<p>"What about that astrophysics major I dreamed about as a little boy? What about hardcore math/science? What about my first choice school for the past four years? I'm beginning to doubt that I ever wanted to be an engineer. "</p>
<p>Mini, these are some of the the "fit' questions posted by the OP on July 26. Just because they weren't posted in April doesn't make them any less legitimate. Sometime real doubts can be pushed down by pressures, and may take a while to re-surface. As much as you will disagree, sometimes scholarship money does not make a bad fit better. So as I suggested, with his parents blessings, he can try to transfer in next year, as it is most probably too late to grab a spot this year.</p>
<p>Actually, the OP was posting all year about his desire to visit Caltech so he could make a reasonable choice. He was especially upset that he was not allowed to visit during Prefosh week.</p>
<p>While Olin and Caltech are very different institutions and the OP seems to be a very good match with Caltech, Olin could be make to be a base of a good fit with OP as well. Aside from reducing financial/family problem, Olin also admits only very high caliber students and encourages/supports “passionate pursuit”, say, in astrophysics. There are many engineering challenges in astronomy. OP could take additional classes at near by institutions when Olin’s science/math curriculum is exhausted and doing research in the summer at Caltech/MIT/Harvard and in academic year at MIT/Harvard.</p>
<p>"Mini, these are some of the the "fit' questions posted by the OP on July 26. Just because they weren't posted in April doesn't make them any less legitimate."</p>
<p>It makes them MUCH less legitimate for us to respond. It isn't helpful. It doesn't help him prepare for his upcoming year at Olin. It doesn't help him explore how to make the best of an excellent situation. It doesn't help him mend fences with his family. It doesn't help him explore how he can get the most out of his college career.</p>
<p>It is unfair to him, to his family, to Olin, and to Caltech.</p>
<p>We can agree to disagree, since I have had the experience of having helped pressure my son into accepting a full scholarship at a lower ranked, less academic U that both he and I knew was not nearly as good a fit as another, more highly academic U that he was also accepted at, but without $$$. After 1 year, he is transfering to the better fitting U., and I am relieved that he is able to do so. 4 years at a college that doesn't offer the kinds of options this student seemed to want, [since he doesn't sound like he is at all set on being an engineer] is not necessarily in his best interests. I'm not going to comment further, since I KNOW you not will agree.
And he asked for parent input, by the way. I don't think silence on the part of other parents is helpful in this case. He wanted to know if he has options.</p>
<p>Menloparkmom, I agree with you. I posted twice on this thread to point out that outside of engineering, Olin and Caltech are very different institutions. I hope the OP will have a chance to reconsider his choice. </p>
<p>As a parent, it will pain me to think that one is limited from going beyond the "best of an excellent situation".</p>
<p>I must respectfully disagree. I think boards like this promote the idea of "fit" as if students are fragile flowers that can only have one set of circumstances in which to bloom, and if the EXACT conditions are not met, they wither away, having lost their one and ONLY chance to pollinate.</p>
<p>That is bollocks. Any kid who gets accepted to both CalTech and Olin has the intellectual power, the curiosity, the drive and the spark to make the most of any situation he finds himself in. To indulge this kind of completely unproductive navel gazing is to, as mini said, do a disservice to this poor kid who needs to be told to pull up his socks, to his parents, who made the best choice they could given their intimate knowledge of the OP and of their finances and comfort level with distance, and to the two very fine institutions that young Hamlet finds him/herself caught between. </p>
<p>To compare Olin to a cheating fiance is just ridiculous--this is more like having two perfect fiances, picking one, and then angsting because the other one is cute and rich too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If I call up Caltech, what are the odds they´ll give me a spot?
[/quote]
If you haven't done so, you definitely should try. Remember that since Caltech is so small, exceptions are rather easily made (i.e. little bureaucracy). It's definitely worth a shot - they're nice people, so they'll at least be sympathetic.</p>
What I was suggesting would give him either definite closure or let him know his actual possibilities. I was also trying to give my personal experience with the Caltech admissions office to give him a somewhat educated guess of the outcome.</p>
<p>I find that far more productive than speculating and pontificating about the merits of fit, free tuition, buyer's remorse, etc., for someone we know very little about.</p>
<p>Last month I was facing the same problem as the OP. I had to choose between Caltech and Yale and had decided on May 1st to attend Yale. After feeling like I had made the wrong choice, I called the admissions office in early June and got my spot back at Tech. </p>
<p>If you really feel you made the wrong choice just call and see what happens.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Caltech and Olin are very different kind of schools.
[/quote]
Agreed. Olin is a specialty school, in the general mold of schools like the service academies, Webb Institute, Juilliard, Embry-Riddle, etc. All great schools, but that's beside the point. At such schools, fit is very important. While I'm a huge fan of Olin, I wouldn't say hands-down that it's the best place for a science kid who's leaning toward engineering. It's a school that educates prospective engineers extraordinarily well, and it is unique. The students may choose a different career post-graduation, but the school is what it is.</p>
<p>It is a shame the OP didn't get a chance to visit before making a choice. It's also a shame that the OP fell in love with * the idea* of CalTech, a place he really doesn't know firsthand. What if s/he had visited and hated it? All water under the bridge now. [And I'm thinking of my own kid--definitely a science kid--who will be attending grad school in engineering at the molecular level but would have been a terrible fit for Olin and wasn't a good fit for CalTech either, though many, many kids are and love it there. As cghen pointed out, no one here knows the OP.] The whole discussion is moot anyway [yes, I'm looking at you, OP] if finances really were the preeminent consideration for the OP's parents. Anyway, doesn't Olin have some kind of partnership for coursework at neighboring schools? For some reason, Wellesley is sticking in my mind.</p>
<p>I agree with cghen. It's late in the game, but the OP should still examine his/her options, whatever those may be at this point. Barring enrolling at CalTech this fall, there are still options (as have been pointed out on this thread): Transfer, SURF, etc. I'd even go a little further. OP, wherever you wind up attending, think about using the summer to get outside your comfort zone. Think about applying to internships or REUs at bigger schools, state schools, urban/suburban environments, overseas, etc. Summer is a wonderful time to examine all kinds of different environments. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio....</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you really feel you made the wrong choice just call and see what happens.
[/quote]
I also would agree that this is what OP should do ASAP. A lot of information about Caltech vs Olin could be found online through their course catalogs. Olin's sample curriculum is specially simple to understand.</p>
<p>OP, I urge you to call and find out your real options. Please let us know what happens. (And don't necessarily take the first no for an answer. If one person got back in, I bet you can too!)</p>
<p>I'd say fit is equally important at Caltech. I like it, but the kids there are quirky. Since the OP's parents really don't seem to want him to go there, I think his best bet is to spend a year at Olin determined to like it. If it feels wrong, or he's sure he wants to go into pure science not engineering he could revisit the Caltech option.</p>
<p>I really wish his parents had let him visit. I think he might be just as conflicted, but at least he'd have more complete information to base it on. Caltech is not for everyone.</p>
<p>Yep. Nothing like walking around and breathing the (possibly smoggy) air to have the pieces start to jell or wither. Given that four years and thousands of dollars are at stake, a four hundred dollar plane ticket and a night on campus seems like a cheap investigation.</p>
<p>Confused, we haven't heard from you in awhile. What's up? How ya doin'?</p>