My oldest son and I attended the Caltech information session this evening in Bloomington, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. We arrived at the hotel meeting room just before the stated start time and saw the admission officer Owen Wolf (whose picture we had seen online before the meeting) greeting guests at the door and asking if they had a registration ticket. We did not, but my son's name was on a postcard in the officer's hand because he had preregistered for the event. My son checked the information on the card for accuracy and then we found seats in the room. At first there was very unpleasant recent rock music playing in the room.
There were 110 chairs set out at the start of the meeting, almost all of those eventually filled, with some attendees standing at the back. We saw some of my son's
ARML teammates and one of those said, "It's an ARML reunion." This was a much bigger meeting than the Saturday afternoon Caltech information session we attended three years ago.
Owen Wolf thanked us on behalf of Caltech for coming to the meeting on an evening with heavy rain. He asked students to raise hands; almost half the attendees were prospective Caltech students.
Mr. Wolf started a slide show. He said Caltech offers various features, laid out in his main slide titles.
BIG SCIENCE
The college was founded in 1891 but took a new direction in 1903 when a Harvard-trained astronomer, Hale, came out to do research in California. Hale believed that "science investigation is the spring that feeds the stream" of engineering and technology, so he changed the college from being a practical tech school (with a course on typewriting!) to being a theoretical, research-oriented university of science. Noyes and Millikan also played big roles in the development of Caltech.
Caltech has many Nobel laureates on the faculty. Yet faculty are evaluated by how well they teach undergraduates. The 3:1 ratio of students to professors ensures opportunities to get to know professors well.
BIG RESEARCH
Research facilities affiliated with Caltech include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory nearby in California, and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. "You can blame us for Pluto no longer being called a planet," said Mr. Wolf. There is research on the biochemistry of the human brain's response to stress and Caltech operates the Mars Rover.
BIG OPPORTUNITIES
Caltech likes professors and students to be colleagues. You'll be expected to work collaboratively on problem sets.
There are only 900 undergraduates at Caltech, and only 2,000 students total. Mr. Wolf said it's a misconception that small size limits opportunities. Caltech has many facilities and resources, and its small size ensures that students have access to them. Most courses have twenty or fewer students per class.
CAMPUS CULTURE
Caltech has an honor code. Mr. Wolf asked the high school students if any of them go to a school with an honor code, and I think my son was the only one who raised his hand. The entire Caltech honor code fits on one slide: "No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community." One consequence of the honor code is that all students have keys to all the labs so that they have 24/7 access to research equipment. You can get up at 3:00am with a new idea about chemistry and immediately grab a beaker and try it out in the lab. All Caltech exams are unproctored, and you are told what materials are fair game for the exams and trusted to follow those conditions.
Caltech has core requirements for all majors of
6 units of math
5 units of physics
2 units of chemistry
1 unit of biology
a freshman "menu" course
2 intro labs
1 unit of scientific writing
12 units of social science or humanities
3 physical education units, e.g., Ultimate Frisbee, ping pong, etc.
Caltech is organized into six academic divisions: biology; chemistry and chemical engineering; engineering and applied science; geology and planetary science; humanities and social science; and physics, mathematics, and astronomy. About 20 percent of students double major. One Caltech professor commented once, "If you don't teach scientists history, bad things will happen," so there is a strong emphasis on the humanities and social science courses, also so that Caltech students can communicate their ideas to nontechnical people.
Caltech offers a medical scholars program with UC San Diego. Apply to Caltech EA, and if admitted submit an application to the UCSD medical scholars program. Then you can be assured of medical school admission without taking an MCAT. Caltech also has a more conventional pre-med track that could lead to any medical school, and has opportunities for hospital internships.
Caltech has study abroad programs FOR SCIENTISTS that allow them to keep on pace to get their technical degrees and still experience foreign living.
A great program for undergraduate researchers is the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, allowing summer research with pay of $6,000 over the summer.
Caltech students live in one of eight houses, which are neither exactly like dorms nor exactly like frat houses, but a lot like Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels.
A big Caltech tradition is Ditch Day. [Ditch Day is the first thing I ever heard about Caltech, reading about it in a magazine article when I was in elementary school.] On Ditch Day, seniors leave the campus to hang out in Pasadena, and underclassmen try to break into their rooms to perform pranks. The seniors set up elaborate defense mechanisms for their rooms. The pranks and defenses get more elaborate each year, and now often have house themes.
Caltech ranks higher on the all-time list of college pranks than that other technical university in Cambridge, MA. The Caltech students have rewritten the hillside Hollywood sign to read "Caltech." They have hacked the scoreboard at the Rose Bowl to read "Caltech 38, MIT 9," winning praise from the scoreboard operator for figuring out how to write "Caltech" with lower-case letters. They also hacked a half-time card-flipping show at the Rose Bowl, stealing the glory of the U of WA Huskies to have the cards flip to show the Caltech mascot, the beaver, and the word "Caltech."
Overall, the campus culture is defined by "a shared passion for mathematics, science, and engineering." Caltech students have intellectual respect for one another, inquisitive creative mindpower, and a quirky sense of fun.
Mr. Wolf then took questions from the audience. As usual, parents asked most of the questions. My son commented after this session that the questions were much more elementary and on issues that parents should have looked up for themselves than at the MIT session on Saturday here.
Q [student]: How is the SAT II used in the admission process?
A: The math level 2 and one science SAT II are required because they are specific to those subjects. They help Caltech assess better than the more general SAT I test.
Q [parent]: How safe is the campus?
A: The campus has nineteen security officers and they come instantly if phoned by Caltech's emergency number or if a student lifts up one of the many blue security phones on campus. There is an escort service for crossing campus late at night. Houses have locks activated by infrared cards.
Q [student]: The ratio?
A: 65:35 male:female. Caltech wants that to change, but doesn't give preferences to applicants on that basis and doesn't change its standards. Caltech is doing outreach to gain more applications from women and from underrepresented minorities. Students should think about what kind of atmosphere makes them comfortable.
Q [parent]: Transfer credit for PSEO dual-enrollment college-as-high-school study?
A: Caltech expects students to take rigorous courses, but doesn't give credit for AP, IB, or college courses taken as a high school student. Caltech gives placement tests to admitted students and those are the basis for placement in appropriately advanced courses. You need to demonstrate that you can handle the work. You may think that you are duplicating courses, but Caltech courses are different. Just because you've taken a course in physics before doesn't mean you won't learn something from a Caltech physics course.
As for classes, there are no classes from noon to 1:00pm so everyone can eat lunch. There are no classes from 4:00pm to 6:00pm so sports teams can practice. All courses are taken P/F for the first two trimesters.
Q: Criteria for medical scholars program?
A: Apply to Caltech EA. If admitted, then apply to UCSD for medical scholars program, indicating interest in medicine.
Q [parent]: Can undergraduates at Caltech take graduate classes?
A: It's possible if space in the class is available. Graduate students have registration priority. If you have the aptitude, it's possible.
Q: Graduation rate?
A: Low 90s percent. Some leave Caltech because Caltech isn't what they thought it was. Comparison shop while you are a high school student so you know what college fits you.
Q [parent]: Can you get two years of transfer credit for participating in Minnesota's PSEO (dual enrollment in college for high school) program?
A: No credit for PSEO. No dual credit. [I commented to my son that this is the FAQ par excellence in Minnesota; parents always ask this question at elite college information sessions in this state.]
Q: The number who apply? The number who are admitted? How do you pick students?
A: Applications are read three times, at least. Once by an admission officer (who looks for basic minimal qualifications), once by a professor (who looks for adequate preparation for the student's undergraduate studies), once by a student admission committee member (one of sixteen undergraduates each year who assess applications for fit to Caltech's residential life). The important question to answer is "How have the last four years in high school made me a better scientist or mathematician or engineer?" Mention specific details. The other important question is, "What would your roommate say about you?" Do you stay in your room all day? Do you join projects with other students?
If students aren't specific, the Caltech admission committee has no way to know how they'll function. Applicants have to understand that Caltech is a community.
Q: Average financial aid?
A: Fantastic. Merit scholarships, need-based grants, loans, and work study. More than thirty Axline scholarships are offered each year.
First, Caltech gives all the grants it can. Work study jobs can pay up to $25 per hour. Graduates have an average debt of only $5000 after four years at Caltech. Submit the FAFSA and the CSS Profile, and Caltech will figure out the rest.
Q: Do outside scholarships reduce the financial aid package.
A: It depends on the outside scholarship.
Q [student]: Can you get credit for college work before Caltech? Do you have to repeat classes? [My reaction was, didn't you hear the earlier question?]
A: Absolutely not [you will not have to repeat classes]. Caltech classes are more challenging. We'll place you by the placement tests.
Q: Foreign languages at Caltech?
A: These days only Spanish and French. You can double major with one major being a language major.
Some of the questions were so routine I recorded only the answers; you can guess the questions.
A: We accept the ACT; take what you are comfortable with.
A: No interviews.
Be sure to get a letter of recommendation from a teacher who likes you. Some students try to get letters from teachers of classes in which they were struggling. Faculty members read the letters, and comments like, "This student was surly and argumentative" or "This student didn't turn in all his homework" raise red flags. Letters can be sent ahead of the other required application forms.
A: We don't prefer online or paper. Just make sure to get the application in on time. Don't wait until the day of the deadline.
A: Early action is nonbinding. You can comparison shop. If Caltech is your fallback school, you are doing really well. [That line got smiles from some of the ARML team students.] An early action application shows interest in Caltech--you are getting your application together early in your senior year. There is no significant difference in acceptance rate for EA. Deferment is NOT the same as a denial. Usually being deferred means that the admission committee needs more information to make a decision. Respond to a deferral by sending a letter updating the admission committee on new facts about you that have come up since you filed your EA application.
A: The October SAT is the last date timely for EA.
A: Send in your SAT scores through an official College Board score report.
Q: Weighting of SAT II scores?
A: All are weighed equally. Caltech looks at your specific strengths. No one area of your application makes or breaks you. Caltech is one of the most holistic admission offices known to Owen Wolf [who has worked at other admission offices before working at Caltech].
Then the general meeting was dismissed. Just a few families stayed to ask more specific questions. Most of those questions related to expense and financial aid.
Does this sound like an interesting college to you? Are you planning to go to a later Caltech information session?
![bbtitle]](/images/misc/cc_logo.gif){kind=logo}
but very interesting and informative. Most include a certain number of seminar sessions on specialized topics as well as the opportunity to meet dozens of college representatives in their convention exhibitor booths.
