigated the possibility of going to Caltech where I believe I would have received the most rigorous undergraduate science education in the world. However, due to my financial circumstances, I discovered that, since the selection of international students is non need-blind, the most talented students aren't necessarily those who are accepted to attend the institute. I long pondered about the following dilemma: If I did apply and was accepted, would it be because of my favourable financial circumstances over other applicants with similar accomplishments? Likewise, if I were to be rejected, would it be because of more qualified applicants but also richer, less-qualified ones?</p>
<p>I finally decided to apply to MIT and Princeton. Although I still would rather attend Caltech, I prefer being selected by an institution uniquely on the basis of my potential as a scientist rather than on the size of my parents bank account. To all of those who have a voice in the Caltech community, please make every effort to urge this world-class institution to abolish this practise which can only be detrimental to the quality of international students who attend Caltech. Couldnt Caltech offer fewer places for international students but with a need-blind policy?</p>
<p>In retrospect, maybe I should have applied to Caltech regardless of this. However, I am sure that many people, not only I, have reconsidered their choice to submit an application on the basis of a fundamentally flawed admission process. How many extraordinary applicants have given up their top choice, Caltech, for the likes of MIT, Harvard and Princeton? One is already too many.</p>
<p>Thank you for your attention.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Jean Leloup</p>
<p>Jean --</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your thoughtful letter, which raises a huge and legitimate concern. I will pass it on personally to the Director of Admissions.</p>
<p>Ben</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your concern. I look forward to the possibility of going to Caltech in a few years, hopefully as a post-doc or early under the SURF programme.</p>
<p>Best regards,</p>
<p>Jean</p>
<p>Jean, down here in the lower 48, most of us think MIT, Harvard and Princeton are excellent schools. Some misguided individuals might even judge them superior to CalTech. When you write, "How many extraordinary applicants have given up their top choice, Caltech, for the likes of MIT, Harvard and Princeton?" well, that seems very disrespectful. I certainly hope none of the adcoms at these fine institutions see your note.</p>
<p>I doubt that that comment was intended to imply that MIT, Harvard, and Princeton are inferior schools (not to speak for Jean). However, it is sad that Caltech is losing these top students to schools that are <em>both</em> excellent and international-student-friendly, when it's such a good university that it should be attracting talent rather than (talent&&money).<br>
Caltech's not exactly in a desperate financial situation. I wouldn't think they'd have any trouble helping out a few extra students with tuition - overall, tuition can't be a very large percentage of their income anyways.</p>
<p>A few years ago, a sibling was admitted to CalTech, Harvard, Stanford, MIT and others. CalTech had the stingiest financial aid package and the most inflexible director of Financial Aid.</p>
<p>We figured (maybe wrongfully), when you have so few students and such a large facility, you need to squeeze as much as you can from every student. Plus, CalTech attracts a fanatical following and they are likely to "pay-up" no matter how much it costs.</p>
<p>The thing about Caltech is that while we have a lot of money, they don't like to spend it on undergrads or we'd all be getting free rides like the chumps at Olin. It goes to things like big shiny lasers rather than international student scholarships (remember, international students don't get free US Government money or "named" scholarships that specify Americans) or things like decent food and not living in trailer parks.</p>
<p>Also, we already have a Canadian.</p>
<p>MIT is need blind. However, the financial aid package is stingy. They love to give out inadequate aid to a lot of students rather than distribut enough aid to a limited number of applicants.</p>
<p>williamzhang: Agree, MIT is stingy and not much better than CalTech among the financial aid packages my brother received.</p>
<p>SteelPangolin: funny stuff. Thanks for the laugh.</p>
<p>webhappy: The title of this thread has to do with fin aid and a number of other contributors have brought up or chimed in on fin aid. I did not start or bring up the subject. Read all the posts in order.</p>
<p>The links and general info you posted certainly don't trump the ACTUAL fin aid offers we recieved from a handful of elite schools, all of which used the same data. In this direct school-to-school comparison from 3 years ago, Harvard, Yale and Stanford were the best. MIT was bad but CalTech was the worst. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Joemama,</p>
<p>Of course MIT, Princeton and Harvard are wonderful institutions. I am not putting these schools down as you deduced I was but rather saying that I would rather study at Caltech than elsewhere. This has nothing to do with the fact that I believe those other schools are ''inferior'' but rather that Caltech would best fit me. Don't worry, admissions officers will not infer the same thing as you did in reading my post (if any do read it). They will rather understand that selecting a college has to do with one's personality and interests. In no way am I saying that MIT for example is ''less good'' but rather that the small community atmosphere and focus on the hard sciences at Caltech would best serve me because of my specific interests and personality.</p>
<p>And SteelPangolin, what do you mean by: we ALREADY have a Canadian. At the undergraduate level, you have about four or five and if you are assuming that none will be accepted this year, your assumption is probably wrong.</p>
<p>Regardless, Im happy that you all agree with my point.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Jean</p>
<p>The anecdotal examples of bad finaid offers from Caltech are always the most outraged and vocal... the majority of the happy population doesn't typically run around starting threads about how wonderful Caltech (or any other school) is.</p>
<p>Big mystery...</p>
<p>Just to put my seven cents in (inflation), I was very pleased with the Conditional Financial Aid statement I received, and from what I have heard, Caltech is commonly considered among the "best buys" as far as getting what you paid for. Last I checked, Caltech had an average indebtedness for outgoing students at something like 1/3 of MIT's.</p>
<p>Jean, I'm pretty sure SteelPangolin was just joking around. The freshman class alone has at least 4 Canadians.</p>
<p>joemama,</p>
<p>Wow. Your Caltech financial aid result, I must say, is simply stunning and completely uncharacteristic of Caltech financial aid for every other person I've ever met who has received a Caltech offer. For me personally five years ago, the Caltech offer was about $10K cheaper per year (and with fewer loans!) than the MIT offer. My good friend, a current freshman, is paying only $5,000 a year TOTAL at Caltech, while at MIT, as he puts it "They apparently took my family's liquid assets and divided by four to figure out our yearly contribution."</p>
<p>The fact that Caltech has been consistently and repeatedly listed as a best buy (and usually THE best buy) in college education in terms of what students actually pay and what the debt load generally is upon graduation (answer: a LOT smaller at Caltech than any other top school) would also tend to indicate that your experience, if indeed it is true, is EXTREMELY atypical. (Rankings on this topic have been done by Money magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, US News, Princeton Review, and others.)</p>
<p>Let me also say that I've always felt Caltech's financial aid office was quite helpful and polite, and while I never had occasion to ask for a revision in my financial aid personally, friends who have had a change in financial circumstances and have to do so have reported them to be very understanding and accommodating.</p>
<p>Welcome, Joe! We've been waiting for you!</p>
<p>This gave me a chuckle:
"They apparently took my family's liquid assets and divided by four to figure out our yearly contribution."</p>
<p>Joe (caltech '04): Glad to hear it. I have no ax to grind, but I did truthfully report my family's experience. </p>
<p>Note: some people on this board often seem to spring into attack mode at the slightest comment. What's up with that?</p>
<p>Well, joemama, I'm not so sure about that. Observe that Jean's post, which started this thread, was quite an intense attack on one of Caltech's practices -- a well reasoned, pretty devastating attack -- and I just nodded my head, thanked him for his input, and promised to bring it to the top people in charge. Does that sound like unreasonable or defensive behavior?</p>
<p>The reason I've been a little more abrupt with some of the trolls who used to visit, as well as the (much less trollish) sakky and yourself, is that you sometimes /do/ seem like you have an axe to grind. For instance, when alleya posted a quite neutral decription of the housing system, you responded in a cryptic and rather annoying fashion, saying something like "Yes, yes, that confirms so many of the stereotypes I had heard about Caltech and its students." Then you refused to clarify when asked what you meant, saying, "Don't worry about it." To me, making vague, negative-sounding statements that aren't intended to start meaningful conversation is a form of trolling and is not welcome here (people can pipe up if I'm wrong and they enjoy that sort of thing).</p>
<p>I certainly welcome criticical discussion of Caltech (in fact I'm often one of the bigger critics). But I don't really like it when people who have only a glancing familiarity with the institution hang around to make undefended insinuations. If slapping you around a bit when you do that is defensive, so be it.</p>
<p>Ben, you are needlessly antagonistic. This is not a quality that will serve you well as you move through life. Take it to heart, my friend.</p>