<p>A few questions for current Techers about girls at Caltech.
1. why are there so few girls at caltech?
I know Caltech doesn't practice AA. but is it also becuase fewer girls applied? or even a smaller percentage of accepted girls choose to enroll? In other words, is it because not a lot of girls want to attend Caltech?
2. what are some popular majors for girls?
3. what do girls tend to do after caltech?
4. what are girls like at caltech?
5. Do you think Caltech is a good place for girls? or is it too intense/ competitive/ depressing? do they play a different role from girls in other colleges because there are so few of them?</p>
<p>These are just general questions.
6. is missing prefrosh weekend and not visiting at all before enrolling a very bad idea? has any of you regretted attending because you never visited?
7. are caltech students friendly?
8. how's the food?
9. on average, how many students share a bathroom (for those living on campus)?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Fewer girls apply to Caltech. In general girls seem less interested in engineering and physical sciences, which Caltech specializes in.</p></li>
<li><p>Biology, chemical engineering, chemistry, geology seem to be popular choices. The ratio in these majors is much higher than the rest of Caltech. Computer science, engineering, math, physics have very few girls.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/after%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/after</a> has stats on on employment, graduate school, fellowships, etc. I can't answer your question about girls after Caltech specifically, but I don't think it differs much from guys.</p></li>
<li><p>People like yourself?</p></li>
<li><p>Caltech is intense, but never really competitive. Because there are so few girls, you may get more attention than you care for initially. But this usually lasts only a term or so of frosh year. After that it becomes relatively normal since everyone knows everyone else at that point. Maybe another techer (girl) could answer this question better.</p></li>
<li><p>Visit if you can as it is helpful to get a feel for Caltech in general and the individual houses. But I never visited either before enrolling, and I don't think I missed out on too much.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes.</p></li>
<li><p>Lunch good. Dinner bad. This has probably been covered in greater detail in other posts.</p></li>
<li><p>In my alley, we have three bathrooms for about 13 people. Your results may vary.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Caltech's gender ratio really is comparable to that of other universities when you just look at the science and engineering majors alone. Girls do tend to disproportionately decide not go to Caltech after being admitted, partially because they're more likely to have gotten into MIT than the guys and/or that they on average apply to more schools. Some may also be scared away from the "nerdy" atmosphere (which doesn't even exist in all of the Houses.)</p></li>
<li><p>ddy covered this pretty accurately. Approximate percentage of girls in majors: Geostuff - 85%, Astrophysics - 60%, Biology - 55%, Chemistry - 50%, ChemE - 30%, EE - 25%, MechE - 20%, CS - 15%, Math - 15%, Physics - 15%. This is based on [donut] data that counts people who declared a major at any time, and so doesn't take into account gender-biased major switches. Also, this doesn't mean all guys should switch to geobiology or whatever to get a date; most people don't date in-major. Most of your classes for the first two years here will have little to do with your major, anyways.</p></li>
<li><p>Go to grad school, get a job (and maybe go to grad school later,) or start a company. Same as the guys. </p></li>
<li><p>They like math and science. Most are probably nerdier than the average girl. It really varies by House. Same as the guys. </p></li>
<li><p>I personally think Caltech is a great place for girls. It's hard, but not competitive at all. Being able to work with your peers is essential for most people, and the girls here seem, on average, better at doing that. I was worried about possible sexism due to the lack of girls before coming here, but there is basically none that I have noticed. Guys here seem to be more respectful than guys at other colleges of girls. Girls also seem to do better in classes than guys (purely anecdotal data, proceed with caution.)</p></li>
<li><p>Just know what you're getting into. Caltech can make some people miserable , while others have the time of their lives. I don't really know many in the former category (probably because they are less likely to leave their rooms ever,) but it happens, and often because they didn't understand what the social and academic climates were like here. </p></li>
<li><p>Caltech was the friendliest campus I've ever been to, mostly because of the small student body. The campus also feels really safe, and there is basically no undergrad-on-undergrad crime.</p></li>
<li><p>Lunch (and breakfast at Chandler) is awesome. Dinner is hit-or-miss. Some nights dinner is absolutely delicious, other nights... well, there's always pasta, soup, and salad in the kitchens if you don't like that night's dinner. Desserts are the same way. The cookies and cream pie is delicious and I will have a heart attack in five years because of this. But, who thought it was a good idea to put strawberry-flavored filling in a churro? In general, CDS tends to fail at ethnic foods. Anything on Thursday is good though. And Tuesday desserts are (warm) cookies with ice cream! Yay! There's also open kitchen in the morning and afternoon, with unlimited drinks, salad, sandwiches, and cereal. </p></li>
<li><p>My alley and the one connecting to it, with a total of 17 people, share four bathroom stalls and three shower stalls (all unisex.) The only time there is a problem is when all of the frosh are waking up at the same time for the same class and all try to take a shower at the same time. This is not actually that big of a problem because a lot of us take showers at weird times (I take mine right after dinner, some take theirs at 3 am.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
Caltech can make some people miserable , while others have the time of their lives. I don't really know many in the former category (probably because they are less likely to leave their rooms ever)
[/quote]
I would think that "the ones who never leave their rooms ever" would not be any happier at another college.</p>
<p>Oh, just another anecdotal story which I found amusing ...</p>
<p>After interhouse I talked to a girl from a school nearby. She said that a few Caltech guys had asked her to dance, which she turned down since she had a boyfriend. She was surprised that their response was a friendly "Oh, ok then." She said that at her own school, the standard response would have been "What a B*tch."</p>
<p>I agree that most of the people who troll at Caltech would troll at any other school. I count myself in the group of people that would probably troll at most other schools but are happy and very social at Caltech. I just find it much easier to relate with the people here (it also helps that a lot of people make an effort to befriend you.)</p>
<p>So why exactly do so few girls major in Math and Physics and so many in Geology? the 85% in geology is just striking..given there're 30% girls all over...Is it because most girls can't handle the rigor of math and physics? (hopefully not, I might want to major in math and this just scares me) and if you do major in geology, what do you learn (pardon my ignorance) and what do you normally do as a career?</p>
<p>how's the economics program at Caltech? I've heard it's very good but that's from a very vague sourse. I thought econ would be a popular major for girls too but it seems like I'm wrong. how feasible or common is it (for everybody) to double major in a math/science and a econ/finance major? Is it very exhausting to do so?</p>
<p>I have a decision to make between Caltech and Wellesley. My major is undecided, most possibly sth in math/science, hopefully with a second econ/finance major like mentioned above, but these are all bounded to change. (As you can tell, I'm trying to leave my options a bit more open than pure science/math careers; I enjoy learning them but I know too little about those careers to take a stand) I know Caltech is definitely the right place for math/science, but people have been telling me Wellesley is good for "leaving your options open", and that they have research opportunities too at places like MIT... so any suggestions? oh and which one has better grad school placements and career prospects for students?</p>
<p>Since our girls kick butt, I doubt that they pick non math/physics majors due to shortcomings in math and physics. Geology is interesting stuff, but students don't get much exposure to it before coming to college. Perhaps, for some reason or other which we won't theorize about, they are more open to looking at different fields. </p>
<p>It is pretty easy to double major in BEM (Business Economics and Management) or a different social science major (including economics), especially if you like the material. About 10% of all students are double majors.</p>
<p>Basically every geology major I know was not planning on majoring in it until they took Ge 1, when they realized that it was awesome and that they really enjoyed it. I have no idea why girls in particular tend to switch to geology, geochemistry, or geobiology. I think the idea that "the girls can't handle math and physics as well as the guys" is thoroughly debunked by the high percentage of girls in astrophysics, which is quite possibly the most difficult major here. Honestly, math does not have a lot of requirements, and tends not to be too difficult for the kind of person who would major in it anyways. Astrophysics is basically the physics major, which is one of the more difficult ones here, with *more<a href="and%20not%20easy">/i</a> requirements on top of it. For whatever reason, girls who like physics seem to major in astrophysics more than guys do. Maybe they can handle the work load better or maybe they just like astronomy more? I have no idea. Also, CS, another major that is "easy" along the same lines as the geo majors, is extremely predominantly guys.</p>
<p>Speaking about your choice in a general manner: Caltech and Wellesley are pretty much opposites in many ways. 30/70 ratio vs. 100/0 ratio (girls:guys obviously), Research University vs. LAC... etc. I think visiting is very important (it was the most important part for me after I had narrowed down my college choices). Thatb eing said, from an objective standpoint, you're going to have very different opportunities available to you depending on where you go. </p>
<p>I can tell you that Wellesley is not going to have the same research opportunities that Caltech has. Yes, you can do UROPs at MIT, but they aren't funded by MIT apparently. You can find more info at: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/UROP/students/wellesley/options.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/UROP/students/wellesley/options.html</a> At Caltech, you'll have the opportunity to do SURFs on-campus or off (which is an awesome program... you can get info at <a href="http://surf.caltech.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://surf.caltech.edu/</a> ) and you'll also be able to do whatever research during the school year that you'd like. You'll also have the opportunity to make important relationships here with professors through your classes that lead to research--an opportunity you won't really have if you're doing research at a school you don't attend.</p>
<p>As for keeping your options open, Caltech allows you to cross register at three different institutions and take courses there for free...
"Caltech has formal agreements with three nearby institutions—Occidental College, Scripps College, and Art Center College of Design—that allow students to take classes that Caltech doesn’t offer and receive Caltech credit. Caltech students are not required to pay tuition to these colleges to take courses there (although they must pay any special fees required)." I mean, if you want to be a liberal arts major Caltech probably isn't the best place for you, but I'd argue if you want to be a math/science/engineering major, Wellesley is not really the place for you. So if you want to major in math/science/engineering but keep your options open in terms of what classes you take, Caltech can certainly be a good choice. If you think there's a good chance you're going to become a prelaw major or something... I'm not sure I can recommend it. </p>
<p>When it comes to grad school placement, it's worth noting that Caltech has the highest percentage of students in the US that go onto graduate school (although at the moment I can't find a citation for this...). Caltech is one of the finest Universities in the world for math, science, and engineering and both grad schools and employers are very aware of this. I'm not saying you can't be successful in one of these fields coming from Wellesley, but a Caltech degree may open doors for you that a LAC degree can't.</p>
<p>Sorry about my inept interpretation of the gender distrubution within different majors. So what are some career choices for geology or geostuff majors?</p>
<p>I think "leaving the options open" for me is more about career than about classes that I can take. Like I said I really enjoy learning math and science, but I don't feel ready to make a decision whether or not I'd like a pure math/science career...so if I go to caltech, learn some math and science, and find out I don't like doing research or I'm not smart enough to do it well, would I still have other options? and what are those options? (from what I heard the answer would be yes, but just to make sure, and to get more helpful details)</p>
<p>"If you think there's a good chance you're going to become a prelaw major or something... I'm not sure I can recommend it. "<br>
I thought Caltech grads do go to med school and law school, cuz it says so on their website...so very few Techers go to law school? what about med school?</p>
<p>Caltech is not recommended for people whose main goal upon entering is law or medicine because those admissions processes are very GPA sensitive and don't adjust much for the difficulty of the institution you come from. The thing people worry about is someone whose dream is to be an MD who goes to Caltech, gets a 3.0, and doesn't get into a good med school.</p>
<p>With that said, about 10 graduating seniors a year (give or take a few) go to medical+law school. Often these are in the top quarter of their class and they end up doing extremely well. </p>
<p>Generally people can do almost anything they want after Caltech. I decided late in my education that I wanted to be an economist and there was nothing stopping me. People go into financial consulting, management consulting, basically management in any industry you can think of, research careers in industry, also public service, media (journalism and publishing), and the list goes on. My educated guess is that at least 40% of Caltech graduates end up earning money doing something other than scientific research, and I know for sure that many of them are very happy and wealthy doing this.</p>
<p>It's not like other school leave open doors that you couldn't go into as a Caltech graduate. That's the one mistake people seem to make most often. The only thing Caltech doesn't have that other schools do have is people majoring in English and Communications and History and Philosophy. Those majors are entirely useless from the point of view of specific job training. Their only excuse for existing is that they "teach you how to think and argue complicated cases effectively," and I promise that a Caltech math major + philosophy minor will teach you much more about thinking and arguing than almost any other activity that exists.</p>
<p>So, the short story, if you come here and do well (and you can do well if you work hard), many, many doors will be open. So just come! :)</p>
<p>Don't come to Caltech if you want to 'leave the doors open' in non-science/math/econ fields. Wellesley probably has similiar narrowness in different areas. To be honest, I've met many people here who came in with what they thought was a great passion for science who now feel like that has been beaten out of them, so if you aren't at least that certain that you 'love science' (whatever that means) then you should probably look elsewhere.</p>
<p>That's a bit silly and extreme. We do have majors in the humanities which prepare people for high levels of performance in other fields; from time to time, people graduating from Caltech actually go on to get PhDs in the humanities. The fact that other universities may be more suited to a liberal arts education does not mean that the risk and downside of losing interest in science is large enough to justify avoiding Caltech. Suppose a student were to decide that she didn't like science. If she's a sophomore or younger, great; she just transfers somewhere more suited to her interests. If she's a junior or senior, transferring is more difficult, and she would have been in better shape had she made her decision earlier. Among the people I've talked to who seem to be in this situation, it's often not so much that they lose interest in science but more that they develop strong interests in other areas that Caltech does not have, like archaeology and architecture, and they don't know how they can get involved with their field of choice after graduating. </p>
<p>Harold, can you please elaborate on why people should not come here?</p>
<p>I didn't meant to at all suggest people shouldn't come here, and that's not what I said - after all, I'm glad I'm here. To clarify: if you're coming here you ought to be prepared to be very devoted to scientific study, and if that devotion level is tepid than Caltech would probably not be a very happy place for you.</p>
<p>halfthelaw -- I think Caltech closes only a very few doors, and most other schools close those doors, too. You couldn't pursue a serious interest in archeology here as an undergraduate, or get an architecture degree, or get conservatory-level training on the cello. (Then again, at least for architecture and music, if you want to do those things professionally you basically have to apply to a specialized program after high school.) But in general, after a Caltech degree in the closest field available to what you want to do, assuming you do well and impress your professors, you can easily get into graduate school to study whatever you want, or get a job doing what you want.</p>
<p>I would love someone to name a field which is not already named above that Caltech would preclude you from doing. Almost always, if you just get a Caltech degree in something that signals your high IQ and do a few things extracurricularly to show your passion about whatever "it" is, you'll have no trouble reaching the next step. Almost all upper level managers or professors will at the very least read a resume from a Caltech student with a good GPA because they're so rare and odd -- which can't be said for other schools. Honestly, if you want to be a professional historian, you're better off getting a math and history degree from Caltech than a history degree from the vast majority of other schools, because those are a dime a dozen and you'll be the rare one.</p>
<p>I know this view is a little extreme, but I just don't buy this stuff about how Caltech makes you narrow or is narrow. When people take graduating college seniors for anything, they fundamentally just want smart people, and no place is as good for becoming smart and showing you're smart than Caltech is.</p>