<p>Just wanted to echo the suggestion of visiting HM too. My DH did his undergrad in physics at HMC and then did his PhD at Caltech. For him, that was probably the best way to go. I’m not sure he would have been ready for Caltech right after high school. He ended up doing extremely well there for his PhD (finished it in just over 4 years which is remarkably fast for Physics and particularly there and was always near the top of his group of entering grad students on things like tests, quals, etc. Also wanted to mention that he had a lot of interaction with the undergrads … he actually coached XC and Track for a while when they were between coaches, so he had some pretty decent perspective about what it would have been like to be there as an undergrad. For him, it wouldn’t have been a great fit (he liked the 5 College atmosphere of Claremont, wanted a heavy concentration in humanities (he did literature and french) in addition to Physics, and sports were important to him). For some kids, it was a great fit, but might be worth exploring HMC and the 5 Colleges too.</p>
<p>As far as restaurants in Pasadena, we lived there 15 years ago, but if you want good, upscale chain options along with some great independent restaurants, I’d hit the Old Town area. For pretty high end, we used to love Parkway Grill… On the low end, our favorite places were In 'n Out and The Hat (best pastrami anywhere)</p>