CMU v. Caltech (and misc. questions)

mathmom
Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:33:18 +0000

Have you visited Caltech? It’s quirky - kind of a love it or hate it sort of place. More insular feeling to me than CMU. More aggressively nerdy (in a good way.) I like the honor code, the campus is drop dead gorgeous. I like the painted hallways. I wouldn’t like the food fights. (Only a tradition in some houses I believe.) They give elaborate parties, but I don’t know how often. The campus food is the best I’ve had anywhere for lunch. I hear dinner isn’t quite so wonderful. It’s tops for pure science, but probably not the best place for your interests. My husband was a grad student at Caltech and thought the undergrads were a bit weird.

Carnegie Mellon has a very large department. I hae no idea if there is competition among students, but I had the sense that the faculty was paying attention to their students, more than some other places we visited. We visited New Dorm. It’s attractive and has A/C for the few weeks you might want it. The dorm next to it (forget the name) has food in the basement “The Underground”. Other dorms of suites. Some house only freshmen, others hae a mix.