<p>My child is thinking of spending the summer doing research at Caltech. Child is a sophomore at another university. Any info about what Caltech is like in the summer? Child will be given housing and dining. If child doesn't know anyone, will meeting people be difficult? What is the dining situation like during the summer?</p>
<p>The most common way for non-Caltech students to do research at Caltech is through the Caltech SFP office ( sfp.caltech.edu ) . Participants can stay in Caltech housing, but there is no dining on campus (although there are restaurants close by). It's not hard to meet people- there are a lot of non-Caltech students here over the summer. </p>
<p>You'll need to work quickly- SURF applications are due February 22nd (if I remember correctly).</p>
<p>If Child is applying for Amgen (the summer program that includes a board allowance), Child should also apply for a regular SURF just in case. There are 12 spots for non-Caltech students in the Amgen program, which are divided in a particular way between subfields of chemistry and biology. If someone else is more qualified than Child in his research area, Child will not get the Amgen. Child would have much higher chances of getting a SURF, and you can apply for both SURF and Amgen (using essentially the same application), so Child ought to do that.</p>
<p>In SURF, Child would cook his own meals and possibly buy lunch at a cafeteria on campus on weekdays. Meals are not served at the cafeteria in the evenings or on weekends during the summer, so apparently the board allowance is just some cash for Child to buy groceries.</p>
<p>Thanks. Child has applied through SURF. Am I correct in assuming that Caltech attracts both men and women during the summer? (I know it attracts more men during the academic year.)</p>
<p>I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it attracts the same proportion of men to women during the summer, but I'm not actually sure what numbers actually are.</p>
<p>I don't think the ratio changes that much over the summer (so I agree with dLo). I also don't really think the ratio is a huge problem, though.</p>