<p>1) Has anyone here, to your knowledge, ever constructed a stuffed inductor?
-Don’t know what that is. I like inductors, though… yay ferrite!</p>
<p>2) Which houses are the "coolest?" Is it true that there's an entire house of people that drink pig's blood and don't shower?
-“They are all fine houses” (Most people find houses they really like). To your second question… I don’t think that everyone in a particular house does anything. As for what houses do or do not do, you’ll find out during rotation.</p>
<p>3) I am a girl. How easy would it be for me to get a date at Caltech, assuming I do not become part of the aforementioned house?
-You could probably be the ugliest girl on the planet and still get a date, quickly too… lol.</p>
<p>4) Quote from a Caltech-affiliated friend of mine: "The undergraduate teaching philosophy is Don't. Do research instead." Discuss.
-The teachers so far have seemed on average decent (I'm a frosh).</p>
<p>5) Is the food appalling? (I'm hungry right now)
-Lunch is amazing. Dinner is ok.</p>
<p>6) When I go to Caltech, should I learn to drive and/or cook?
-If you want to. You certainly don't need to.</p>
<p>7) Should I bring my textbooks from high school?
-If you want to. You certainly don't need to.</p>
<p>8) How hard is the freshman courseload compared to work at highly-ranked high schools or most state universities?
-Significantly harder. If you get in, you're probably capable of doing it, though.</p>
<p>9) What percent of people at Caltech play NetHack?
-uh, I doubt that many people play it a lot... but you could probably find a group of people who WOULD play it with you. </p>
<p>10) What percent of people at Caltech would make fun of people who like to play 20-year-old computer games in which you fight h's, f's, and semicolons?
-10%? We're all nerds here.</p>
<p>11) Are there any classes that are so fundamental to most math/science majors that if you screw up in those classes, you'll have an extremely hard time recovering and will probably have to drop your major and/or drop out of Caltech? (Not including multivariable calculus and freshman year physics/chem/bio.)
-Not including core?? Uh, probably not. ACM95 is probably one of the most widespread noncore classes... </p>
<p>12) How easy is it to get help with coursework at Caltech?
-Very easy as a frosh. As time goes on, it gets harder as fewer people share your classes. But Caltech goes out of its way to provide help... for example, students are paid to tutor other students (and the person receiving the tutoring gets it for free)</p>
<p>13) For those who have done research: has anyone ever taken credit for your ideas to get higher authorship on your paper?
-N/A... That doesn't really seem like Caltech though. Most people seem to take the honor code pretty seriously. </p>
<p>14) The working on homework in groups thing -- do people mostly work with their friends? Will people allow you to work with them if you weren't their friend beforehand? What happens if you just happen to end up becoming friends with people who have no clue what's going on in the class?
-You can typically work with whoever you want to. I work with different people all the time, regardless of who I am better friends with. I often check my work with people who I may not be close friends with but who I know are pretty sharp.</p>
<p>15) If you walked into lab one day and introduced yourself as a black gay transgendered Jehovah's Witness anarcho-communist, how many people would wind up hating you?
-People would probably think you were making fun of black gay transgendered Jehovah's Witness anarcho-communists, and might consider you a bit stupid for doing so... unless it was properly timed, in which case it might be funny. If the question is, "How open minded are techers?" the answer is (for the most part) very.</p>
<p>16) Do people blow off non-science courses?
A lot? Hums typically don't take as much time as math/science classes. In any case, if you want to be a hum major (and only that major) Caltech is probably not the right place for you. Who wants to take almost 2 years of core(math, phys, chem, bio) just to learn about philosophy or literature?
If you want to double major in a humanity though, I would imagine that once you got into higher level hums for that major more people would take it seriously. Even in entry level hums though some people take the class very seriously and some don't--which is true for pretty much any class.</p>
<p>17) How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
--on average 6-8 hours (that's about all I need/want). I am a frosh, though.</p>
<p>18) How many classes do you take, and how much time do you spend on each one? Do these numbers increase with grade level?
--4-6 on average, depends on the classes, the year, the major. </p>
<p>19) Do you remember most of what you learn in your classes?
--So far...</p>
<p>20) In most classes, can you learn a large percentage of the material from your textbooks?
--Depends on the class. Some classes don't even have textbooks. As a frosh, I typically find lecture notes or TA notes much more helpful than a textbook, but I imagine you could probably find most things in the book if you looked hard enough</p>
<p><strong><em>NOTE: I AM A FROSH. I HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE. TAKE MY WORDS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, OR AN ENTIRE SHAKER</em></strong></p>