Is Caltech mostly for geniuses who want to do super nerdy research?

[Anonymous]

Can a normal smart kid fit in and be happy there? High score and GPA from rigorous school. LOVES school and learning. Happy when doing homework and studying for tests but not a nerd. Looks and acts nothing like those guys in the Big Bang theory - it’s actually a pretty fashionable and popular girl but just happens to really love science

[Anonymous]

The thing about CalTech is that its incredibly small. The entire undergrad is about 900 students. So it's a very unusual college experience.

[Anonymous]

Yes. There are varying levels of "love science" (or math), and students at Caltech are clustered at the extreme end of the spectrum. You may call them pointy, or nerds, or whatever. Your very smart but not nerdy daughter might not enjoy being around them as much as those at Ivies who also love science but perhaps have more "balanced" interests. I know my daughter wouldn't, even if she could get in. There are of course exceptions to this stereotype of Caltech students. I took a few graduate engineering classes (not at Caltech) with a Caltech graduate some years back and he was actually quite social and easy to talk to.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

What's their intended major? I think CS and ACM are more "non-PhD friendly", although the core is demanding for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Why not MIT or Princeton? They're a lot more broadly appealing and can be as rigorous with the right course choice.

[Anonymous]

Go to UCLA or Pomona or even USC, but Caltech sounds like a horrifically bad fit. It s for students who want to do a PhD, want to spend all their time doing science, and want to get into graduate level coursework as immediately as possible.

[Anonymous]

A lot of kids at Caltech do CS and get high-paying jobs in the tech industry straight out of undergrad. Amazon has a building on-campus....

[Anonymous]

Kids like that go to MIT not cal tech

[Anonymous]

I disagree. A kid may prefer Stanford or MIT, but they attend where they are admitted.

[Anonymous]

In reality, Caltech is for MIT rejects. I haven’t heard anyone chose Caltech over MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reality, Caltech is for MIT rejects. I haven’t heard anyone chose Caltech over MIT.

And who are you and what makes you more likely to hear this kind of thing?

Seriously people.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but look for the majors like geology.

[Anonymous]

MIT is as nerdy. The social scene is marginally better because there are more students but it's still got more kids on the spectrum too. That's okay but not the right fit for social kids.

[Anonymous]

The kids are brilliant and love learning but they aren’t all nerdy and they certainly aren’t like the fictional grad students portrayed on Big Bang Theory. My kid has had a great experience there, lives in a very social house (too much partying in my opinion), and enjoys being in California with multiple trips to the beach and skiing. It’s not for most people but most people on dcum have no actual knowledge of the school as shown by the responses you received.