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The most brutal school for admissions, where they look only at the students' performance and not at creating any kind of "well-rounded student body," is Cal Tec

• tzs 13y ago
  It should be noted, though, that this does not mean Caltech is unconcerned with a "well-rounded student body". They just do not use that as a factor when they are actually processing applications. If they want to change the demographics of the student body, they do so by trying to change the demographics of the applicant pool. For instance, when I was a student there (class of '82), the biggest demographic problem within the student body was the severe imbalance between men and women. The undergraduates were only around 15% women. That's frustrating for pretty much everyone. Caltech addressed this by trying hard to (1) get more qualified women to apply, and (2) convincing more of those who were accepted to choose Caltech over the other schools that accepted them. Essentially, they would treat a bright high school girl with a talent for math, science, or engineering the way schools with effective sports programs treated outstanding high school athletes. Nowadays, around 40% of undergraduates there are women.
• hga 13y ago
  Indeed it is, and their requirements for all students go a fair amount beyond MIT's, including rigor. E.g. the last time I checked a few years ago you must show up on campus knowing single variable calculus and they start you on Apostol, although there's a later more practical track.