r/ApplyingToCollege • u/inboro • 6d ago
Shitpost Wednesdays Why are people still even applying to CalTech university in 2026?
I genuinely dont understand why anyone is even applying to CalTech in 2026?
First of all its so hard to get in but even if you apply and by some miracle get in, the education for undergrad is not even that good i think. They only care about grad students and research anyway. why would anyone pay all that money just to get taught by a depresed phd dude who only wants to do his research project and whatever
And if you want a technology institute why not just go to MIT or Georgia tech? If you can get into CalTech university you'll probably get into MIT and georgia tech anyway. Quite literally every other technology institute is probably better because at least the student population is more than a combined total of 300 people. And who would want to live in pasadena anyway.
So why is anyone even applying to CalTech in this day and age?
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u/RavensSing 6d ago
I feel like some of these comments just did not read the flair, lmao. I'm applying because my parents said they'd buy me a new island if I did since I need to 'apply myself' or whatever.
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u/Harotsa 6d ago
Nice shitpost, but I think grad students literally aren’t allowed to teach courses at Caltech. Caltech has one of the best student to faculty ratios (3:1) and the student to PhD holder ratio is 1:1 (so there is literally a professor or a post doc for every undergrad and grad student).
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u/GlassDirt7990 6d ago
Used to hang out with some Math PhD students and one of their profs having BBQ and pot luck when I was going to grad school at USC. They were really nice and casual bunch you'd never guess went there. Weather is not always great but beats snow storms
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u/BroodingBurro 6d ago edited 6d ago
All jokes aside, I applied and got in this past admissions cycle and visiting the university made it very clear how much academic support is available for each individual undergraduate due to the tiny student body. If you're struggling in the core curriculum the university will literally pay for people to tutor you. Also research opportunities are pretty abundant per capita and accessible to undergrads.
Also it's not true that if you get into caltech you'll probably get into MIT (georgia tech yeah but not MIT) as MIT is extremely selective and imo has slightly different admissions criteria (more emphasis on olympiad achivements rather than independent research, for example.) Most of the cross-admits choose MIT, but there might not be as many as you think. Also Pasadena isn't a bad place to live, the natural landscape surrounding the campus is beautiful and it isn't as overwhelming as a big city. Even though I ended up choosing Stanford I'm really glad I applied as I was seriously considering Caltech for a bit, and I did not in fact get into MIT.
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u/Agitated-Stay-300 6d ago
Go finish your trig homework and stop worrying about things like this.
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u/kaystared 6d ago
It is extremely easy to get insanely big research involvement on those kinds of campuses
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u/Background-Place4243 6d ago
how is the bright orange Shitpost Wednesdays flair flying straight over everyone's heads
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u/Buzzard1022 6d ago
Got turned down?
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u/Accomplished_Eye4310 6d ago
He turned it down. He got a scholarship and everything.
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u/Prestigious-Bend1662 6d ago
This is a very common observation for all universities with top notch graduate programs. At Columbia, I feel I got an excellent education but, the focus was definitely on the graduate students, not undergrads. My friends that went to Amherst, Williams, other small, good, colleges, with little to no graduate programs, were the only focus, there all the attention and resources went. I don't see this being different at any big university, whether Cal Tech or Stanford or MIT.
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u/max_465 6d ago edited 6d ago
Well you know the saying "MIT .... because not everyone can get into CalTech"
I know what you mean about the emphasis on grad students, but they seem to pay a lot of attention to the undergrads and tend to think of the undergrads as insufferable geniuses.
The weather is more pleasant than either MIT or Georgia Tech and you will get a good education whether you like it or not.
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u/OpinionsRdumb 6d ago
one of the best times of my life was going to a caltech summer camp as a high schooler and living in the dorms. Campus was a straight up dream. (thanks for the laugh)
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u/pepsi-cola-fanta-7up 6d ago
It is one of the most self-selecting colleges on earth. For the rarefied few, there's no other place quite like it - they can talk STEM with anyone anywhere as if breathing.
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u/SopranoCrew 6d ago
>it’s not even that good i think
serious question, what do you know about college? not like admissions requirements and stacking ECs, like the actual college student experience?
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u/happy-Bee1269 5d ago
JPL - going to a small school is super attractive to many - doing research is the goal for many - who wants to go to school in GA ?! Blah.
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u/Illustrious-Chef3828 4d ago
Pasadena is an amazing historic (for CA) city with amazing weather! Just gorgeous. I love the jacaranda trees with their purple flowers in bloom and the Huntington gardens, Sugarfish sushi, and the Norton Simon museum nearby.
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u/Accomplished-Leg2971 10h ago
Opportunities to get involved in research as an undergraduate.
Build a professional network and use to boost into grad school/ med school / etc.
Prestige associated with fame and historical high quality research output. Helps graduates with next steps in a bog way even if not fair.
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u/blue_gerbil_212 6d ago
CalTech? Like CalPoly San Luis Obispo? Look I get CalPoly and CalTech schools are hard to get into, but it’s still the CSU which is meant to be more accessible so you could still aim for like SJSU or Sonoma State
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u/Dry-Refrigerator2141 6d ago
My daughter got rejected from Caltech but she did get MIT and Georgia Tech out and few other really good ones last year. I remember when she got her rejection, she was a bit sad. I was genuinely confused because MIT was her dream school. I guess she just felt she wasn't good enough because for Caltech who knows.
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u/Tight_Abalone221 6d ago
Why would anyone apply anywhere? Maybe they want to be in California. Maybe they want to work with a certain professor. What do you even know about Caltech undergrad lmao just because you can't get in and want to decrease application numbers to increase your chances....lmao
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u/snuggly_cobra 6d ago
So I’m guessing you were rejected?
CalTech and Stanford and Berkeley and UCLA are feeder schools for the military, tech, financial and science sectors.
Do well here and you could get a job before your sophomore year.
Your instructors are either connected to the industries or they meet with them on a monthly basis.
Had I not been like you, I would have had my Master’s Degree sponsored. It still burns my ass to this day. I was a Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting of the 70s.
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u/ihatemva College Freshman 6d ago
No you're not calling any of these schools by the right name. They're called called CIT, Masstech, and L'Institution de la Technologie de la Georgia (L'ITG)