As a general rule of thumb, the more applications a college receives in a given admissions cycle, the happier that college’s admissions office is. It’s pretty simple: the more applications, the lower the school’s admission rate will invariably be, and the higher the school will be ranked by US News & World Report. Accordingly, most highly selective colleges encourage as many applicants as possible — even unqualified applicants who don’t have a shot on God’s green earth of earning admission — to submit applications.

While we understand why colleges make great efforts to market to students and encourage them to apply, we don’t think leading so many students on is right. When a highly selective college discourages students who don’t meet their academic requirements from taking the time to tour the school, that’s to be commended and pushed even further.

Caltech Should Encourage Only Qualified Students to Tour Campus

The California Institute of Technology, which currently ranks #6 in the US News & World Report ranking and has in the past topped this very list on more than one occasion, is rather coy about only wanting qualified students touring their campus. As they write on their admissions site, “Caltech is not for everyone. The work is intense. We’re a small, tight-knit community. And we’re really, really into science and research. Attending one of our in-person experiences is the best way to see if we’re a good match for each other.”

Okay, so maybe they’re not downright discouraging unqualified students from taking the trek to campus, but they’re not being shy about the fact that most students who tour won’t be admitted. High school juniors are typically quite busy. Planning college tours during this time (as we at Ivy Coach would recommend) requires extensive resources and proper time management to fit into an already robust academic and extracurricular schedule (assuming you’ve taken our advice and are pursuing your singular admissions hook with all your free time!).

It’s a waste of everyone’s time to plan to tour campus when you have absolutely no shot of being admitted. Once you factor in the time and money to travel there, book hotels, feed yourself and your family, etc., touring a campus you might not end up on or even apply to becomes even more untenable.

We recommend that students who worry they might not be qualified for admission to Caltech heed their subtle warning — don’t plan a trip to campus! The earlier you focus on schools within reach, the more time you have to optimize your case for admission. And Ivy Coach salutes Caltech for including language about how it is not for everyone, but we wish they would go further. Why not just openly discourage unqualified students from applying? This private research university has a gorgeous Pasadena, California campus that many might daydream of joining during a tour. We wouldn’t blame them! So why get the hopes up of so many students who will never have a shot at attending?

Why Caltech is Not Just Any School

Caltech is one of the most rigorous colleges in the world. Even admitted students struggle to keep up with its challenging core curriculum. Take it from Caltech Undergraduate Admissions: “The core curriculum will be hard – extraordinarily so. It’s designed that way: to take the best and the brightest STEM minds in the world and challenge them beyond what they believe is possible. But you can do it. You will do it. And this critical foundation will help you change the world.”

It should come as no surprise that Caltech requires incoming students to master calculus, physics, and chemistry. If you wouldn’t dream of taking a calculus course in high school, save yourself loads of time and set your sights on a less rigorous school.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance to Caltech Applicants

Even the applicants who are more than qualified for admission to Caltech may be daunted by these incredibly high standards. Gaining admission to this cutting-edge school featured in The Big Bang Theory is no walk in the park, but with the help of one of Ivy Coach’s former elite college admissions officers, you or your child will optimize the odds of admission through a compelling singular hook. Don’t go into this process alone. Fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll be in touch.