<p>Does Caltech offer alum interviews or on campus interviews? Do they value applicants visiting their campus or does it matter?</p>
<p>No for all, as far as i know. you’re welcome to visit and talk to people.</p>
<p>No Caltech does not care about visiting campus and they do not have alum interviews. Here is what their website says</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. My son was going to try and pull off a visit but he just needs to concentrate on school and finishing apps. If accepted, he’ll drive up for a visit.</p>
<p>Not to induce anxiety here, but with a school as selective and unusual as Caltech, do keep in mind that a campus visit can go a long way to demonstrate your son’s interest in the school. Will he be at a disadvantage because of not visiting? No, that’s not necessarily going to put his application in the REJECT pile because Caltech realizes that not everyone can get to their campus without great expense (and because they couldn’t handle the barrage of visitors if every Caltech hopeful made a pilgrimage to Pasadena!). But keep in mind that campus visits allow for two critical opportunities to enhance his application: 1) Connections made with admissions officers can put a face/personality/connection on an otherwise anonymous application. At the very least, you get to look someone in the eye, establish a connection, send a thank you note, spark an email dialogue, etc. It helps you stand out to show the effort to get to campus (<em>especially</em> if you live within driving distance). 2) Your son will learn a lot about the school. Maybe he’ll decide Caltech is too small and weird (however prestigious) for him and save you the application fee. Maybe he’ll love it so much that it will provide ample fodder for excellent Caltech supplement short answer questions that are chock full of campus specific details that convey his excitement for the school, thereby making his application again stand out from the crowd. And either way, it will give him more information to enter into the overall college decision process. </p>
<p>Fall of senior year is a crazy busy time, and colleges do understand that it can be tough for families to get to campus. But don’t underestimate the impact a campus visit can have, regardless of whether it’s required or not.</p>
<p>We live across country. Son went to a meeting 2 hours away to hear about Caltech. That was good, but would have been better to see the school prior to April.</p>
<p>Son is alumni, and hit the lottery with grad schools.</p>
<p>teapot,</p>
<p>My son keeps getting calls from the baseball coach at Caltech and he has emailed admissions. He’s been on campus for a math competition and we do have an acquantance at JPL that we’re hoping my son can connect with. My son does want to drive up and meet the baseball coach and meet with our acquaintance but it might be too late because the semester ends in early December.</p>
<p>Frankly, after reading everything about Caltech, I’m not sure I would want him to apply and if accepted, attend. Our initial impression is probably right; it seems just waaay too intense. My son is very accelerated in math and physics-very-but I have a feeling so is everyone else there and if it’s still that brutal for them, I don’t think it’s the right place for my son who does indeed enjoy having fun.</p>