Stanford VS. Caltech

[TyDeg13]

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Alright, well here's the thing. I'm only a junior in high school yet I've been doing the age-old college search and through it all the top two schools that I have heavy interest in is Stanford U and Caltech.

BOTH are amazing schools, I know that, yet when it comes to this fall to start applying I'll be getting a little nervous. If by springtime I get accepted to both, I really don't know which one I'd pick.

I've visited Caltech before and I really love the campus and almost everything about it, however, I'm not too totally sure how good their biology program is, especially since they dont have a med school, and Id have to transfer out to another grad school for PhD and all that jazz. And btw, Caltech has always been my "dream" school.

For Stanford...well, all I need to say is Stanford. Its an amazing school with a good undergrad program, yet their med school is primarily research-driven, and I want to go for being an actualy doctor in practice.

When it comes down to it, I'm VERY capable with being in either school academically [I'm like, 8th in my class] yet there are so many things to think about to choose between them. What school would you pick if you were in my situation?? Any advice/tips/comments would be helpful, especially if anyone has been to either college or goes there now.

Thanks a lot [and sorry for the long rant!!!! 😀]

Tyler

 

[yanorglu]

Doing pre-med at either will burn you out before med school even starts 😱

 

[EyEnStein 07]

First think about what you want to do in terms of major. Caltech is very engineering based compared to Stanford. However Stanford is elite and great overall. For pre-med unless im pursuing a physics/engineering major, i would go to Stanford only because they probably have a little better advantage/resources for there pre-med students. I would imagine there are more pre-meds at stanford than caltech

 

[135892]

Apply to both, and let's hope you'll actually have a decesion to make. I know its exciting to think about going to your dream school, but personally, I wouldn't get my hopes up, and I also wouldn't think so arrongantly (ex: "I'm VERY capable with being in either school academically [I'm like, 8th in my class]"). If you actually get into one of these schools, you'll be in for a huge shock when you see the level of competition. Anyways, just do what you can to make yourself comeptetive (gpa, sat, extracurriculars, etc...), and work on getting a good, strategic, list of schools to apply to.

Again, I really do hope you have such a decision to make later on. Best of luck 🙂

 

[TyDeg13]

I didnt mean to sound arrogant or anything in my post of what i was saying. although i am 8th in my class, i have loads of volunteering, my gpa is a 4.0, unweighted, and im taking a lot of ap/honors classes. I do know that im not at all, even close, gaurenteed acceptance into the schools based on that. however, so far stanford sounds like such a better place to go. i know it seems kind of silly to be thinking between two amazing schools, especially since i havnt even applied to them yet, however i really just want to make the right decision so i dont regret it later on.

The only thing is, with caltech i LOVE the area. Southern cali is where I wish I could spend the rest of my life in. its my perfect match [and i know because ive been there numerous times, as far south as san diego and north as sacramento]

There are some pretty hard pros and cons to weigh in this decision...but....as you guys said ill deffinately wait to see if im even accepted into one, or both, to make any decisions!!!

thanks to those who replied!😀😀

 

[xnfs93hy]

Doing pre-med at either will burn you out before med school even starts 😱

👍

 

[EyEnStein 07]

I didnt mean to sound arrogant or anything in my post of what i was saying. although i am 8th in my class, i have loads of volunteering, my gpa is a 4.0, unweighted, and im taking a lot of ap/honors classes. I do know that im not at all, even close, gaurenteed acceptance into the schools based on that. however, so far stanford sounds like such a better place to go. i know it seems kind of silly to be thinking between two amazing schools, especially since i havnt even applied to them yet, however i really just want to make the right decision so i dont regret it later on.

The only thing is, with caltech i LOVE the area. Southern cali is where I wish I could spend the rest of my life in. its my perfect match [and i know because ive been there numerous times, as far south as san diego and north as sacramento]

There are some pretty hard pros and cons to weigh in this decision...but....as you guys said ill deffinately wait to see if im even accepted into one, or both, to make any decisions!!!

thanks to those who replied!😀😀

Though i dont know your SAT scores, if there above 2100, i would say your fine..based on statistics, i would say caltech might be harder to get into than stanford, due to the fact that there SAT math score range for most students who apply are over 750, and most of the students that apply have 800 SAT II scores in multiple sciences, if not 800, they have damn close to it.

Weigh pros and cons when the time comes to decide which school. You still have what? two months to go? before any decisions? so relax, wait til you get the result, keep us updated, weigh pros and cons then make a decision.

 

[135892]

Weigh pros and cons when the time comes to decide which school. You still have what? two months to go? before any decisions? so relax, wait til you get the result, keep us updated, weigh pros and cons then make a decision.

Right now, the OP has no decision to make... it'll be a year before he has to, maybe, make this decision.

 

[Vicviper]

You shouldn't only consider a school because of it's name - I'm kinda getting that feeling from the way you're talking about Stanford. Heh, I took a tour of Stanford, and within an hour I knew it wasn't for me, it just wouldn't be a good fit. Not to say it isn't an amazing school. Another thing, I also thought research wasn't for me, but now that I'm doing it in undergrad, I find it totally awesome, so you never know.

You'll want to pick a school you'll be happy at, that is by FAR the most important thing. You can get to med school from just about any university, so don't worry too much.

I was accepted to Columbia for dental school, and it was incredibly diffuclt for me to turn it down becuase of the name and the reputation, but there are so many other personal factors that come into play. I'll be going to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, and I picked it because it was a better fit for me personally - that's what's most important in any school you pick, if you feel that it's a better fit for you. And btw, when it comes to deciding between schools, always go with your gut, it knows what you really want!

Haha, well, good luck, and by your stats you seem like you'll do just fine in med school, and one way or another you'll get there. So again, don't stress, you'll have more than enough of that in med school!

 

[TyDeg13]

I completely agree with you guys' answers about choosing the school that my gut tells me to go with. I'll keep researching both schools and keep both of them open to interpretation.

Vicviper-I get what you mean about the researching thing, and you're right, I may even want to go into that once I get into college...you never know!

EyEnStein 07-Haha, yeah, I'm only a junior in high schoo, I have more than two months to make a decision haha. Its ok though. However, I havn't taken my SAT's yet. I'm taking the SAT II Chem and Math II this May, as well as my AP chem test in May, and then my reg. SAT in June, then my ACT in September. Altogether, this is pretty stressing, yet I partly blame in on my stupid school system. Good Ol' New York is the only stupid state in the country besides cali that has regents exams everyone needs to take. [fyi if u dont know, regents exams come with regents classes that EVERYONE has to take and then pass the regents exams in June as a final exam. There are no honors/advanced courses in my high school, until after I pass an entire regents course BLECHH! 😡] I think its anyoing, because then I can not strive to be the best I can really be in this situation because I'm not being fully challenged up until this year. I dont feel I'll do too well on the SAT and/or SAT II because our school doesnt do too good a job preparing us for some of the basic skills on the test. That just means I'll study more, and work harder to achieve my goals. Hopefully the college addmissions offices will recognize this.

But as for now, I'll probly just keep doing what I'm doing, and then hope for the best when the time comes! 😀