<p>Honestly, there is almost no doubt in my mind that Caltech is one of the most conservative schools in California. (Read that carefully, but it's true.)</p>
<p>Academia all over is extremely liberal, and probably doubly so in California. However, science and engineering academics tend to be a lot more apathetic and are also more likely to be conservative than humanities people.</p>
<p>I am quite conservative, a two-time Bush voter, Christian, etc., and I didn't feel very out of place at Caltech. I even managed to get elected to the student government twice, although not a third time. It helps that people come to Caltech from all over the country (I believe the second most-represented state at Caltech, for example, is Texas), so it's not all California liberals or whatever. Also, scientists and engineers on BOTH sides of the political spectrum are just a whole lot more logical and reasonable than the wackos one might find in Harvard's liberal arts faculty, or whatever.</p>
<p>Given the profusion of theological seminaries and evangelical colleges, even in SoCal, Joe's first assertion is best taken with a hefty grain of salt.</p>
<p>As for two-time Bush voters... gee, I might know a very skewed cross section of Caltech, but I talk politics with a lot of people, and could almost count such creatures I know of at Caltech on one paw. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Or whatever.</p>
<p>All right, all right, leaving aside religious schools, obviously. I meant of the mainstream schools you think of when you think of "schools in California" (Stanford, the UCs and CSUs, USC, Caltech, etc.)... Caltech probably comes out most conservative.</p>
<p>You'd be surprised at the number of double Bush voters, I would imagine--of course, most people currently at Caltech aren't old enough to have voted in two presidential elections. </p>
<p>However, in my class of Lloydies (so, about 20 people who were old enough, probably) alone, I can think of 2 people other than myself who definitely voted for Bush in both 2000 and 2004. And these were just the people I knew of.</p>
<p>Also, the ASCIT President in 2001-02 (Martha-Helene Stapleton) was a Republican and "out" as such. And Ryan F. considers himself a conservative though not a religious conservative. (I'm not aware of which way he voted.)</p>
<p>So, there are more conservatives than you might think! And CCF is perennially the largest and most active club on campus.</p>
<p>I reside in the Bay Area and will enroll at CIT in the fall.</p>
<p>I am deeply impressed by the intelligence, forethought, and general euridition of the posters in this thread; clearly, they have spent a great deal of personal reflection on their college choice.</p>
<p>After all, the quantity of undergraduates voting for Bush and the quality of the Ultimate Frisby Games is a terrific way to determine how to spend the next four years of one's life.</p>
<p>colorofpain, i see you play quizbowl as well. Would you be interested in joining me in sitting in on Caltech's team practice on the Thursday of Prefrosh weekend? It's 7:30 PM in the SAC lounge/Library.</p>
<p>My name is Marena Lin, and I was accepted into the Class of '09. I'm only 40 minutes away from Pasadena, and I'm scheduled to attend prefrosh. Currently, Caltech is a definite possibility for me, but I am also torn between University of Chicago and Columbia University. The only thing holding me back from Caltech is the apparent lack of a strong humanities department. I am looking to pursue a double major in English and Physics. Is there a partnership with Occidental College? Does Quiz Bowl bear any similarity to Decathlon or Science Bowl?</p>
<p>While Science Bowl mainly has a multiple choice format, Quiz Bowl is entirely free response. Other than that, they are similar.</p>
<p>baronwolf:</p>
<p>Yes, I'll certainly look into that. Thanks a lot for the information.</p>
<p>How good are you at Quiz Bowl? Personally, I play on a fantastic team, but am only the third best on it, averaging about three toss ups a match.</p>
<p>Our team (Solon HS) has been to nationals (NAQT and PACE) for the last few years. I'm the captain, and I've done fairly well individually, top 10 at each nationals for the last few years.</p>
<p>Do you play for Mission San Jose by any chance? They're the only Bay Area team I've heard about on a National level.</p>
<p>No, I play for Harker. It's funny you mention Mission San Jose, because we practice with and compete against them for both Quiz Bowl and Science Bowl events constantly. We are equally matched, with each team winning half of the encounters.</p>
<p>In fact, my last Quiz Bowl game was against Mission San Jose. Our school was ahead for most of the game, but they tied the score on the last question 280-280. They then answered the tie break question correctly to win the tournament. </p>
<p>You sound like an excellent player, far superior to myself.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After all, the quantity of undergraduates voting for Bush and the quality of the Ultimate Frisby Games is a terrific way to determine how to spend the next four years of one's life.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'll take this opportunity to introduce myself, though I'll probably be meeting y'all at Pre-Frosh Weekend anyway. My name is Jinwoo, and I graduated from Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA), a boarding school in the mountains of Korea.</p>
<p>Just to give you some personal information about myself, I'm a US/Korean dual citizen--I was born in the US but both of my parents are Korean. I lived in the States until the seventh grade, when I moved to Korea. My hobbies are debating, participating in MUNs, studying philosophy, reading, wrting, conducting physics experiments, practicing kumdo (Korean swordsmanship), playing chess, making films, acting, teaching, samul-nori (Korean traditional percussion), and playing the guitar. </p>
<p>Marena: we have partnerships with several local schools, in that they occasionally send students here, who we complain about being weirdos, eating anything that's not nailed down, and using our Ho(u|v)se couches. But you should come to Caltech anyway, because an English degree is a waste of wall space. Heck, I spoke English when I got here.</p>
<p>dLo: you are mistaken. Real men don't play football; any game where you stop play and stand around every two minutes is for fake men and certain species of prairie dog.</p>
<p>Games real men play:
* soccer riots
* bullet tag
* Australian indoor-rules quidditch
* Recursion*
* 10k drug run
* squid wrestling
* that game where you invade Russia in the winter**
* banjo dueling
* Tick-Tack-Toe
* freestyle electrical repair***
* Global Thermonuclear War</p>
<p><em>Recursion is the CS major's drinking game. Every time you take a shot, you take two shots. </em>Famous players include Napoleon and Hitler.
**Invented last year by my roommate when he forgot to turn the circuit breaker off before sticking a screwdriver in the dimmer switch. The judges awarded 10.0, 9.8, 9.9, 10.0, and We Hope It Grows Back.</p>