Anyone have questions for females at Caltech?

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>Hey guys! In light of recent postings on the "Why Caltech is Different: an Open Letter", a few girls, including myself, would like to answer any questions you may have about being a girl at Caltech or Caltech in general. </p>

<p>To give everyone some perspective, I'm currently a junior at Caltech studying Chemical Engineering. I visited my junior year of high school and absolutely loved the campus and the philosophy of learning all of the different science disciplines. In addition, I loved the house system and the guaranteed family that was built in as soon as the cannon fired, ending rotation. When I arrived and went through rotation, I will admit, I did not rotate into my favorite house. Looking back, I am forever grateful of that because the house I ended up in gave me incredible room for growth. I got involved in the orchestra, chamber music program, chemical engineering society, academic committee, as well as being an upperclass counselor in my house. </p>

<p>As a girl, in general, I have not had any strange issues. Most guys see girls as just human beings and those who do not are quickly shown by upperclassmen that treating girls as meat is not acceptable behavior. Sure, at parties, there will always be a guy or two trying desperately to get together with a girl, but this is the exception, not the rule. Most guys become very brother-like figures. The house basically turns into a family with brothers, sisters, moms, and dads. It's a great supportive environment that I'm extremely thankful for. </p>

<p>Anyways, so that's my perspective. I'm open to answering any questions you guys have about being a girl at Caltech or anything else related to Caltech. So ask away (or if any current/past Techers want to post their experiences that's fine as well)!!!!</p>

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<p>Hey! I’m also a girl at Caltech and will be here to answer any questions you have. If you have any private questions, feel free to send me a message as well. I hope I’ll be helpful~ :D</p>

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<p>Are there many black women that attend? Do you ever feel overshadowed by your male peers? How is the dating scene?</p>

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<p>this is not very girl specific but how is the smallness aspect? do you ever feel like you would have preferred a bigger school? how often do you actually go to the beach/la/whatever? eh I really just need to go and visit now that its one of my options</p>

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<p>I also have the same questions.</p>

<p>I’ve visited the school three times already, but I feel like perhaps the small size is one of my main concerns. I love that there is such an incredible student faculty ratio, but am also worried that perhaps I might find the school to be too small…</p>

<p>In your experiences, how are the teachers? Friendly? Available to speak with students, or very busy and hard to contact?</p>

<p>How has the small size of the campus affected campus life for you girls? Do you ever think there might be more benefits to going to a bigger school? What are the pros and cons about going to a small school?</p>

<p>What is the environment like? Are students competitive or collaborative? Is it a cutthroat environment?</p>

<p>Do you have any general advice you could give us girls, based on your experiences
.
I’ve been wanting to ask these questions for such a long time! I felt intimidated that I didn’t know any current female students to ask. Thank you so much for your time and advice!</p>

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<p>To answer the question about the small school: I don’t think the size of a school really matters. Even if you went to a large school, you’d end up with a small group of close friends. You may think you have more choices in meeting people in a larger school, but really you only want to meet people that might have the same interests as you do. Luckily, that is a large portion of Caltech, at least for me.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your reply Anjoola. Do you have any insight into the other questions? Thank you again!</p>

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<p>First, some disclaimers: I am not a girl and while some of my responses may be critical of caltech, I do very much love my house and the experience that I’ve had thus far. </p>

<p>In your experiences, how are the teachers? Friendly? Available to speak with students, or very busy and hard to contact?
There is definitely a range. I’ve met teachers who are in fact friendly and excited to speak to students. However, the most common description I’d give is that the professors are nice people who are often pre-occupied. Still, its very easy to speak with them. </p>

<p>How has the small size of the campus affected campus life for you girls? Do you ever think there might be more benefits to going to a bigger school? What are the pros and cons about going to a small school?
I was in no way satisfied with the response that Anjoola gave. There are several aspects to the small size of caltech. First, everyone in your house will be like a family. However, this description is very misleading if one assumes that it is fairytale-like for all members of a house. Certainly, there is support, love, and respect for everyone. Still, not everyone is a perfect match for a house and thus they may feel excluded or more distant than others from the rest of their house. Also, the small size definitely promotes a much tighter feel to your community than a larger school provides. There are also some serious disadvantages to the size of Tech. One problem is that you will never be able to escape from the status-quo. What I mean by that is that you will be forced more or less to always associate with a certain group of people be it the people in your major, the people in your house, the people who party, and the people who do similar things as you. Basically, life can be bland and there are no real alternatives. Secondly, for better or worse, everyone knows you and your reputation. I don’t think that its necessary to expand on that as it has both its upsides and downsides. Finally, the small size (and extreme focus) at Tech is the major source of other issues: limited course offerings compared to other high caliber schools, a meal system that is constantly criticized, and a dearth of companies that actually recruit on campus.</p>

<p>What is the environment like? Are students competitive or collaborative? Is it a cutthroat environment?
Possibly the easiest question to answer. All the students are collaborative, very little competition. Pretty much anyone is willing to help you out.</p>

<p>Are there many black women that attend? Do you ever feel overshadowed by your male peers? How is the dating scene?
To be honest, there are very few black women at caltech. I can’t speak as a woman but pretty much everyone at caltech is equally skilled in whatever field they enjoy most. Finally, as for dating, it does happen, as do occasional hookups but its a pretty scarce thing. Most relationships on campus are either non-existent or long-term. This is mostly in part to the small size of campus which leads to a very small number of compatible individuals and due to the kind-of childish, gossipy nature of Tech. If you want more information on this, you can PM me.</p>

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<p>Wow thank you very much for being thorough originalthought. I guess my biggest concerns are some of the things you pointed out–the limited number of course offerings relative to other schools of the same level, and the small number of people that you’ll be around. I think SURF and other similar opportunities, and the student faculty ratio are some of the biggest factors that draw me to Tech though. Would you say, from your experiences, that the benefits largely outweigh the drawbacks of beng at Caltech?</p>

<p>Also, thank you for being honest and sharing both the pros and cons of Tech–advice like this is what helps students like me make the important decision of deciding where to go to college.</p>

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<p>Do you ever feel overshadowed by your male peers?
I sometimes feel overshadowed by people who are way smarter than me, some of whom happen to be boys.</p>

<p>How is the dating scene?
My impression is it’s kind of different from most schools. Many people at tech have never had a relationship before, which changes things, most relationships seem to be longer term (lasting several months), and a lot of them seem to be kind of passive (ie they do physics together or walk to campus things holding hands rather then going out somewhere)- but i’d say it probably varies by house and social group and such. </p>

<p>do you ever feel like you would have preferred a bigger school?</p>

<p>I really like the small group of likeminded people who have similar interests. I feel like most bigger schools would have had fewer science nerds than caltech and so I’d have fewer good friends than I have here. I admit however, that if I didn’t really like the two other people in my year in my major I may have had a different opinion. You do end up spending a lot of time with only a few people which can sort of drive you nuts. </p>

<p>how often do you actually go to the beach/la/whatever?
It varies a lot depending on the person. I’d say i go to the beach 3-4 times a year and into LA 2 times a year, not including 4am food runs. </p>

<p>Do you have any general advice you could give us girls, based on your experiences</p>

<p>In my experience, Caltech has been one of the most undiscriminating places I’ve ever been. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, people will accept whatever kind of activities you do. Our interhouse sports teams have sometimes had more girls than guys on them, we’ve had girls in charge of construction and as house presidents. So if you want to do something, just go ahead and do it. Don’t be afraid to try new things or keep up an old hobby.</p>

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<p>Hey guys! Glad to see there are so many replies!</p>

<p>Are there many black women that attend? Do you ever feel overshadowed by your male peers? How is the dating scene?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Unfortunately, there are very few black women. </p></li>
<li><p>Caltech is hard for everyone. I know in my frosh year study group, we had a guy who was very good at math and physics, while the girls were all great at chemistry. So we helped him at chemistry and he helped us with math and physics. There’s almost no way that anyone can be good at everything at Caltech, especially through core, and if you were smart enough to get into Caltech, you must be good at something. So, no, I don’t feel overshadowed by male peers, though sure there are times you feel overshadowed by others.</p></li>
<li><p>The dating scene is… slightly bizarre, though not necessarily in a bad way. There are very few hookups, but lots of relationships. Almost everyone I know has been in at least one relationship and most people that want relationships (especially girls) can have one. Will people talk about other people? Of course. But part of growing up is being able to deal with this; again, if you’re concerned I’m open to talking more specifics about some of my relationships over PM.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>** In your experiences, how are the teachers? Friendly? Available to speak with students, or very busy and hard to contact?**</p>

<ul>
<li>Professors vary widely. Most are, at the very least, friendly and willing to talk to students at the end of class. Trying to get time with them at other times (other than after class or at their office hours) can be very difficult.<br></li>
</ul>

<p>** How has the small size of the campus affected campus life for you girls? Do you ever think there might be more benefits to going to a bigger school? What are the pros and cons about going to a small school? **</p>

<ul>
<li>I don’t think the small size of campus affects girls anymore than guys. Probably what is most frustrating about going to a small school is just more limited options. This applies both to schoolwork and social things. Many upper-level courses are offered every other year, which can cause junior or senior year to have scattered good and bad terms (for example, next term is going to be very work-heavy for me). In terms of social things, typically there are only a few things going on in a given night.<br></li>
<li>However, there are a few really amazing things about the small atmosphere. Once you’re in a house, you will develop a family very quickly. It’s one of my favorite parts of Caltech because I know I will be close to many people I know here for the rest of my life. That being said, it’s slightly harder to make changes to your life because you feel like you’re part of a family (who wants to disappoint their family). However, most people will realize that changes you make are for the best. Again, feel free to ask me questions to clarify or PM me.</li>
</ul>

<p>What is the environment like? Are students competitive or collaborative? Is it a cutthroat environment?</p>

<p>In general, people are very collaborative. Occasionally in a pre-med class, you will be frustrated, but that’s because other people are studying more than normal, not that they’re actually being cutthroat.</p>

<p>Do you have any general advice you could give us girls, based on your experiences?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Try new things: if you haven’t programmed before, take CS1; if you know you’re a math major, take a geology class. There’s plenty of time to try new things and it’ll open up your eyes to new things. This is also true for social things-- go to a party even if you don’t think you like to… you may be surprised.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t get sucked into a relationship especially early on in freshman year-- friends are far more important. Any guy worth your time will wait for you.</p></li>
<li><p>Take the time to get off campus and explore at least Pasadena and then eventually the rest of Socal. There are plenty of options and time to get away from Caltech, especially during freshman year. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>Would you say, from your experiences, that the benefits largely outweigh the drawbacks of beng at Caltech?</p>

<p>In conclusion, yes. Every school will have pluses and minuses and I feel like Caltech will grow people into great scientists. To grow into a mature person, it requires actual effort, but it is a definite possibility.</p>

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<p>Hey everyone!
Several people have already answered, and I feel like rehashing what they say wouldn’t be beneficial. So, I’ll talk about something I noticed for myself about the small school atmosphere.</p>

<p>Since Caltech is a small school of people with similar interests, I’ve found it very easy get answers to academic questions I have. If, for example, I want an idea of what internships would be good to apply to or what grad schools to look at, I can easily find people who have gone through the process already and can answer my questions from a student’s point of view. Generally, these people that I ask will also be able to gear their answer toward my situation, since they would most likely know me or Caltech education in general.</p>

<p>Further, I find that research, for me, is easier to pursue as an undergraduate here at Caltech. While I haven’t had experience at a larger university, I feel that I would be less able to pursue research elsewhere, as the opportunities are fewer in number than the students at a larger university. Being with like-minded people is helpful in this aspect as well, since friends can recommend professors that are conducting research in my interest and, as Caltech is a very collaborative and supportive environment, encourage me to pursue the opportunity (as I second-guess myself quite a bit).</p>

<p>I started Caltech a little skeptical about being at a small school, but now I love it. There are obviously more pros and cons than what I have stated here (and others have touched on) and others may have different experiences, but the things above are probably two major advantages I have found while being here at Tech. If there are any further questions, feel free to ask or PM me.</p>

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<p>How cliquey is Caltech?</p>

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<p>Cliquey?? Not at all. Really - not at all. Techers tend to allow for eccentricities, more so than any other school I’ve heard about. It is accepted here to be a bit different, skewed, quirky, or focused. It is completely accepted to sit down at a lunch table and strike up a conversation with someone you’ve never met before - it is done all the time and welcomed. Everyone at Tech is a star to some extent, and we all respect each other. Social quirks are NOT a reason for avoiding someone. In fact, only the blowhards and braggards are considered a problem. Otherwise, people are very accepting.</p>

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<p>What is it like to be a ChemE major? Do you feel as if it prepares you for industry research/work?</p>

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<p>@hellocollegelife: I usually go to bed between 1 and 2:30, but I’m rarely up doing work that late–I finish work around 12 or 1.</p>

<p>Rooming situations vary by house. There are eight undergrad houses. Three of them only have doubles. One has doubles and singles, but only doubles are open to freshmen. The other four have a mix of singles, doubles, and triples (although triples are rare–only one or two per house). I don’t know for sure, but in those houses probably 2/3 of people have singles.</p>