California Institute of Technology vs Harvard University

Overview Comparison
California Institute of TechnologyHarvard University
Collegedunia Score8.3 Out of 1010 Out of 10
ranking (overall)# 7 Times Higher Education 2024
# 7 US News 2024
# 15 QS World University 2024
# 3 US News 2024
# 4 QS World University 2024
# 4 Times Higher Education 2024
Subject Strength# 7 for Engineering by Times Higher Education 2024
# 185 for Medicine by QS World University 2023
# 1 for Engineering by Times Higher Education 2024
# 1 for Medicine by US News 2024
# 1 for Law by Times Higher Education 2024
ProgramsUG Programs -27
PG Programs -13
Doctorate Programs -16
UG Programs -40
PG Programs -58
Doctorate Programs -8
Acceptance Rate8.8 %5.6 %
Exam ScoreSAT - 1530
GMAT - 620
GRE updated - 326
IELTS - 6.5
SAT - 1460
TOEFL - 90
Cost to StudyAverage Tuition Fees   56364
[For UG Program]
Average Tuition Fees  56364
[For PG Program]
Hostel + Meal - 32373 Per Year
Average Tuition Fees   52659
[For UG Program]
Average Tuition Fees  18600
[For PG Program]
Hostel + Meal - 31689 Per Year
placement (average package)

Annual salary offered is 111,000 USD per annum and ROI is 7.9%. Top recruiters are Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Apple Computer Inc, etc. Graduate Employability Rankings (2020): #74. Doctorate students were the highest-paid ($138,000-154,000). 


Harvard University is one of the top private universities in Cambridge, United States. It is ranked #5 in QS World University Rankings 2023 and ranked #1 in US UNI.

Other Degree: $200,000 

Doctorate: $190,000 

Executive Masters: $172,000 

MBA: $168,000 

Executive MBA: $160,000 

LLM: $152,000 


application requirements

International students can apply through Common App and Coalition Application. When applying through the latter, you need to provide additional CalTech questions. Teacher evaluations are mandatory. 

Teacher Evaluation forms (as additional LORs); Sample of academic work, potfolio, music recordings, art work, etc  (supplementary documents); IELTS/TOEFL; Standardized test scores

Campuses and B-SchoolsNAHarvard Law School
Harvard Extension School
Harvard Kennedy School
Harvard Business School
CollegeDunia Reviews7.8/10 Read 2 reviews7.3/10 Read 4 reviews
General Facts Comparison
General FactsCalifornia Institute of TechnologyHarvard University
Type of UniversityUniversity
University
Established1920
1636
Student:Faculty Ratio3:1
7:1
Male:Female54% Male, 46% Female52% Male, 48% Female
Location Facts

124-acre campus located in Pasadena, California. The campus lies on the northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is at a walking distance from Pasadena Playhouse District and Old Town Pasadena.  


Harvard Yard: Campus’s historic hub, Harvard Square: Campus’s personal hagout destination with restaurants, cafe, bookstores, theater, shops. Well connected to the local neighborhood of Boston by public transport, the campus traverses the Charles River to near by Allston.


Library

Has Sherman Fairchild Library; Includes print collections on Applied Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, etc. These six libraries together offer 412,217 records and collections to explore from. As per the library catalogs, you can access up to 412,271 resources. 


Largest academic library in the world. 20.4 million volumes, 400 million manuscript items, 180,000 serial titles. The library offers various grants and fellowships for both students and faculty. 


Campus Life

It is Pasadena’s largest employer; Has Caltech Today and Caltech Matters to update students about events of the university; Has Diversity Centre, Wellness Centre, Performing and Visual Arts Centre etc. You can enjoy or indulge in 20 varsity sports and various theatre, music, art groups. 80% of students (UG) are a part of athletic teams and 65% play a musical instrument.  


Students from over 50 states and 80 countries are offered assistance by over 400 official student organization. The campus has its own museum, radio station, magazine and newspaper. Along with student clubs for Aikikai, archery, dance, theatre/drama, music, etc, campus also offers cultural & racial initiatives, asian student centric-projects, etc. Varsity sports, crimson pride and various atheletic teams.  


Hostel#Off campus (not with family) - $13293
#On campus - $14796
#Off campus (with family) - $4284
#Medium Single - $10404
#Large Single - $13248
#Standard Single - $8037
Famous Alumni

Over 22 Nobel Laureattes, 6 Turing Award winners; Edwin McMillan (synthesized first transuranium element), Donald Knuth (father of the analysis of algorithms), Harrison Schmitt (Astronaut), Arnold Beckman (invented the pH meter), William Shockley (father of Silicon Valley), etc.


Eight US Presidents, 62 living billionaires, 242 Marshall Scholars, 359 Rhodes scholars. Barak Obama (ex-president of USA), Michelle Obama (Former First Lady of USA), Mark Zuckerberg, Natalie Portman (Actress), Bill Gates, Conan O’ Brien (comedian writer), Al Gore (Winner-Peace Prize), Matt Damon (Actor), Helen Keller, Subramaniam Swami (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha)


City Life

Pasadena is located 15 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Some of the top companies in Pasadena are Jacob’s Engineering Group, Green dot corporation, Tetra Tech, Wesco Financial, etc. It has a wide variety of comedy clubs, outdoor cafes, night clubs, etc.  You can shop around Rose Bowl Flea market. Unemployment rate of Pasadena for July 2020 is 16.80%


Cambridge- city in Massachusetts; home to a huge student community; city offers a great nightlife with gastropubs, live music, and cocktail bars. Boston’s cosmopolitan excitement is bus-ride away. Average salaries offered within the state are up to 97,5000 USD; Famous tourist attractions: Charles River, Harvard Square, Mount Auburn Cemetery, MIT Museum, CambrdgeSide, John Harvard Statue, Sanders Theatre; Unemployment rate- 3.2%


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