<p>The suicides were taken quite seriously by Caltech, and there are several groups working to make sure that our safety net programs will work as designed. Although I’ve never had to personally use any of the support systems, Caltech takes it seriously and wants to help people. I, and most people I’ve talked to, consider Caltech a generally supportive place.</p>
<p>If you are truly suicidal, Caltech probably isn’t the place for you. If you are really that depressed, transferring or taking time off is a good idea.</p>
<p>The suicides last year (one of which was a graduate student) were very unusual. The two years before that, Caltech hadn’t had any suicides. I know there was one three years ago, and I wasn’t here before that to provide other information, but I’ve heard that before last spring, Caltech had only had 3 or 4 suicides (this may be wrong, feel free to correct it if you have better information). </p>
<p>If this is an issue you are really concerned about, I suggest you you talk to a variety of students and get their opinions. Remember that peoples’ opinions will vary, so one or two outliers shouldn’t necessary make you rethink your decision (I’m sure you could find these people at every school you are thinking of)</p>