Both are intense, but I’m just trying to get a sense of which would be a more enjoyable experience overall. I’m not just looking at the courseload–I’m also curious about overall student life…
Hi! I’m assuming you’re asking for someone who got into both. I’m a CS major at Caltech, and it honestly depends. CS is one of the more flexible majors so after a few classes that are very challenging (CS21 and CS38, both are proof-based theoretical CS), there’s more freedom in course selection.
Caltech’s student culture is very unusual since it is so small and STEM-focused, I would recommend visiting to get a better idea of student life. Feel free to PM me for more information!
Thanks so much! My daughter is the accepted student–she just got in off the waitlist and is trying to decide between Caltech and CMU SCS. Obviously the CS department is larger and deeper at CMU, but we’re trying to find out what the college experience is like as a whole. Is it just a miserable grind, day in and day out, or are there some fun bright spots as well?
Sorry I didn’t see this until now; I hope it’s not too late! Last week was midterms week at Caltech, haha. There are definitely fun bright spots and the people at Caltech have been some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, but it is Caltech, and the workload is intense.
As another woman in CS, I’m pretty sure CS is the most popular major for women here. When I was researching colleges in high school, everything I read online stated that the gender ratio was extremely bad. The classes of 2019 and 2020 are probably ~45% women, so that’s not true anymore.
@purrples, thanks so much for the info–she accepted the waitlist offer and will be attending in the fall!