<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>I'll be visiting Caltech in a few weeks from now as a rising junior.
Mathematics, chemistry and physics have been my dominant classes both performance-wise/academically, and time-sucking wise outside of school. As such, I'm attracted, like many other college-applying students, to Caltech for its engineering and science programs (and its top-quality research facilities!) as well as its location on the West Coast.</p>
<p>As a guy who has lived on the East Coast since I was born, what should I expect out of my visit to Caltech? Are there any specific questions (!) that I should ask? I've spent several hours researching in depth about the university over the past month, and I'm wondering if there is anything that I should remember to see at the campus when I visit.
Furthermore, for any current students, what was the factor that made you so attracted and devoted to the university? I know admissions is beyond tough these days to Caltech, but I'm sure many of you wanted to go to this institute for reasons beyond its name. </p>
<p>Finally, what was your overall experience of visiting at Caltech? Is there anything I should note about student social life and cultural views when I visit (housing system, research facilities, summer internships, actual rigor of classes there- are the required 5 terms of physics and math really that challenging)? How is the adjustment from a "relatively rigorous" New England private prep school to Caltech facilitated? What do you regret not doing/asking when you visited?
Feel free to PM me or just post here; anything, ANYTHING is helpful!!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li>The weather is going to be hot and dry. Prepare water bottles and sunscreen. </li>
<li>The campus is small but pretty. Don’t expect to need a car/bus to get around campus. Averies become pretty far lengths of distances through while you’re here.</li>
<li>I had no idea I was going to Caltech. Lol. I didn’t know Caltech existed until summer after my junior year in HS. I would call it a poor life decision on my part, but seeing as I’d choose it all over again, I don’t think it was originally. The big family-style culture as well as the personalities of my peers and mentors make it a great environment to learn and grow in. I’ve been humbled time and time again, and I get to have fun in crazy ways when I’m not getting my butt handed to me. This can be a lot more detailed, but since I’m kind of avoiding other responsibilities currently, I will abstain from elaborating unless otherwise prompted through PM’ing.</li>
<li>No matter how “relatively rigorous” your high school was, you’re easily going to get kicked a couple times (mentally) where it hurts. It just depends on whether you’re willing to get back up again after every fall, to continue to fight the exhaustion and frustration and keep on going. I know many individuals from tough schools like TJ (my school was pretty rigorous and offered courses such as organic chem and linear algebra) and they’re working their butts off here along with the rest of us. Don’t expect an easy academic life around here (go elsewhere for that). To start, the typical student will take upwards of 5-6 classes per trimester, and keep in mind that Techers learn the same or more amount of material in a 10-week period as students in semester courses study. I’m not trying to scare you; just telling you that academics aren’t the easiest things here so that you don’t sign your life away thinking that you’re going to be the smartest kid around.</li>
<li>Ask about “housing system, research facilities, summer internships, actual rigor of classes” etc. when you’re on campus. It’s just a lot easier and clearer to answer anything you might want to know about. In addition, students lounging around tend to be very happy to answer any questions you may have and toss in extra details about life on campus that you didn’t know you should have asked about. Furthermore, we can show you examples of things we describe much easier. Apparently, we like interacting with humans from time to time. Hint: If you’re visiting in the summer/September, come later in the day or best on Fridays (the admissions office isn’t open on weekends if I remember correctly, but you can still talk to students and visit houses if you get in touch with someone). You’ll see more students around at these times because they’re not busy working in labs/JPL/etc.</li>
</ol>