/sci/ - Science & Math

>>7633403
More or less. They all plagiarize lecture notes from each other and use the same set of textbooks.

>>7633403

Of course not. Different professors, different peers, different cultures, different resources and opportunities. And where the fuck do you get the number 75 from, anyway?

>>7633431
Because it's a reasonable number that weeds out the shit no names but leaves a copious amount. You can make it top 100 if you want.

>>7633424
So you're saying you can get the same quality of education in the number 75 american university as you can in the number 1 american university?

>>7633437
You learn the same things in the same classes. Calculus is going to be similar in any school you look at.

Better schools will have wider advanced class offerings

>>7633437
Calc 3 is Calc 3. Thermodynamics is Thermodynamics. Ect.

>>7633403

you will learn the same things, you will be who you are
>inb4 but muh parents think its not harvard
>inb4 if I surround myself with smarter ppl, I automagically become smarter as well
you are more educated than your parents

>>7633403
for undergrad? totally.

>>7633403
ayy i go here

>>7633403
I go to a public uni and the median income for people in their 30s is 69k/yr

Alot of my friends have graduated and are with a grill and their combined household income is like 110k/yr

>>7633403
you get out what you put in

a lazy fuck at harvard will get less than someone who works their ass off at osu

>>7633433
>implying its not because shitty OSU falls just short of the top 50
>implying this wouldn't be a "top 50 american unis" if you went to a non-retard school

Background: I went to Rose-Hulman for their engineering camp a few years back, and I thought I really wanted to go there. Too bad it's $60,000+ a year. I also applied to 4 other out of state schools with insane undergrad tution rates.

I ended up going to the University of Louisville for chemical engineering. MFW :D I'm finishing my 4th semester, and will have a real engineering job next spring semester.

The important thing is I am further along than all my peers that went to "The #1 Undergrad Engineering School" and not owing a dime.

I feel I could have some better profs, but I think that's the case for every undergrad program. You will get a similar math and science education at any major U.S. university. Just make sure your program is accredited if it's for engineering or something like that.
If you have the money, go to a place like Rose-Hulman. If you don't, stay in state and go to a big university. OSU would be a fine choice.


Schools become more important for graduate level, which I have no advice on.

Meant to say UofL is instate tuition for me, since I'm from KY

>>7633519
I am not so sure about that.

At my school: Stewart's book for Calc 1, Marsden and Tromba for Calc 2.

At U of T: Spivak's Calculus for Calc 1, Spivak's Calc on Manifolds for Calc 2.

Although each school follows roughly the same curriculum for its undergrad education, there are subtle differences between schools.

>>7633789
But Calculus on manifolds is a third year calculus subject. this is not part of traditional Calc 2 curriculum

>>7633519
>>7633529
this

undergrad is 99% the same no matter where you are, as long as it's the same country and the uni isn't fundamentally operated differently...

>>7633776
>projecting this hard

>>7633519
>>7633789

Yup, different schools use different texts and generally hold their students up to different standards. This is true even for similarly ranked schools.

Whereas Caltech uses Apostol, my school uses... Stewart, Stewart and more Stewart. And my school is supposedly the #5 engineering school, only a step down from Caltech...

Lets not even start on the difference between the rigor of the required physics classes. I really feel cheated as fuck, but at least I get to chill with easy As.

People who say X class is the same everywhere clearly haven't really looked at the curricula of different institutions.

>>7633971
For example at Caltech, the required physics classes are the same for everyone, physics majors and engineers alike.

Where as at most places there's a watered down version of the physics class typically named "physics for engineers" or some sort of shit.

>>7633975
Then you take the physics class for physicists. No one is forcing you to take the watered down version. Engineering departments accept both classes.

>>7633975
reading in depth the textbook at your own pace is gonna give you more than the most "advanced" classes

>>7633975
>Where as at most places there's a watered down version of the physics class typically named "physics for engineers" or some sort of shit.
What the fuck are you talking about, "most places?"

>>7633984
SHHHHHHHHHHH. Don't tell him. Damn it, why did you have tell him.
>>7633988
He's still in Middle School so give him a break. His tiny brain is still trying to wrap over what is an atom.

>>7633981
Even if I do (which I am), it doesn't change the fact that these schools don't require it of their typical student.

>>7633984
Obviously. I read textbooks used outside of class, but it can get quite difficult to do this when professors regularly make their lecture attendance mandatory therefore giving you less time to do this or only give homework problems from their shitty book. Essentially when everything is structured around their shitty material almost everyone feels compelled to just memorize said material to get good marks rather than go out on an arms length to try to understand the material through books with superior pedagogy.

>>7633992
>WAAH IM THIS BUTTHURT THAT SOME GUY IS RIGHT, BETTER CALL HIM A RETARDED MIDDLE SCHOOL KID WAAHH

>>7634033
>Even if I do (which I am), it doesn't change the fact that these schools don't require it of their typical student.
That means less competition for grad school/jobs. You'll be more competent and have friends in working in national labs/top companies. Focus on the knowledge not the grade. Most people do the opposite.

>>7634063
What's probably gonna happen is that the dude at "grad schools/jobs" are gonna look at my resume, see the name of my university and immediately assume that I'm the typical graduate of my university who took all the baseline courses before throwing my resume into the pile as soon as he spots a resume with the letters MIT on it - because they spend literally 10 seconds looking at a resume.

I'll be more competent for sure, but it just won't show on the surface. Graduates from prestigious programs get the benefit of the doubt for a reason, while everyone else gets the shorter end of the stick. In a process as pragmatic as grad school admissions or job applicant selection, they're always gonna give the benefit of the doubt to those from more prestigious universities first and foremost because statistically speaking it decreases the risk of hiring a shitty guy.

Whereas I have to go out of my way to prove myself, a guy at MIT is already pretty much proven. That's just the advantage of being at a university with a reputation for being rigorous. They produce better graduates on average and that just increases the strength of the brand.

Name matters a lot... it reflects your identity.Cultural environment of your institution matters too. Both these things affect how others see you and how you see yourself. MIT and Caltech produces leaders and visionaries for example and everyone knows it. GT on the other hand makes obedient worker drones. If everyone around you is smart, you'd be pressed to be smart as well. If everyone around you is doing the bare minimum, you'd feel the tug as well.

>>7634081
There is only one MIT guy. Chances of you meeting them in a job interview in all the places oyu applied are slim. Also just get an internship or co-op under your belt and you fair better than the MIT kid. Experience trumps degree of any university.

>>7634125
For every internship offer I can get, the MIT guy can get 10 internships easily from mad ass connections and shit. And each one of those internships is probably of superior quality.

And it'll be even easier for him since companies actively seek out and recruit MIT grads, whereas I have to go out and apply for jobs and everything like everyone else.

You're right that I probably won't meet them in a job interview - companies typically waive interviews with MIT grads because they trust the brand so much.

Seriously, if you go to an unrecognized school the game is really, really stacked against you.

>>7633403
yes, you will be given an A grade for simply showing up to some class and memorizing for the test. just like you did in high school, where 40% of the students graduated with at least a 4.0 GPA. american education below the graduate level is one big complete joke.

>>7633795
That's my point. At U of T, they go way quicker, have a much higher standard, and have a much more difficult program.

>>7633519
>Calc 3 is Calc 3. Thermodynamics is Thermodynamics. Ect.
Wow.
You kids are so naive nowadays.

>>7634159
>american education below the graduate level is one big complete joke.
Hmmmm.
My undergrad courses were much more challenging than my grad courses.

>>7633403
>Is the education quality pretty much the same in all top 75 american universities?
You know what they say OP.
If you can't go to college go to STATE!

>>7633431
>And where the fuck do you get the number 75 from, anyway?
Because pOSU in the photo is ranked 75.
You didn't think OP would pose this question while leaving his school out now did you?

>>7634292
That's a mad coincidence. I just picked OSU because it's the token "okay-ish engineering state school". I go to a similar state school but not OSU.

>>7633984
Even if it's true, which I don't doubt, I imagine that important companies and well paid jobs will give more attention to where you studied rather than what you studied. Well at least that's how it works in my country, a diploma (and where it came from) is more important than anything else here.

>>7633403

At the undergraduate level, yes. And, if you're going into STEM, the name recognition of your undergraduate institution will not have any effect on your career.

If you're going into finance or consulting, then I could see why you'd want to go to the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, etc.

>>7635047
>And, if you're going into STEM, the name recognition of your undergraduate institution will not have any effect on your career.
In the normie world this is correct. On /sci/ this is wrong because hurr durrrr name recognition for bragging masturbation.

>>7635047
>the name recognition of your undergraduate institution will not have any effect on your career.

it helps when you are starting out. big names attract more recruiters. the extra exposure and networking is why you go there.

>>7635411
Not really. Those recruiters go after the top 5% of the class at those schools. Everyone else is stuck chasing the same job as the other kids in less known schools. As long its ABET accredited and you have an internship, you'll find a job as an engineer or something STEM related.

>>7633403

You can take a look at MIT's OpenCourseWare and make the comparisons. In the end, lectures are just filler and you're mainly paying to take exams and perform a few lab experiments without trial and error.

The modern education system is both lazy and outdated. It's more about labeling people than education.

>>7633431
>Different professors and different resources and opportunities.

FTFY. In fact, the first distinction is neglible and based on an assumption while the latter is vague as hell.

Pretty poor attempt at distinguishing universities based on teaching quality.

>>7635487
>The modern education system is both lazy and outdated. It's more about labeling people than education.
This. If you read the peer-review papers those professors publish, a lot of those papers are shit. You're just paying for the name recognition. Also at top rank universities most professors hate teaching. They rather be researching. Just read their papers, and you'll see most professors don't know what they're talking about. Feynman talked about this issue back in the 60s.
>>7635499
He's probably some bitter graduate from a "top ranked" school who is working some shit tier job.

>>7634081
>Name matters a lot... it reflects your identity.Cultural environment of your institution matters too. Both these things affect how others see you and how you see yourself. MIT and Caltech produces leaders and visionaries .

>>7635517
>You're just paying for the name recognition.

That's what lays the foundation for the rat maze race and the wank threads over GPA and choice of universities.

And I think to myself... There has to be more to life than this.

>>7635554
There is, and those threads are started by freshmen. In the real world experience trumps degree. Just get an internship or two in college and you'll be fine during a job search. If you have an internship every semester, then your GPA is meaningless to a lot of companies. If you work for five years or more in engineering then apply to a masters program you would be admitted as a "non-trad". This is how medical school application works for those applying outside the average age for med school applicants. After a while, graduate programs look at your work experience over your undergrad grades.

>>7635567

Thank you. Your post has reinforced hope. Are there any subtleties to keep in mind when acquiring for job experience? What particular internships would be suitable for a biochemist?

>>7633403
I used to think this, but going from a top40 undegrad math to a top 3 made me realize how fucking retarded everyone was at my old school

>>7635520
its ok, these people are pathethic anyways. no need to get riled up by their fantastical bullshit

The person matters far more than the university.

I went to the University of Alabama for 2 years, and met 2 of the smartest dudes I've ever met. One of them hadn't written a single line of code before he got to college, and before he graduated and headed off to his job at Microsoft, he had interned at NASA, and some other high-profile government place that I can't remember right now.

The other one has been in the lab of a world-leading computational chemist for 3 years, and is basically going to have his choice of graduate school.

There's also a biology lab there that consistently sends a couple kids to Harvard med every year.

University of Alabama is, by any standard other than football rankings, complete and utter shit. It still didn't stop those dudes from doing big things.

>>7635591
>from a top40 undegrad math to a top 3

why not just say #40 to #3?

>>7635601
Its the person as you said. You need internships to show employers you have what it takes to succeed. If you have no internships then you're dead in the water. You have to find another career before it began.

threads like these make me feel paranoid as a low end UC attendee :(

>>7633403
So op... You think studying at harvard is the same from studying at #75? i think not... Harvard is more prestigious.

>>7635601
There are exceptions to the norm everywhere. But the way in which you judge a degree is this - the average quality of the graduate. A typical Alabama grad simply can't expect that kind of outcome, whereas the typical Caltech grad can expect just as good of an outcome as the two smartest Alabama dudes.

And I'm sure the two smartest Caltech dudes would blow the two smartest Alabama dudes straight out of the water.

>>7633403
For STEM more or less depending on how much you care about learning. The name on the degree matters a lot more from someplace like MIT, though.

>>7633469
That's probably true for the top 75 but when you get into local universities, the grading changes. I took a few classes at the local branch campus of a state university and was shocked by how easy the grading was. One professor would take the square root of your grade and multiply by ten to get your recorded grade. There was no justification for this other than to push students with little mastery of the subject matter through.

>>7633971
Who GA Tech in here?

>>7633403
when i tell companies i go here, they make it sound like a big deal. its not a school that makes any lists, so i don't really get it.

>>7636188
Does Oasis Spa count?

>>7636234
baka senpai. That is too ecchi senpai. You are a hentai senpai aren't you?
Or are you talking about the car washes?
I'm assuming you aren't baka senpai.
Do you see a lot of beautiful women there?
These stuckup whores with little to no personality tick me off-the alternative uggies aren't to be mentioned.

>>7633782
>tfw got a full ride scholarship to Rose-Hulman and didn't even wind up going there
Terre Haute is a fucking shithole. I'm surprised that you enjoyed the camp, unless you spent all of your free time shitposting indoors.

>>7633975
phys prac and anal are different classes here, they start splitting you up at the second term

the engineers do prac and the physicists do anal, but the real champs take anal second term and prac third term so you wind up doing relativity twice and have more time to not get laid

>>7636188
I'm not actually GA Tech. Have a friend who goes there though, and he regrets it.

like a recuriter would know what to look for in a candidate. They just have a criteria for hiring and if you meet them you get an interview. Hiring managers look at your expereince before your education. If you guys are seriously aruging which uni is better than you guys are in for a dick slap called reality. No one cares, and I should know because I worked in a top tier engineering firms. They were more worried about diversity, internships, co-op, and leadership abilities.
>hurr duurr I can take the triple integral and spew GR jargon with analysis background.
No one cares, you undergraduate retards.

>>7636594
I thought Caltech was too busy studying to get onto /sci/...

>>7636821
I have the time to post on /sci/ because I took anal, then prac.

>>7636594
You got into caltech? Man that was like my dream school.

I hate the fact that I'm so dumb.

>>7633437
It's obvious as other anons noted, lectures are lectures everywhere.
You get a diploma from top 10 tho... that's the heavy thing that's important at the end..
But in the same way you can just work very hard at number 75 college... you read aloot, work allot ... start with a shit job but because you're practical for w/e company you work for you get promoted pretty fast.
And it's never about the money... let's be honest you're a real human being when you do scientific research for the sake of loving it and with your work pushing humanity forward... + usually scientists are taken care off financially pretty gud.
If you like making money, genuinely enjoy it.. then man pursue that .. the point is do w/e you desire.

>>7636831
where did you end up going anon?

>>7636836
It's in the middle of nowhere and the weather sucks.

>>7636844
at least you didn't end up coming to caltech then failing out after 1 term.

>>7636848
do you know any of your classmates who have done that?

>>7636848
I'd much rather be challenged and flunk out than be cold, wet and bored as shit to be honest...

None of this matters anyway. It's all in the past now and there's nothing I can do about it.

>>7636844
>complaining about school being in middle of nowhere as if caltech will be better
>not realizing that caltech students have so little time they may as well live in an antarctic research station for all the time they go outside

>>7636853
I know people who dropped out pretty quickly but I don't know if they were "forcibly" removed or if they just decided caltech was too hard. I think it would usually be the latter because you do get a couple of second chances before they kick you out for good so you wouldn't have enough time in one term to break all of your safety nets.

The first term courseload can be surprisingly difficult if you lack the background in the subjects, especially ma1a, since it's pretty much nothing like what a majority of even advanced high schoolers will see. If you're used to breezing by in high school it can really fuck you over.

>>7636855
>go to caltech, can't go out because too much studying but at least I will be occupied
>go to illinois, have shitton of freetime, but nothing to do and nowhere to go

>not realizing illinois is much closer to an antarctic research station than caltech which is in sunny california

>>7636863
can't you sign up for more classes or something? go for a double major brah

>>7636864
I've thought about it, but it just feels like doing it will just be a really vain effort to make up for something that I've lost.

Its not like anyone will give a fuck about a double major or honors anyway. Companies will look at it just the same. Doubt grad schools would care either if I walked down that road. You can try decorating shit, but it will still be shit anyway.

But in the end, if I learned anything from being rejected from Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, CMU, it's that I'm probably too dumb to do it even if I wanted to anyway.

I just want to feel good about being mediocre at this point.

>>7636877
Have lots of sex. That's something you'll excel far better than those kids. Also no one cares after college where you graduated from, only a few people do but you already those people. Its call 4chan. Just major in engineering or whatever at your Uni and do well in life. Most CMU, CalTech, MIT, and UCB kids never do anything extraordinary. They're just like you. If you want to be extraordinary. Solve one of the unsolvable math problems. Solve one and you get a full ride PhD to any Top 10 program. Oxford or Cambridge will give you a full ride.

>>7635606

Jokes on you, shitstain. He went from #2 to #3.

>>7636930
I'm kinda destined to be a permavirg anyway. Forget getting a gf or getting laid, for the 18 years I spent in my home country I couldn't even make friends with anyone aside from foreigners because I couldn't speak the local language. Eventually they leave and we hardly ever see each other again.

That's also the reason why I couldn't get into any of the local universities, since the way that the admissions works there is literally by checking if you have ancestry in the country for 10 generations thereby guaranteeing your racial purity and nationalism or if you have parents that are governors or whatever. The fact that I don't even speak my native language is obviously a huge red flag.

After accepting my social fate I decided to try maybe dedicating my life to science or whatever autism that exists out there. Turns out I'm too dumb to do that as well.

If I tried selling my soul to the devil I'm sure he'd reject it, too.

>>7633403
more or less

>>7636877
take a summer off. look into study abroad and take fewer classes to have more free time.

you are mediocre. embrace it. you are probably (definitely) going into industry when you graduate. theres no rush like those guys gunning for academia.

work less. have more fun. no amount of money or prestige will ever buy you back your early twenties.

i would have killed myself if i looked back on my college time and had only memories of studying.

>>7637948
This. Just live your life. One of the biggest regret the big guys in engineering and science have is not living it up or enjoying it. A lot of professionals regret it because all they did was meaningless paper work for 3-4 decades.

>>7635601
State schools are quite a grab bag, a lot of smart people end up there. The smartest guy I know is at my state school because he only applied to MIT and it, and got waitlisted at MIT.

>>7636761
Everyone does.

I fucking hate Ohio State

>>7638307
I feel so fucking shitty. I got a 35 on my ACT and worked my ass of in high school and got into nothing but the one state school I applied for. granted they are pretty good in engineering but I still feel pissed. Some people in highschool that weren't even that smart with connections got into Cornell and it's really annoying all my hard work was for nothing. Plus coming from a Asian family my dad constantly makes fun of me and tells me how mediocre I am for not getting into a good school. Anything not Ivy-tier is shit for him.

I have plenty of friends in college but I don't do anything with anyone when it comes to hanging out or partying. I just talk and do hw with friends and then go home and waste time on sci.

/sci/ if I put 1000% effort I can pretty much learn a years worth of math or other subjects (depends on the subject) in about 3-4 days.
What is the easiest way for me to be super successful? Or the most surefire way? 4.0 gpa won't do shit for Ivy's for grad school anyway.

>>7637948
>>7638029
Yeah, I don't know how to enjoy all this spare time though. I don't like socializing in the typical way. Not really interested in girls either. Just me and my vidya games at the moment.

I really have no fucking place in this world. I thought going to a badass school would give me a sense of direction or something. Then I'd probably be motivated to keep up a tradition or uphold a standard. And everyone I know would probably take me more seriously because of the label.

Speaking of labels, the valedictorian of my high school got into Yale and the amount of cocksucking he gets is unreal. It's clearly visible just from his facebook feed alone. Considering that, being the guy who goes to "literally where" really sucks.

>oh hey anon, its been a while. almost forgot about you. where you at right now?
>literally where now?

I still remember this one vividly:
>oh hey mr salutatorian, where are you headed?
>oh that's quite unfortunate, but if it makes you feel better i'm sure you were smart enough to go <insert name drop school here> anyway

>>7638360
>thinking that Caltech doesn't also have "literally where?" syndrome
I think that the majority of people who recognize the name in the normal world do because of The Big Bang Theory. The rest who don't think I go to Cal Poly or some shit.

>>7638365
I assure you, everyone in my hometown knows what Caltech is. Its international reputation is probably stronger than its domestic one since a lot of European publications put it as #1. Reverse is true for US News though.

But it doesn't even matter that Caltech isn't that well known to the public, because your power level is literally so fucking strong you can afford not to give a fuck what the public thinks. Caltech is pretty much a secret ultra badass selective illuminati group. I'd be pretty much secure with that identity no matter what anyone thinks. It's like being the inconspicuous janitor who knows kung fu.

>Cal-what now? Cal poly??
>Yeah... Cal poly... sure thing.

>>7638311
So whats the story behind people going there? Did they all get suckered by the ranking or something?

>>7638338
[insert STEM subject here] olympiads and competitions; clubs relevant to your subjects (try to work up to managerial positions, or take on projects that require you to be in some leadership positions); robotics/engineering clubs. Basically join clubs that demonstrate your skills and interests, show you've developed as a normally adjusted human being, and make you into a socially good investment.

If you chose your grades as the only method of differentiating yourself from the crowd, you made a bad decision. There are thousands of students with grades that are just as good if not better compared to yours; your exemplary grades are a dime a dozen. Get out and meet some people, network with people and professors (profs--even at state schools--are connected to industry and academic ledes that aren't immediately apparent in the classroom).

>>7635517
I recently had to settle for an unknown university since certain life problems arose that didn't allow me to go away from family.
Practically every professor here loves to teach, a couple of them actually took some education courses later on.
This is opposed to my friend going to a large university where apparently each professor basically tells you to read the book since they're not there to teach you.

>>7636188
>>7638484
I should have gone to UGA when I had the chance desu senpai

The quality of education as far as engineering goes is equivalent to Caltech and the rest of the west coast ilk tho

>>7637859
an autist has no care for the outside world

you have not yet reached nirvana yet

>>7633469
That's retarded af anon

>>7638693
How would you know? Have you went to both places?

I get the impression that Caltech generally gives a better all around STEM education whereas GT just produces wageslaves for industry.

>>7633629
Tell that to George W. Bush

>>7638593
Did so many EC's in highschool along with being leaders of the important EC's. So much time wasted for nothing now.

>>7633431
>different peers

This is the real difference that is relevant for undergrad. At a tip-top school, your fellow students will be generally higher achieving. At Big State U, you will have good students in your classes as well, but there will be a much greater spread of abilities.

Looking over applications for his Honors Econ course, Prof G Mankiw at Harvard noted he could fill the whole class just with students who got perfect scores on their SATs.

>>7638338
If you are going to grad school, undergrad isn't really that important. Do well and get into a good grad school.

I feel like the only tangible differences for undergrads are name recognition, the social situation (school culture and how smart your classmates are), and resources (program in X available at this school but not the other one, more opportunities to join research labs at this school, etc.).

If you're worried about actually knowing the material, just read the textbooks and talk to your professor from time to time for you don't understand or ideas you have related to the material.

>>7639171

To that vein, I remember when I went to final presentations at some summer program that my buddy was in at a major hospital in my area. All of these kids aspired to go to schools like Harvard, MIT, etc., and a lot were probably going to get in.

There was ONE saying that they really wanted these very intelligent, hard-working kids to take home with them

"It's not what you know. It's who you know."

>>7639357
What GPA do I need to get into a good grad school and what EC's should I be doing?

>>7639441
as close to 4 as you can get, and research

grad schools dont give a fuck if you're president of the anime club

but most importantly, the three letters of recommendation.
Apply to REUs at schools for summer jobs, work your ass off there, get good letters. The letters are more important than anything else.

>>7639461
Got it. I'm doing Computer Science but it's in the engineering college. So should a GPA of 3.6 be good? And if I graduate like 1-2 years early is that good or beneficial?

>>7639487
U of I?

>>7639139
That is because you associate the west with silicon valley and innovation

I don't have measurements or anything but the prestige is equal, GT is fucked don't get me wrong but it's not worse than Cal schools which are championed as great universities just for having such a wide range of studies

>>7640216
I wouldn't really associate Caltech with Silicon Valley as much as research and NASA and that kind of stuff. They don't really produce enough people to make a name in Silicon Valley or industry in general for that matter. Their impact is in academia.

And Caltech isn't exactly praised for having a wide range of studies.

As for prestige being equal, if that were true then people would put Caltech, MIT, and GT in the same sentence. But they never really do.

There is an old joke.

An MIT and a Georgia Tech grad are walking along. The Georgia Tech
grad says "We consider MIT the Georgia Tech of the North, and Georgia
Tech the MIT of the South."

The two walk along, now in silence. After a while the Georgia Tech
grad asks, "Well, what do you consider us?"

The MIT grad looks at the GT grad and says "Sorry, but we don't
consider you at all."

>>7639685
Virginia Tech

>>7640276
MIT is a cut above the rest by a lot.

My beef is mainly with Caltech

>>7640325
What? Caltech is considered to be on par with MIT. Average student is stronger as well, it just isn't as influential because its so small. Wouldn't make sense for both schools to have a rivalry if one completely dominates the other.

Pretty sure that's also the reason why GT doesn't join in the Caltech MIT rivalry, because neither of them really consider GT as being a peer institution.

Retards not understanding Ohio State is a HUGE school and most of the Math and Physics department faculty have ivy league education.

>>7639487
GPA of 3.6 will not get you into a top 5 program. Graduating early will gain you nothing. Spend time to build your research portfolio.

I am at a top 5 program (stanford), and the person in my class with the lowest ugrad gpa had like a 3.8 from caltech, with a 3.9-4.0 his last two years (did poorly his first year)

>>7640946
Alright thanks for the advice.

>>7640405
They were the shit in combinatorics back in the day. Too bad they let go of that legacy.

>>7640946
Where did you get your undergrad from and is it possible to be accepted into a top 5 grad program from a subpar undergrad?

>>7640946
Man I'm so worried. Am I fucked if I don't do grad at the top 5? I don't want to spend too much money in college so I'm doing like 1.5-2 semesters worth a credits each semester and it going to take a toll on my GPA.

>>7641034
>>7641095
>>7641104
hey guys its your lucky day i went to a presentation from my school on this today

I will make a thread and post it here ok

>>7641117
Thanks man, I'm so worried about my future.

>>7641120
Don't be, we're all gonna make it :^)

>>7640946
3.8 GPA from Caltech? Pretty much need a 4.0 from everywhere else then...

>>7633403
It depends. If you're very interested in a specific field it's worth looking around for the best lecturers. While they'll cover very similar areas overall, different teachers might focus more on different aspects. Also there are some places that offer unusual courses. My university offers several different undergraduate lab courses, which is pretty uncommon.

>>7641137
>My university offers several different undergraduate lab courses, which is pretty uncommon.
Forgot the word "immunology" in there.

>>7633975
>physics for engineers
My school has this for architects and another one for premed students, but our engineering students take the same first two physics classes as the physics majors.

>>7634142
>companies typically waive interviews with MIT grads
You're just making shit up now.

>>7641146
There's probably some truth to what he said. My grad TA who went to MIT for undergrad mentioned that job interviews at MIT typically consist of asking about personal questions like interests and hobbies rather than technical questions mean to test you.

>>7639461
How can you do undergraduate research if your university offers no program of the sort? I already tried asking my profs to no avail and almost all REUs require US citixenship.