<p>Techers.....</p>
<p>Is there something you wish you had known or
done or not done the first couple of months at
Caltech that you can share......</p>
<p>course choices/ecs/other things....?</p>
<p>curious....
:)</p>
<p>(Roommate's comments in parentheses.)</p>
<p>1) Throw your computer out the window or give it to people to burn. You don't actually need one for any legitimate purpose since there are plenty in the library. (Unless, of course, you take CS or want to stay up till four in the morning watching YouTube clips or playing marathon games of Connect Four. Then hey, it's your decision.) ...You can use the CS computers in the CS lab for CS</p>
<p>1.5) Don't start your problem sets three hours before they're due. Everyone else will be doing them the night before and if you wait you'll be left stranded. (This is especially true when you have TWO sets due that same day that you haven't done yet. You'll end up ditching class. Starting a week early doesn't work, either.)</p>
<p>2.5) Find a collaboration group early, because being stuck without one really sucks. (Don't worry, it's not too hard to find one; everyone else will be as eager to actually figure out what the problem is asking as you are.)</p>
<p>2.75) Not starting your problem sets the day they are due helps with finding people to collaborate with. (For one thing, this lessens the chance that they'll answer with, "Sorry, I already turned my set in.")</p>
<p>4) Don't take "pizza classes" (frontiers in blah-blah-blah), you should use the units for better and/or required classes that you'll actually pay attention to. And you get plenty of declining balance anyway. (Save some for later years, when you might be off d-bal. Also, Frontiers in Chem is an exception to this, as it also involves a third-term research course you may be interested in.)</p>
<p>5) Do laundry every week, don't wait three weeks before washing everything. It gets really, really heavy. (But, if you want to actually get stuff WASHED, try not to do laundry on Sunday nights.)</p>
<p>5.5) Figure out where the laundry room is within the first three weeks. (...and don't forget to bring detergent and fabric softener with you. And your clothes. And a method of payment.)</p>
<p>6) There is really good food at the Broad Cafe. (Unfortunately, if construction turns the area into a veritable maze, sometimes it's really not worth it.)</p>
<p>7) You get a lot of desk space; partition it wisely instead of scattering papers randomly across it. (...I have not yet taken this advice.)</p>
<p>7.5) Clean your room or you will be stuck not knowing where everything is. (Also, when they do fire inspections, you may be in a bit of trouble. Just a little.)</p>
<p>8) (When there's a fire alarm, go outside. The alarms are deafening. Also, sometimes you get donuts.)</p>
<p>9) (Make your roommate get a College Confidential account. Otherwise, she ends up making parenthetical comments like these.)</p>
<p>10) Get to know as many freshmen in your class as possible before you're sorted into houses.</p>
<p>10.5) Get to know the freshmen down the hall from you. (That way, your roommate won't laugh at you when you neglect to mark them off on your "people you know" list.)</p>
<p>(this is when we noticed you were mostly talking about course advice.)</p>
<p>Oh, and don't take a history hum first term. They're the last to fill up and you can only use one to fulfill your frosh hum requirements. Take philosophy, that's pretty popular.</p>
<p>Take CS1 because it's amazing.</p>
<p>But you don't get much choice as to what you take first term.</p>
<p>(Chem 3a, Chem Lab, is probably best left to second or third term; you learn the concepts in Chem 1a, which basically means if you take it first term, you might end up doing labs you have no idea about because you haven't learned them in class yet.)</p>
<p>Chem 3a also sucks balls.</p>
<p>(If you're a math major. This chem major loves it.</p>
<p>I would take the PE credits freshman year, to get it over with. You'll have trouble completing all the freshman core in your first year; you'll most likely end up trying to stack a whole bunch of courses into third term WHEN YOU'RE ON GRADES, so trying to space it out a little is a good idea.</p>
<p>And just as a recommendation - second term, when signing up for classes, wake up at eight AM the day they open, or everything good will be taken.)</p>
<p>Take more than 40 units per term. (...but not 63.) like someone we know
Be warned. Your math 1a instructor will be really hot. hot as in smoking. but anyhow, learn the delta-epsilon definition of limit now because if you don't you will be totally lost in his class.</p>
<p>I disagree about the "pizza classes." These are seminars where professors who are interested in hiring freshmen for SURFs/undergrad. research present their research over the lunch hour, while you eat free pizza. I got my first SURF this way. It's a lot easier to approach profs who you know are willing to take on freshmen and whose projects you already understand. I took Bi 2, the biology version worth 6 units (instead of 3 or 1), which didn't even offer pizza and assigned a term paper. Because I got into a lab, it was worth it even though I could in theory have taken a graduation requirement worth 6 units instead.</p>
<p>I also recommend going to a SURF talk to see what they're like. If you do a SURF, you'll have to give a presentation on a Saturday in the fall (late October), and it helps to know the format when you're preparing your first SURF talk. Attending SURF talks is another great way to find interesting projects that are appropriate for freshmen, and profs willing to hire you.</p>
<p>There are free bagels on Monday mornings and free donuts on Friday mornings on the Olive Walk. It took me a few weeks to notice that because I got up so late.</p>
<p>fine, I stand corrected:</p>
<p>4) Don't take pizza classes unless you're actually going to listen to them. :p</p>
<p>(I should add that most lecturers really suck. As in, they'll spend the first fifteen minutes condescending to you and going over the stuff you already know because "they're only freshmen and don't know crap", then spend the next forty-five trying to present their research really, really fast and confusing the hell out of you. Or they'll just show you pretty pictures of buildings being damaged by earthquakes. So it's kind of hard to actually listen to them, but if you have that sort of attention span, more power to you. I took E2 last term, and the only lecturer who I thought was actually good was Chris Umans, who lectured on computational complexity. But maybe that's just 'cause I'm a CS/math person.</p>
<p>This goes for your chem 1b lectures too, except you won't even understand the first fifteen minutes of it) [/rant]</p>
<p>I thought the engineering pizza class was relatively interesting. In addition, I think throwing your computer out the window and/or burning it would be a very bad idea. Yes, there are public computers available for use, but I much prefer using my own. Also, as a EE I would probably cry if I had to spend any more time in Moore than I already have to :P</p>
<p>In addition, I would be hesitant to take the advice of "not taking a history hum" first term. The best way to pick hums if you're not sure what you're interested in is to read the course reviews on donut (donut.caltech.edu). </p>
<p>To contribute:</p>
<p>I feel that as a frosh I didn't realize how much free time I really had. Try to do something really cool with some of that free time instead of just sitting around. Find someone with a car and convince them to take you to the beach or the mountains.</p>
<p>
[quote]
fine, I stand corrected:</p>
<p>4) Don't take pizza classes unless you're actually going to listen to them.</p>
<p>(I should add that most lecturers really suck. ... I took E2 last term, and the only lecturer who I thought was actually good was Chris Umans, who lectured on computational complexity. But maybe that's just 'cause I'm a CS/math person.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'd actually argue that pizza classes (or the rough equivalent in fields you're interested in) are a good idea even if you don't listen to them. Sometimes you may hate the talks simply because the lecturers are bad, so you waste a bit of time. But if you find yourself a bit bored by the research in general and not just the talk, that's significant. It is probably possible to find some flavor of science that you're honestly excited about, where you might run to tell your friends about a cool paper you just read or an idea you had for an experiment. But that field might not be what you expect it to be, and realizing early that you're dreading weekly talks of the sort you might someday hope to give might allow you more time to find it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Take CS1 because it's amazing.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>that it is. if nothing else it'll make you feel like giggling in phys 2 when the prof goes on about operators and how they are like functions of other functions, because you know that scheme handles this so much more elegantly.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don't try to take classes you aren't a hundred percent sure you can handle. I did that, and it ended up falling through quite ridiculously -- was barely-scrape-through passing, decided to drop, ended up on 40 units, subsequently wasted the entire term (because in my infinite cleverness, I dropped on Drop Day). </p></li>
<li><p>Seriously, pass/fail can only do so much for you. Problem sets. Do them on time. (Again. I didn't -- they tended to get started about an hour before due. Nothing serious happened, but it's one of those moronic ideas.) </p></li>
<li><p>The pizza classes aren't that bad! (I took the physics one. It was interesting, most of the time; probably the best two hours per week I had, and they didn't even serve pizza.)</p></li>
<li><p>While it's a good idea to try and fit in requirements your frosh year, I think it's probably sensible not to stress out if you don't get them all in (hello, intro. lab requirement! hello, Chem 3a!). It's fine to have a couple carry over to sophomore year, please don't kill yourself. </p></li>
<li><p>Collaboration. First term, you probably can manage without it assuming you aren't taking anything impossible, but it makes the work less painful (you know that thing about misery loving company? Voici.). Second term, you might want it (I'm noticing an upward trend in the number of people collaborating on things right now.); in other words, it's OK to collaborate, and you aren't stupid if you do. (Hilariously enough, I've heard that last from other frosh. NOT TRUE.)</p></li>
<li><p>Pay a little attention to your schedule. If you end up with four classes for which sets are due on Fooday, you are going to have a horrible (Foo-1)day. (Note to self: pay attention to own advice.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
1. Don't try to take classes you aren't a hundred percent sure you can handle. I did that, and it ended up falling through quite ridiculously -- was barely-scrape-through passing, decided to drop, ended up on 40 units, subsequently wasted the entire term (because in my infinite cleverness, I dropped on Drop Day).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Except, perhaps, in the case of frosh with truly exceptional judgment, I disagree here. Taking classes you're not quite sure you can handle is the best way to figure out what you can handle, and pass/fail is a good time to learn what your limits and preferences are. Most students will realize that they learn most when they have the time to let material soak in (and when they're not too stressed out!), but this typically takes actual experience to believe. Maybe the lesson is more "don't be ashamed of taking an appropriate courseload for you or dropping classes when necessary."</p>
<p>I agree with flierdeke. Hell, I'm not sure if I can handle most of the classes I'm taking before I take them.</p>
<p>1.) I'm going to reiterate that when second term class picks open up, be ready with your selection and your browser open with REGIS loaded at 8am. Classes fill up fast. </p>
<p>2.) Don't be afraid to skip classes if you have to. You should go to all your classes at first, to get a feel for them, but you'll soon get a good idea of whether or not certain class sessions are actually helping you. </p>
<p>3.) If you're interested in research, start looking for a SURF by the end of the first term. That way, you get first picks of mentors. Also, pizza classes really help with finding mentors, and with figuring out your major. </p>
<p>4.) Don't browse College Confidential at 9:00pm after pulling an all-nighter, when you have a 2000-word essay due the next day. It's just stupid.</p>
<p>Prefrosh weekend is not representative of life at Caltech in general, the main difference being social activity. Caltech usually has <em>Much</em> less going on - on any given day including weekends.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's OK to collaborate, and you aren't stupid if you do. (Hilariously enough, I've heard that last from other frosh. NOT TRUE.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As a new grad student here, I've noticed a big difference among the way students behave in class here and my undergrad school (Carnegie Mellon). Asking questions in class is stigmatized and I've seen a number of people get laughed at for asking legitimate questions. There seems to be the opposite way of behaving here compared to most schools. Most places students never stop complaining about how much insane work they have and how they haven't slept in days. Here, people seem to try and make it appear as though they aren't even putting out any effort and are coasting their way through (while behind closed doors you know they're studying like crazy).</p>
<p>This might just be my perspective as a bit of an outsider in the classes I'm taking with decent amounts of undergrads and not at all true if you actually are an undergrad in them (though a friend of mine that attended here a few years back did agree with my assessment).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most places students never stop complaining about how much insane work they have and how they haven't slept in days. Here, people seem to try and make it appear as though they aren't even putting out any effort and are coasting their way through (while behind closed doors you know they're studying like crazy).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know how many undergraduates you've met... but few people try to pretend they aren't putting out any effort (it would be really hard to do). We definitely fit the description of students most other places that you gave. It's true that people don't usually ask many questions, but I don't remember people getting laughed at for asking questions in any of the classes I've taken so far.</p>
<p>While I'm not discounting your experience with undergrads, it may not be that representative of the real undergrad experienced here.</p>
<p>I agree with jdhutchin. I'd say the favorite techer pasttime is complaining about work.</p>
<p>In addition, I haven't noticed any stigma against asking questions (I do it all the time) except in one class I have where the professor is a huge jerk... he once went on a five-minute rant about a question I asked.</p>
<p>Maybe I just had back luck with the classes I took. :(</p>
<p>I might also be slightly bitter since I'm a materials science undergrad, but their MS program here is pretty much just physics that I'm not interested in. :(</p>
<p>(At least the professor I'm working for is fantastic.)</p>
<p>RacinRiver,
I'm a senior and I can only remember one class where someone was ridiculed for asking a question. The perpetrator was a TA who was ran the quiz reviews for a required physics class and was basically being an ***hole. We students brought it up in the ombuds meeting and he was instantaneously replaced, and to my knowledge not hired as a TA again since. It's an example worth mentioning because Caltech does not take that kind of thing lightly, and will resolve a problem if it's reported. I hope you nailed that prof/TA to the cross in your teaching feedback form so that next year's class doesn't have to deal with that.</p>
<p>P.S. - Materials Science? How many students are there?</p>
<p>Well, it wasn't a professor that laughed, all the profs I've met here are very friendly, is was more a snicker that ran through some of the students. I also don't want to speak ill of TAs since I'll be one of them soon enough. =p</p>
<p>The only real problem I had with a professor when I asked him if I'd be alright without having had a linear algebra class in my history (believe it or not lots of other good schools don't require or even suggest a linear algebra for engineers). He told me I should take the entire freshman series of math, and listed off a handful of physics classes. Not a huge help when you only get two years to do your quals.</p>
<p>I have found the Caltech administration to be the friendliest at any school I've ever dealt with; everyone is more than willing to help with whatever problem happens. I do have some beefs with the way the general university is held together (it treating itself as more of a confederation instead of a union has made me want to put my head into the wall a number of times already), but they're fairly minor when the people that work here are so great.</p>
<p>MS is a pretty small department, we've got around 10-12 grads incoming each year. Most were physics majors for undergrad, a handful of chem, and maybe one or two that actually did materials science for their undergrad degree (like myself). Nationwide there's only around 2000 MSE graduates a year, so we're still a fairly small field.</p>
<p>Also, any chance you took APh105? That's who I'm working for. =p</p>
<p>Wow, I can't believe there are 10-12 grads per year for MS. I had heard that department was pretty well dead, but that must have been the undergrad major.</p>
<p>I can actually see why a prof would recommend the whole freshman math series to you. It's quite possible that even though you went in wondering about linear algebra, the prof thought you could benefit from more proof-based calc as well in order to succeed in your upper-level math/physics coursework. If you know the material from undergrad then you'd fly right through the classes, and if not, well, you really need to learn it. I wouldn't be surprised if many ACM classes and Ph129 were recommended to you, because if you didn't have that prep as an undergrad, it would be hard to make it not just in other courses, but also at quals and in a future career.</p>
<p>How much time are you devoting to research while taking these courses?</p>
<p>See, the thing is, in materials science, the things Caltech stresses in physics and math isn't really necessary. Most of us do the ACM95/100 series for our math component, and either the physics or chemistry quantum. At my undergrad (Carnegie Mellon) I was one of the best in the department in math and also did pretty well in my physics minor (taking extra quantum, thermodynamics, and solid state courses) probably knowing more than anyone else in my materials year about physics.</p>
<p>It's just that Caltech has a rather...unique approach to how classes should be taught and which concepts should be stressed in class. I have a number of friends doing graduate work in materials departments (Berkeley, Stanford, U Penn, and Northwestern were where my best friends went) and they're having no problems with the material given to them. It's just Caltech's very very strong belief in proof-based math which carries over to just about every other course.</p>
<p>Most graduate programs for MSE have a much lighter load in math and physics and a much stronger emphasis on the actual behavior of materials. At CMU I'd have taken more courses in my first semester in materials than I'll take in two years here. Like, how you believe it's hard for someone to have a successful career without taking heavy quantum and proof-based math is kinda like how I can't understand how a school can give out a Ph.D. in Materials Science without requiring courses on crystallography, defect mechanics, mechanical behavior, microstructural evolution, and the likes of that. I've seen a list of some qualifier exam questions asked to people about fundamental materials science and they're things I could have answered freshman year! It's like asking a math major what the Pythagorean Theorem is.</p>
<p>If I had come to Caltech for undergrad, I'm sure I wouldn't be complaining about these things, but I think it's something really important for people to understand while attending here. It just feels much more like a school for math nerds than science nerds (since all science here just boils down to math).</p>
<p>And, yeah, as far as I understand there is no undergrad MS department here. It's kinda frustrating for me, since in order to get a Ph.D. in MS here you take three MS courses and twelve math/physics courses. And, frankly, I hate both math and physics, so the first two years are pretty much just torture to me :(</p>
<p>One last thing to remember is that everywhere else out there it's not just Materials Science, it's Materials Science & Engineering. I'm totally on the engineering side of things. I don't care so much how to derive all of the relationships, I'd much rather have a shortcut to the solution so I can just get to work using it.</p>
<p>The first year for research for most people is just reading papers in spare time and not actually getting into the lab until the summer. Second year is only one or two classes a quarter (depending on the load taken first year), and the rest of your time is spent in lab. Then quals are late spring.</p>