<p>What's the hardest (both in terms of workload and conceptual difficulty) major at Caltech?</p>
<p>If I decide to go in the fall, I'd want to be a chemistry major, though I'm not yet sure what field within chemistry. However, I've heard about how hard it is to be a chem major...</p>
<p>Do any students have any advice?</p>
<p>Chemical engineering is the hardest chemistry related one. Chemistry, from what I have heard, is easier.</p>
<p>The hardest majors: a tossup between EE and physics. Math is hard in a different way; it's almost impossible if you don't think in a certain way, but since the people who do it self-select, it's not so terribly hard for math majors.</p>
<p>Great, the two majors I'm most interested in get labeled the hardest :D
But how are you quantifying which are hardest?</p>
<p>Hours of work, toughness and inflexibility of courseload, general loudness of weeping :-P</p>
<p>Astrophysics has all the same requirements as a major in physics except one's menu and optional courses have to be certain astronomy classes.</p>
<p>In that sense, it's even harder than physics.</p>
<p>So... what are the easiest science majors? :D (<em>prays</em>)</p>
<p>Chemistry and especially biology are a little nicer, (and it's possible to graduate in three years) though they have some very hard aspects to them which a EE/physics major might not necessarily be able to handle.</p>
<p>I'm curious as to what you mean by that, Gracie...</p>
<p>Gracie is right. Astrophysics majors have to take the same classes as physics majors. But, whereas phys majors have some electives to take in whatever areas they want, astro majors have to use those electives to take specific astro classes, some of which are incredibly difficult.</p>
<p>I would have said ChemE and EE were the hardest majors, in that order. EE is hardest on frosh (EE 52 is notoriously time consuming). ChemE has the most rigid set of requirements (which sometimes forces students to overload just to graduate on time).</p>
<p>I was specifically referring to his statement that chem and bio have 'some very hard aspects to them which a EE/physics major might not necessarily be able to handle'.</p>
<p>Do people get minors/second majors in Maths?</p>
<p>Math and a social science is feasible. Sometimes Math/CS. Anything else is quite hard. Caltech doesn't offer minors except one in Control and Dynamical Systems.</p>
<p>Is it physically possible to get a major in Physics and another in Maths?
Does it make sense to get a major in Maths just to have good mathematical skills for Physics, or do physicist undergrads get/have to take enough/more than enough Maths?</p>
<p>A very very smart senior who graduated last year did it. It's possible if you place out of a lot of frosh math/physics by taking placement exams, but even then it'll hurt your GPA and probably your chances for graduate school because you'll be stretched too thin. If you aim to be a theoretical physicist, it may make sense just to major in pure math (phys grad schools sometimes snap up such students if they're smart enough). If you want a good math background for physics, the core and required classes for phys majors will give you that.</p>
<p>halfthelaw- I meant that studying biology or chemistry is a lot different than doing physics and math, and that students well-suited for the latter might not be as good at the former.</p>
<p>I remember that when I visited, basically every student told me that "we all came in wanting to double major in math and physics... then realized that it was impossible."</p>
<p>Um, just for reference, when people say astro is the "hardest" major, by "hardest" they mean "funnest".</p>
<p>Nothing has changed. When I was a student decades ago, the correct response to the statement "I want to double major in math and physics" was, "Frosh!"</p>
<p>And a technical question. It used to be the rule that it wasn't possible (allowed) to double major in math/physics. If you were so minded you could do Applied Math and Physics but not Math/Phys. Has that changed?</p>
<p>I am having the hardest time deciding whether to major in Math or Biology at Caltech. I think it will really just depend on how I respond to the first math sequence. I really love math and I love the conceptual difficulty and proofs and whatnot, but biology is a lot easier for me... I don't know...I want to attend grad school in cell biology...I just don't know if I want to give up math yet. I am taking diff. eq. right now and it's really fascinating...I almost wish it wasn't so fascinating so I'd be turned off by math and be able to go for biology will full force haha. I'm also a little apprehensive about the change from exercise/simple proof based math to rigorous proof based math...</p>
<p>Biomath--The easiest solution to any such quandary is simply to choose astrophysics, of course.</p>