<p>For my humanities recs(one from ELA teacher,one from Mandarin teacher) and school report,my teachers said I am exceptional at literature in both languages,is that going to hurt my chances at Caltech?Because Caltech is more science-oriented of course and i am afraid that unusual talent in the area of literature might actually hurt me.But my teachers said my essays are amazing and poeticly written; moreover they really expressed my passion for the sciences.also i am getting a rec from my chem teacher soon.Thanks for any input guys.An additional question,how much does personal qualities matter for caltech?For example,forceful leader,ability to focus people's attention, lead class discussions and to debate with eloquence,and strong sense of humor and irony?These are the things my teachers mentioned yet once again these seem to be language or elocution abilities and more or less irrelevent for Caltech....</p>
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Because Caltech is more science-oriented of course and i am afraid that unusual talent in the area of literature might actually hurt me.
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<p>Errrrr.... no : ) The smartest people tend to be exceptional at both scientific and humanistic pursuits, and some of them just choose the sciences. Obviously, it's more impressive, not less, to be excellent at literature and to have poetically written essays (it helps for writing good Caltech application essays too). Similarly, strong character traits -- in leadership, debating, humor, etc. -- will be very useful since so much of Caltech is teamwork, both explicit and implicit.</p>
<p>The more good qualities, the better. I promise that extra ability in some field isn't going to hurt you for Caltech. If it helps, I'm pretty sure I seemed more talented in the humanities from my application than in the sciences.</p>
<p>lol thanks a lot Ben,although i never knew your humanities side before from all the threads here:)If you want to see my essay I'll pm it to you;if not I guess I'll have to awe you next year^_^</p>