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California Institute of Technology Visit Report by alyjenn

Visit to California Institute of Technology in May 2007 by alyjenn
(Student, HS Class of 2007)
(Member since May 12 2007 with 71 posts)
 
4 of 4 people found this visit report helpful

Visit Activities:


Campus Tour: Yes - I walked around with some freshmen students.

Campus:


Friendliness/Courtesy of Students:
I visited on a Friday afternoon/night. I can seriously count the number of students/people I saw with my two hands.


Appearance of Campus:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
Outside: fair Inside: Nice. There is a water fountain, bridge, pretty architecture w/ old buildings in contrast with modern ones (though the old ones needs some TNT), gardens, cats running around!


Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent
Clean!


Dormitories:
1 - Poor
1 - Poor
VERY SMALL 3 types of dorms 1) bunkbeds 2) skybeds: you can't sit up straight w/o hitting the ceiling. One on each side of the wall and apparently ppl can fall off 3) Like skybeds but beds con


Security/Safety:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
need password or card for entrance to (almost?) every building

Off-Campus:


Area Immediately Around Campus:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
Old Town Pasadena is close by: a great, famous shopping/dining/entertainment street (with Paseo mall). Although the students said that it takes them about 30mins to walk there...


City/Town/Community:
3 - Good
3 - Good
Some parts of Pasadena are really poor. But then you also have the really rich section with mansions. I'm not sure where Caltech fits location-wise.

Campus Visit Notes for California Institute of Technology


Visit Description:

I went to Caltech for an informal tour on a Friday afternoon/night.
It was really laid back; the students just pointed out the buildings and we didn't go into any classrooms. We went to one of the libraries and the skyview of Pasadena was very pretty. The social life around campus shocked me though. The students said almost everyone is preoccupied in their dorms and not a lot of social events happen. That really disappointed me but I guess it made since because it's so small and it IS Caltech. So we walked around and there were seriously NO students around. On a Friday night. It was like empty. The few cats running around was very cute though. So if you are very outgoing and want a pretty social life, I don't think Caltech would provide that for you. What also disappointed me was the small dorms! I DID like the exterior of the dorms; the area look like an ancient courtyard in one of those Greek movies. All in all, the campus is very tidy and clean and very nice looking.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Old town pasadena!