"Why Caltech?" essay?

Applying to College
1

One of Caltech’s essay prompts is:

“Scientific exploration clearly excites you. Beyond our 3:1 student-to-faculty ratio and our intense focus on research opportunities, how do you believe Caltech will best fuel your intellectual curiosity and help you meet your goals?”

In my opinion, this prompt is a bit ridiculous. What more reason is there to attend than a 3:1 student-to-faculty ratio, an intense focus on research, and the fact the school is renowned for STEM???

I am an aspring theoretical physicist, and the notion of research at the undergraduate level is not really applicable to me. How many undergraduates doing research in theoretical physics have you heard of?

I am really supposed to know, at 17 years of age, what specific area of physics I am interested in, what professors I want to work with, etc? This seems to be the way some people have answered this question in the past.

At the end of the day, Caltech is no different than Princeton or MIT for STEM, except that at Caltech, everyone is interested in STEM, and only in STEM. Except in rare cases, there are no english or history majors at Caltech. This intense focus on STEM, and the fact that literally everyone around me will be super enthusiastic and smart, is what makes Caltech attractive to me. But as far as the specifics of the Caltech curriculum, research, etc; I don’t have any idea. Isn’t this stuff that I’ll work out once I get there?

Any advice on how to answer this question? I can talk about why I want to study physics, but I can’t say much about why specifically Caltech is going to help me meet my goals, other than the obvious things. I never really understood these "Why [insert school]’ questions. The school knows the answer to the question, and if anything, this is a question that applicants should ask of the school, no?

Thanks for your help.

2

Here is some general advice on the “Why this School” question you may find helpful.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/1705515-some-help-with-why-this-school.html#latest

3

I disagree that undergrads can’t research in theoretical physics. It is harder to do, and you have to get through a lot of math. But undergrad research isn’t in a vacuum – if there are theoretical physicist professors at your college (and there surely are at Caltech), they likely are using some junior & senior students to help with their research.

The college website is your friend in this essay. Look over the work each prof in your area of interest is doing – anything you would be excited to get involved with or learn more about? Look at the course catalog – any specific advanced coursework you can’t wait to try? Look at the physics dept website – are there any variations in the basic Physics major that appeal to you? Are there any specific equipment, facilities, or collaborations they talk about that interest you?

Lots of students just apply because it is prestigious. You can distinguish yourself by actually investigating and figuring out what appeals to you besides that.