Incoming freshman: If potential major is math, Penn vs. CalTech, which one do you vote?
The choice may seem obvious since I plan to go into quant/trader after college due to better compensation and eventually I wanted to have my startup, but I keep wavering on the benefits of each school. Caltech is incredible for STEM, and I'm okay with the small campus size. However, I live about 2 hours from Penn, making travel easier, and my parents really like Penn’s vibe. I wonder if it might be better to attend an Ivy League school with a more diverse student body. I have reservations about Caltech being entirely STEM-focused. If I lose interest in math, what other options would I have at Caltech? It's known for being more theoretical, and I’m not sure I want that since I don't plan to pursue a PhD. But if I choose Penn, I'll always wonder if I missed out on Caltech. Does anyone have advice or has been in a similar situation? Actually, my strengths lie more in the humanities than in STEM, even though I qualified for AIME multiple times.
It’s CalTech and you wanna study math. Go to CalTech.
Both are great options and you can’t go wrong
Id go with the school you feel more excited about and comfortable with
Penn is so weak in math though. CalTech/MIT are in way different leagues than Penn. Penn is for finance people who aren’t quants or are soft quants (ie PMs who work with Quants from MIT). If you go to Penn you want to specifically go to Wharton, not their engineering or math schools. I’d even pick Columbia or UChicago over Penn for math/quant (ie operations research). Michigan or Berkeley or Cornell math are probably a tad better than Penn math too.
Penn is not a STEM school, it’s largely a finance/business/law school. They do not provide any special advantage/skill in Math.
Nobis dolorem cum asperiores necessitatibus voluptas sit quia cumque. Amet ea possimus eum eius voluptatem tempora distinctio minus. Nam sint asperiores quod est. Nesciunt nesciunt consequatur exercitationem sunt.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...