Caltech Question Thread

Colleges & Universities California Institute of Technology
261

<p>59) Those “typical course schedules” don’t necessarily give an accurate look at what people actually take since it includes core classes and random numbers of units for electives. </p>

<p>If you look at [major</a> requirements](<a href=“http://pr.caltech.edu/catalog/pdf/catalog_06_07_part3.pdf]major”>http://pr.caltech.edu/catalog/pdf/catalog_06_07_part3.pdf) specifically:</p>

<p>Chemical Engineering</p>

<p>Ch 3b – 8
Ch 41 abc – 27
ChE 63 ab – 18
ChE 64 – 9
ACM 95 abc – 36
Ch 21 ab – 18
ChE 101 – 9
ChE 103 abc – 27
ChE 105 – 9
ChE 126 a – 9
Ch/ChE 91 – 3
Three science/engineering electives – 27
Ec 11, BEM 101, or BEM 103 – 9
Total units: 209</p>

<p>Biomolecular track:
Bi/Ch 110 – 12
BE 201 abc – 36
BE/ChE 163 or ChE/BE 169 – 9
ChE 130 or ChE 90 ab – 9
two additional bioengineering or related electives – 18
Total units: 84</p>

<p>Environmental track:
ESE/GE 148abc – 27
ESE 159 or ChE 90 ab – 9
four additional ESE or related courses – 36
Total units: 72</p>

<p>Process systems track:
ChE 110 ab – 18
ChE 126b or ChE 90 ab – 9
five engineering electives – 45
Total units: 72</p>

<p>Materials track:
ChE 126 b or ChE 90 ab – 9
Ch/ChE 147, ChE 189 or MS 133 – 9
[Ch 120 a and ChE/Ch 148], or APh 114 ab, or [MS 131 and MS 132] – 18
Four materials science elective courses 36
Total units: 72</p>

<p>Total units for major: 293 or 281</p>

<hr>

<p>Physics</p>

<p>Ph 3 – 6
Ph 6 or APh 24 – 9
Ph 7 – 9
Ph 78 or Ph 77 or [Ph 77 and [APh 77 or Ay 105]] – 18
Ph 70 – 6
Ph 106 abc – 27
Ph 125 abc – 27
Required electives in Ph, APh or ACM – 90
Science or engineering elective – 9</p>

<p>Total units: 201</p>

<hr>

<p>Math</p>

<p>Ma 5 abc – 27
Ma 10 – 3
Ma 108 abc – 27
Ma 109 abc – 27
Ma/CS 6 a or Ma 121 a – 9
Ma/CS 6 c or Ma 116 a or Ma/CS 117 a – 9
Advanced Ma and ACM electives – 45</p>

<p>Total units: 147</p>

<p>So, yes, it’s hard. On the plus side: Your grades don’t matter much and you can make a lot of money without going to grad school.</p>

<p>60) Probably not, for reasons which should be apparent now. ;)</p>

262

<p>someone please answer Q 54
54)a)Are there certain majors at caltech that are looked at with much more respect than others(by prospective employers or grad schools) or are all majors considered to be the best in the country(wrt engineering and science)?</p>

<p>b)How much of a quality difference is there between engineering and sciences at caltech-major difference or minor?</p>

<p>c)[just added] From what I gathered, there is no clear winner between MIT, Caltech, Stanford and Berkeley when it comes to the best engineering college. Are engineering degrees from these colleges respected equally or will a degree from any of these be favoured over the others?</p>

<p>Also, any more replies for Q 52 are welcome…</p>

<p>52) I want to take up a finance related career(like i-banking, maybe) after graduation…does my major make a huge difference? i’m thinking of majoring in either EE or maths…will i be better off taking EE or maths or will it not make too much of a difference…
Also, will it harm in any way that i major only in EE or maths(i.e. no economics), considering i apply an i-banking job?</p>

<p>Thanks very much…</p>

263

<p>53) What is one [or a few, I guess] thing to not forget when you’re moving into dorms at Caltech? Ie, my friend at Davis says that he couldn’t live without his sleeping bag, another friend at Berkeley won’t part with her rice cooker …</p>

264

<p>A lighter, because there’s always something to set on fire. A wireless router if you’re the kind who likes a good signal in your room. Headphones, your roommate probably will get tired of whatever you listen to. Or he might want to sleep, on occasion. A hot water kettle (electric, costs like ten bucks) for cooking ramen. Some small screwdrivers… I dunno, I’ve used them for various things.</p>

265

<p>Thank you UndulyLlamarific and lizzardfire!</p>

266

<p>I have none of these things except for the screwdriver. I do, however, think that you’ll need a stapler.</p>

267

<p>Oops, I misnumbered. Should be 61. Thanks guys!</p>

268

<p>61) </p>

<p>A good computer chair - the ones that housing supplies aren’t so supportive.</p>

<p>A water filter (the pitcher variety works well) - the tap water tastes like crap here.</p>

<p>A bicycle or longboard - saves you a lot of time getting around campus or going off campus nearby.</p>

269

<p>anuj44-</p>

<p>Re 54: the only majors which would confuse people would be something like Literature (which Caltech offers) or Philosophy. Other than that, you should be fine. With that said, people majoring in biology don’t tend to get great job offers if they go to industry immediately – but those who go to grad school tend to do very well. So anything on the CS/EE/Math/Physics/etc. side of things should get you great options either in industry or academia right away. Also, EE vs. math doesn’t matter much if you want to go into i-banking, though math would probably be a tiny bit better.</p>

<p>As for Caltech vs. MIT vs. Stanford in engineering, at the top end of any industry everyone will have very high opinions of all three… your grades and resume will matter a lot more than the infinitesimal differences in their reputations. On the other hand, if you want to impress the average person or even the average company (as opposed to a top-end company), then Stanford will get by far the most name recognition, with MIT next and Caltech last.</p>

<p>The lack of an economics degree will not hurt and will even help. Too many people major in economics because they’re silly and they think it’s useful and will teach them practical things about money. Majoring in something more analytical and hardcore will get more respect.</p>

270

<p>I know a silly econ major… :P</p>

271

<p>I will graduate with no economics degree :slight_smile: – just straight math – for precisely the reasons outlined above. (But I am, of course, going to grad school in econ.)</p>

272

<p>Ben,
Do you feel comfortable sharing where you will be heading for grad school? Did you do an 1-banking internship? Was there a particular reason you chose to head straight to grad school rather than work for 1 or 2 years?</p>

<p>Again, only share what is comfortable for you.</p>

273

<p>Hi bookworm,</p>

<p>Sure – it’s nice of you to ask! I’ll be going to the economic theory program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. (I picked it partly because it is the econ theory program with the best academic job placements. People are always surprised to hear that such a thing lives inside a business school. Susan Athey, who won the John Bates Clark medal this year, is a graduate.)</p>

<p>I considered doing internships, but since my goal (at least for the moment) is to be an academic, they would be in some sense lost time – it is becoming important to publish good work earlier and earlier. I’m particularly turned off by i-banking, though, since there’s a vast amount of uncreative busy work before you get the least bit of autonomy. I did seriously consider working at Google for the summer, but work in industry is always much more focused towards some fairly small goal as opposed to big ideas, and as long as I have the luxury of thinking about the latter, I’ll take it :).</p>

<p>If I recall correctly (though I might be recalling quite incorrectly), you have a son who is in my class or a recent alum. What has he decided to do? (Feel free to PM if you prefer.)</p>

274

<p>Thanks Ben for taking the time to give me a detailed response…Your responses have been very helpful…Those questions of mine have been answered completely now… : )
thanks lizardfire for that short and effective response…The message was conveyed rather aptly… ; )</p>

<p>Now, lastly, I have a bone to pick with Ben ; )
I read somewhere that Ben(I’m not too sure, but I think it was ben) regularly tells students at prefrosh to go to MIT or stanford for engineering…Now Ben, you may have spent a long time in Caltech, but I think you missed the fact that Caltech is as good as (if not better than) MIT and Stanford in engineering (Aerospace,EE, etc…) : )
I think lizzardfire will agree with me on this…</p>

275

<p>Haha… I’m not a professional cheerleader. Caltech is great for engineering but more entrepreneurial types will often enjoy the opportunities at Stanford and MIT more. Caltech is a very intellectual place and people care about big ideas, not always about the bottom line. There are definitely prefrosh I meet who don’t fit at all with that. They want a high-paying job with minimum effort and they don’t really care about the deep theory behind anything. I tell them to go Stanford and MIT. It would be a huge lie if I told everyone that they’re a perfect fit. They’d be unhappy and Caltech wouldn’t be any better.</p>

<p>Plus, it’s a bit of reverse psychology. When I say Caltech is a little too hard for the average engineer, the best ones get mad at me and want to prove me wrong :).</p>

276

<p>haha…reverse psychology…thats a good strategy…</p>

<p>minimum effort and big pay types…not me…(That makes sense…Caltech wouldn’t be for them)
I am only half different though…I am ready to put in the effort for Caltech…But I wnt that big pay too… ; )</p>

<p>So let me rephrase that…Caltech is better than MIT and Stanford for engineering FOR ME… ; )</p>

<p>Edit- congratulations on Stanford…It must be amazing to be able to experience two of the best universities in one lifetime…</p>

277

<p>I’m an engineer and would agree with Ben’s advice. Just because you read some rankings somewhere that says that Caltech has good engineering, doesn’t mean that you should attend it as an undergrad.</p>

278

<ol>
<li>Where do you do laundry at Caltech? I forgot to ask about this at Prefrosh Weekend.</li>
</ol>

279

<ol>
<li>In the basement.</li>
</ol>

280

<p>Or not at all.</p>