CalTech vs. Stanford (Grad School)

iamthelaw
Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:01:28 +0000

The last few posts seem to have gotten confused…I was invited to visit the campuses.

However, I felt the group interviews at CalTech limited my ability to assess if I would like working in their labs. It was 2-3 people for 20-25 minutes at a time, so we basically just watched presentations on their research. I’m emailing professors I didn’t get to interview with to set up more meetings at CalTech since I live in LA. Stanford’s offering me a slightly higher stipend but living in LA is far cheaper (since I wouldn’t live in Pasadena…). The CalTech Biochem/Biophysics program doesn’t have quals, but I would be required to teach unlike at Stanford (and there I can get an extra $3-7k if I want to teach). I heard the quals at Stanford Biophysics are pretty laid back anyways, so thats not a big deal.

As a more general question, what is graduate student life like at CalTech? I’m prepared for very “hands off”/absent professors since I already work with one. Do you feel there are sufficient resources on campus in regard to student life (ie. gym, study space, break rooms, student groups, etc)? Do you feel that a strict science/math environment is an enriching one? I’m a fairly well rounded person, not your typical “science geek”, and coming from a giant university to a small institute is a pretty big change.

Is the insurance/medical care suffficient? Coming from UCLA I’ve been really happy with the student insurance, but theres also a medical school/top ranked hospital on site. I got a few health problems, so its kind of a big deal for me.

All responses are appreciated!