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If an average Caltech graduate has a higher SAT score than an average Harvard/MIT grad, does that translate to success later on in life? For example, are there
by herge 15y ago
If an average Caltech graduate has a higher SAT score than an average Harvard/MIT grad, does that translate to success later on in life?
For example, are there proportionally more Google employees from Caltech or more startups in YCombinator with Caltech graduates?
- robrenaud 15y agoHow do you measure success in life? I'd bet P[At Google | Caltech degree] is greater than P[At Google | Princeton degree], but it's mostly explained by P[interested in CS | Caltech degree] >> P[interested in CS | Princeton Degree].
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- meow 15y agofrom the article: "The fact that 17 of its student alumni and 14 of its faculty have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, and six of its alumni have won the prestigious Turing Award in computer science, surely says something about the institution and what it stands for. Despite its small size, Caltech was chosen by NASA to be the center for its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in the past was a major venue for visiting scholars of the rank of Heisenberg, Einstein, Lorentz, and Bohr. In more recent times its undergraduate alumni have gone on to be founders or co-founders of such leading-edge American companies as Intel, TRW, Compaq, and Exploratorium."
- absconditus 15y agohttp://www.harvard.edu/heads-state http://www.harvard.edu/heads-state http://www.harvard.edu/nobel-laureates http://www.harvard.edu/nobel-laureates http://www.harvard.edu/pulitzer-prize-winners http://www.harvard.edu/pulitzer-prize-winners
- bh42222 15y agoFor example, are there proportionally more Google employees from Caltech or more startups in YCombinator with Caltech graduates? Since they are all based in California now, I would think yes. But since Larry and Sergey Bin are both from Stanford, I'd expect a disproportionate number of Stanford grads at Google. In any case, one way universities market themselves is by looking at the average income of their alumni. Since Harvard grads often end up on Wall Street, I would not be surprised if Harvard comes up on top. But you could argue that's just the financial industry connection. What if you restrict your search on science and engineering majors? Well then we already know MIT and Caltech are better.
- rylz 15y agoRegardless of restriction to science and engineering, Caltech comes out on top for median starting salaries and second for mid-career: http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-graduate-salary-statistics.asp http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-gradua... Maybe financial industry salaries would change these rankings if they considered averages rather than medians, but a reasonable number of Caltech grads end up on Wall Street as well.
- rylz 15y agoWhile this is definitely changing, Caltech graduates have tended to be heavily focused on academia in the past, and in that particular regard, the data definitely show success later on in life. The percentage of Caltech undergrads who earn PhD's is well above everyone else: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNSF_178http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsf.gov%2Fstatistics%2Finfbrief%2Fnsf08311%2F%3FgovDel%3DUSNSF_178#tab2 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNS... In terms of other measures of success, Caltech might lag behind some other schools. As a current CS undergrad, I only know of a handful of startups run by Caltech grads. As I said, this is changing, but it goes to show the impact of choice of metrics.