<p>So, Caltech's prefrosh weekend conflicts with a huge trip that the school music department takes to Orlando (its orlando every 3 years, so I've gone before, but to disney world) to compete and have some fun (universal studios). My mother wants me to go to prefrosh weekend instead of that. I disagree, saying that the music trip is much more important. All I'm asking for is a description of prefrosh weekend, preferably from Galen or Ben. Thanks!</p>
<p>I knew that I wanted to go to Caltech before I came to prefrosh weekend, so keep that in mind as you read my reply. </p>
<p>Prefrosh weekend's purpose is to give you a closer look at Caltech to see if it's for you or not. You can sit in on classes. You can talk to profs (and if you're looking into athletics, coaches). There are little talks where alumni come and tell you what they do now that they have a caltech degree (kind of boring, but it turns out some guy worked for microsoft, cashed out his stock options early, and moved to New Zealand to become a shepherd. I think that's pretty cool.), talks where upperclassmen and some people from the career development office talk about pre-med stuff... </p>
<p>Anyway, those weren't so important. The main thing is just getting a feel for Caltech and the people here. Since the music trip conflicts, you could come visit at another time, ask someone if you could stay in their room for a bit, and have a similar experience. Some of the other frosh in my alley couldn't come to prefrosh weekend, so they did that. </p>
<p>Personally, prefrosh weekend was really valuable for me. It was nice being with hundreds of people interested in things I'm interested in. Many of the prefrosh and upperclassmen whom I spent time with then are now my friends, and I think I got a better perspective of the house I'm living in due to the fact that I stayed in it during prefrosh weekend. </p>
<p>There are some really good strawberry donuts during prefrosh weekend. </p>
<p>They were REALLY REALLY good.</p>
<p>When I went to prefrosh weekend, I had already sent in my letter of intent to enroll at Caltech, so I really wasn't there to make a decision. Regardless, it was very worthwhile for me. </p>
<p>Ummm... I've been on the prefrosh side of prefrosh weekend more recently than Galen and Ben, but they've had more prefrosh weekends...</p>
<p>I want a strawberry donut now.</p>
<p>well I visited last spring and I got to sit in on classes and stuff, but still looking for somethign that'll convince my mother otherwise...</p>
<p>I'm not Ben or Galen, but I'll put my two cents in anyways. I had NOT made my decision before I came to Prefrosh weekend. In fact, on the first day I was sure I'd be going to Carnegie Mellon, on the second day I wasn't sure, and on the third day I went to the bookstore and bought a Caltech t-shirt.</p>
<p>First of all, the logistics: you'll be there for three days (Thursday through Sunday), during which time you'll be able to go to panel discussions with administrators, students, and alumni and seminars on things such as study abroad and research. You can sit in on classes and go around to all the different activities offered by different houses (e.g. mini golf, capture the flag, and tunnel tours were all done when I was a prefrosh).</p>
<p>But the real reason I think you should come is to meet the people. Talk to the bitter people and the happy people and find out why they feel the way they do. Talk to people about the workload, the social scene, the atmosphere. Talk to more people about the atmosphere, and more, and then experience the atmosphere for yourself. Half of the reason I came here and stayed was the way people treat each other. (The other half was the quality and type of the education.) I loved how supportive people were, how accepting, and how much fun everyone had with each other, even while handling a tremendous workload. You'll be able to hook up with people in your major to find out about the course offerings and current problems in your major.</p>
<p>As you can see, I can go on and on about the advantages of coming to prefrosh weekend. If you decide you can't come, yes, try to come at another time. The only thing is that remember if you come at another time, the people you'll have contact with are all volunteering to spend time with you. As such, they all love it here at Tech, and you'll end up with a positively biased view. I'm a big advocate of people coming into situations with their eyes wide open about all the drawbacks, and it'll be really hard to do so unless you come to prefrosh weekend.</p>
<p>Good luck deciding! I know it's gotta be hard to make this decision.</p>
<p>-Michelle</p>
<p>Hiya. Sorry it took so long to chime in, but omgninja and Michelle have been extremely helpful and accurate in their remarks, leaving me only a few things to add. (Btw, I'm curious who omgninja is : P)</p>
<p>Hmm. Yes. Prefrosh Weekend. The good thing is that the campus gets into "show and tell" mode so that everyone is eager to tell you everything about everything and the general spirit is more relaxed. People make time for the prefrosh, because we (or at least I) feel that matching the right people with the Caltech community is somehow more important than a single problem set. The drawback of coming at a more normal time would be that the campus will be more studious and fewer activities and information sessions will be planned. At prefrosh weekend, everything on campus is pretty much explicitly for you. Profs have special office hours to meet with you, clubs have special activities, so you get a pretty broad taste of everything. At other times you would have to work harder to get the "inclusive" experience.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are numerous advantages to coming at a time that isn't Prefrosh Weekend. For one thing, people do ridiculous things that weekend, some of them I think intentionally designed to frighten prefrosh away (which is why they ought to be ignored). The motives would require going into more anthropology than is necessary, but I think some of them do it because fewer frosh means more on campus housing. Anyway, dinners can be super rowdy and unpleasant for some, and some people act/are drunk/obnoxious/scary (which is otherwise extremely rare on such a scale). That's the flip side of show and tell mode -- it's atypical and some people act out like small children getting an unusual amount of attention. Going at a normal time would show you the place that Tech is typically like.</p>
<p>So the short story is, especially if you're deciding on where to go, I highly recommend coming to Caltech at some point, Prefrosh Weekend or not. If you'd like to have almost all of Caltech's offerings on display at once, Prefrosh Weekend can't be beat, provided you're willing to put up with a bit of nonsense and realize that things are more tame in real life. If you want to see a more representative slice of life and don't mind seeking out the people/things you're curious about, just post here or get in touch with admissions and come some other weekend. But do visit before making your choice. It's an invaluable experience and I wouldn't advise anyone to choose a school without it. (By the way, even if you've been here before, it's different once you're in, so still worth a trip.)</p>
<p>It would be rather expensive for me to visit Caltech, seeing as I live very far away. Is it still advisable to come for Prefrosh Weekend? I might try to convince my parents it will be well worth the money.</p>
<p>amrik - it's not the sort of experience that i would recommend a family experience financial hardship for. it's nice and helps you get a feel for the place, but not worth the ~$1000 it would cost you, i'd guess. as you get closer and your decision becomes more focused it's possible that you'd benefit from a trip, and then there are various things admissions can help you with to make it less of a burden. anyway, no need to worry too much yet -- things will be clearer as we get closer.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice Ben.</p>
<p>As Ben mentioned, if it really is a financial hardship, call up admissions and see if they can help you out at all. Don't abuse it, though, because they really can only help out people who really need it (and even then it's not in anyway guaranteed). Of course, in your situation, they may not be able to help, since it wouldn't be a domestic flight. I'd say that if you're wavering you should really come, but if you're happy with your decision, it wouldn't be terrible for you to miss it. When we say we think you should come, I think we're all talking about helping you to make a decision and make the right decision about which school to come to. It's not like you're going to be at a disadvantage otherwise for not having come to prefrosh weekend.</p>
<p>The plane ticket will be a problem. From here to Miami will be about 400$ (currently 391$ US). Direct flight from Miami to LAX is 428.20$ on AA (about 5 hours both ways), flight with one stop (9 hours both ways is 349.36$. Not sure about all the taxes etc. but as you can see it will be about 1000$ for me.</p>
<p>If you can edit your posts, so can I. :P</p>
<p>Yeah, immediately after I posted, I remembered you lived out of the country. Sorry about that -- I changed my post above to reflect that.</p>
<p>where does everyone stay during prefrosh week-end? Is it sleeping bags on the floor of dorm hosts? Slumber-part style in a lounge? Tent-city in a quad?</p>
<p>Everyone stays with a host in one of the undergraduate houses. They try not to put more than one prefrosh per person staying in the room (i.e. a single room should only get one prefrosh and a double no more than two). You'll need to bring a sleeping bag to sleep on the floor of your host's room (or the couch if you're lucky and they have one), but your host should email you ahead time and you can also ask them about what you need to bring.</p>
<p>Amrik
I fly from miami/ft lauderdale all the time to LAX, and get $200 direct tickets on AA or Delta. Only time that is a problem is around major holidays.
good luck</p>
<p>Well as the other half of "Ben or Galen" I'll chime in.</p>
<p>I was admitted off of the wait-list, so I wasn't in when prefrosh weekend roled around. So I didn't come, as I wasn't invited. So I've only seen it from upperclassmen-side, though I have had three years of that. My feelings on it are as follows:</p>
<p>I think that it's a valuable experience. It's important to take everything with a grain of salt, as Ben alluded to, and realize that what you are seeing is not the "normal" Caltech experience. The normal Caltech experience is not the equivalent of a three-day party (I can count on one hand the number of times I have "partied" or gone clubbing for three consecutive nights outside of Prefrosh weekend. Unfortunately one of them happened to be during finals week this term, so I just finished up term a week late. Oops.) But that doesn't mean that it's not a valuable experience.</p>
<p>Upperclassmen are more chatty, and are often times unreserved about telling you their true feelings (though the more extreme people are more vocal. There is the "GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN" faction, and the "OMGOMGOMG Caltech is SO OO great" faction, both are small but hard to avoid) than they would be during the rest of the year. You get a chance to see if these are the sort of people that you would like to hang out with four years. Do you feel at home? I think most people do, and I think that's why it's a wonderful experience. More than at any other school (even certain institutions out East), I believe, "your sort of people" go here if you're going to like it here. If you don't like the people, you really should "get out while you still can" - because the work isn't joyous. </p>
<p>Even if you're sure that you're going to come, I would say you should come, unless it's a financial hardship. I think the chance to meet some people (many become fast friends, though it is possible to not come to prefrosh weekend and not be socially stigmatized - I didn't come and I'm not shunned around campus) is great, and provides for a better summer (Caltech starts late, so you'll have about a month before you get here when you're like "Man, why can't summer just end already.")</p>