Will I be able to survive Caltech?

<p>I recently somehow got accepted, but now I'm really questioning my competency if I really do decide to attend. So for those people who have attended or are attending Caltech... Is the work load really as ridiculous as I have heard? Can you possibly get enough sleep? Can you do anything else besides study? Do the professors TEACH you or is the material essentially self-taught? Is getting help a relatively easy or difficult thing to do? Is failing tests a common thing? Umm... just basic questions about what I should expect at Caltech. I never considered myself an exceptionally smart or hardworking person, so I'm really nervous. I'm a chem major by the way.</p>

<p>If you were admitted, Caltech admissions knows you can handle the work.</p>

<p>^ Good point. Even a person like me who was once dabbed “blockhead” by my physics teacher can survive Caltech(up to now at least). You Surely Can!</p>

<p>Every selective school will say that they do not accept students who do not have what it takes to succeed at their school… Caltech is no exception. Yes, it is challenging, and if you want to be challenged by some of the best minds in the world, then this is the place for you. I understand the feeling (oh so well!) of being intimidated and daunted by the thought of competing with some of the brightest and most motivated kids of our generation. But the atmosphere at Caltech is NOT competitive. They really encourage all students to work in study groups, and work on problem sets together. And since the first two terms are all pass/fail, students really do learn to help each other through those first two terms, and that cooperation persists all four years. I find it mentally stimulating to work with my classmates, not intimidating. And don’t worry about finding a study group - the House system at Caltech puts everyone into one of 8 houses, and your housemates become family. All dinners are served family style in each house, and everyone is included in all the house activities. The House sytem is what really makes the cooperative atmosphere!</p>

<p>probably not…</p>

<p>My best friend just got in too, and like everyone else said. A school that selective wouldn’t pick you if they didn’t think you could succeed. In regards to the material, and how it is taught, I’ve been on plenty of visit, sat in on class sessions and I can tell you it is no where near self taught. You have to keep in mind being such a small college, the same size as a typical high school enable Cal Tech to have a rigorous course load and make sure all the students comprehend it. They allow for a lot of one on one time, and not to mention you have the entirety of the student body to aid you as well. And the way Cal Tech teaches their material is completely different from essentially all other universities. Cal Tech teaches you to learn. Your 4 years there will be spent learning how to learn. In that I mean they teach you the theoretical side of everything. They do not start with the applicable. For example with calculus, many students are taught to know these formulas and procedures and then plug and chug. Cal Tech teaches in manner that will allow you to reverse engineer everything, they teach you how to dissect a formula down to the bare naked basics and in turn solve what you need to. The way they teach is so that you don’t need the formulas or anything like that because you can understand all elements of a problem and then solve it. So don’t worry, Caltech is going to be there for you, and they are going to reconsturct the way you think. </p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

<p>Every university says those admitted can “do the work.” However, Caltech is the only one that selects for the people who are the most capable of performing in the classroom. It selects for that and that alone. So chances are that you can survive, but that you will have to be completely engrossed in your studies.</p>

<p>To answer about your case more specifically, you would have provide a little background. Like AMC score, other competitions, etc, if you’ve ever taken a college class and how you did.</p>

<p>USNews rankings have Caltech at the top of the pile however there’s a glaring stat that shows a much lower graduation/retention rate than many of its peers - either the data are wrong or there are indeed a higher number of students that bail out of Caltech than do from other top schools.</p>

<p>I imagine a bit of it is due to Caltech offering any sort of real “softball” major or much else to switch to if you realize you don’t want to major in a STEM field once you get here.</p>

<p>@collegealum314
No AMC, no college courses, won quite a few competitions but they were all local, an ACT score of only 33, 800’s on Math II and Chem. Hence you can probably understand my suprise.</p>

<p>I find this very hard to believe, “is the material essentially self-taught?”, considering that Caltech has a student to professor ratio of 3:1. That means 25% of people on campus are professors.</p>

<p>Most students learn the material in a smorgasboard of ways - didactic lectures, small break-out sessions, study groups in their houses, and on their own. There are lots of ways to get help and guidance, and most use a variety of ways, depending on the class.</p>

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<p>You forget that there are many more grad students than undergrads.</p>

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<p>I don’t think that’s it. I think it is just that much harder than other schools.</p>

<p>I heard that a famed number theorist and Caltech professor who had solved most of the open problems in number theory went to Caltech as an undergrad. He got a “C” when he took number theory as an undergrad.</p>

<p>I heard another story of another former Caltech undergrad who was being recruited to be a professor at Caltech. He was apologetic and insecure in his interview over his mediocre performance at Caltech. At one point the guy interviewed him and said, “Hey, we’re not interviewing you to be an undergrad.” I get the impression that in some ways its tougher to be a great student at Caltech than it is to be a great professor.</p>