<p>We will be able to fit in one, but not both.
Which one is better to visit during the summer and why?</p>
<p>Caltech with 900 undergrads and 1200 grad students is likely to seem less empty in the summer. While it’s likely to be hot, it’s a dry heat and the campus is pretty shady. A fair number of undergrad students have summer research projects, so I imagine you’ll still get the standard tour. You have to go on the tour to get all the stories about senior ditch day, and you’ll definitely want to go inside the dorms - the old unrenovated ones are unique. (Not sure if the new ones are still overly pristine - or if the tradition of painting the walls continues.)</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way: You never really have to visit Stanford. I think you can rely on the fact that its appeal is fairly broad-gaged, and if you went there sight-unseen you would be perfectly happy, or at least overwhelmingly likely to be perfectly happy.</p>
<p>My sister and I did that, she for college and I for law school. She thought it was heaven on Earth from Day 1. I hated everything about the campus when I showed up, which meant that it took 6-8 weeks for me to start loving it. I am morally certain that (a) I would never have gone there if I had visited first, and (b) that would have been the biggest mistake of my life. But I am in a tiny minority of people who don’t like the way Stanford looks or its hyper-suburban setting. As far as I can tell, most humans adore it, and the ones (like me) who don’t find it easy to adapt anyway.</p>
<p>The same could be true of Caltech, but nobody will every say that Caltech has broad-gauge appeal. To choose to go there – if you have another reasonable choice – you need to buy into its special vibe, drink the Kool-Aid. That’s worth a visit.</p>
<p>^^Actually, I know a LOT of kids who are turned-off by Stanford’s architecture/feel after visiting…</p>
<p>Entirely agree with mathmom’s assessment. Even during the regular school year, there are many times when the Caltech campus feels empty</p>
<p>Do you have time to see Cal Tech plus Harvey Mudd (and/or Pomona?)
Still doesn’t solve the summer problem, but they’re not far apart.</p>
<p>I was just thinking Harvey Mudd !
Will have to check if they offer summer tours.
If we decide to go south, will also have to put Jet Propulsion Lab on the schedule.</p>
<p>JHS - you post makes me want to visit Stanford even more! 
How far is it from Berkely?</p>
<p>I’ve actually visited both with my son. I would say definitely go to Cal Tech if you only have time to go to one. Cal Tech has a very unique vibe to it and your son should experience it before he decides to apply there. It would be best if he could visit when students are around because the students are very different from those at other institutions, but the college itself is also unique in its location. Funny thing was my son actually didn’t like Cal Tech or Stanford and didn’t apply to either. He did apply and was accepted to Harvey Mudd but didn’t really see himself there either. In the end, he chose Berkeley.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, Stanford is about an hour from Berkeley. Very different feel than Berkeley.</p>
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They do. [Visiting</a> Campus](<a href=“Visiting Harvey Mudd College | Admission and Financial Aid | Harvey Mudd College”>Visiting Harvey Mudd College | Admission and Financial Aid | Harvey Mudd College)
If you stay in Pasadena and arrange a morning tour, allow an hour for the commute.</p>
<p>I hate Stanford too, I’ve visited it a couple of times. To me it seems too separate from the surrounding (rather bland) neighborhood. I also found the building interiors seemed too country club-ish and I thought the campus was too spread out. But like JHS I know I’m in the minority and I’m sure I could have been happy there. Caltech doesn’t feel as far away from the town, and while Pasadena is now much more upscale than when I lived - it still has the great hole in the wall restaurants it had when I was there, and you can easily walk to them.</p>
<p>Architecturally with a few exceptions, I love Caltech.</p>
<p>We went to see Caltech during the summer, attending their Open House. D was super creeped out (her expression) by the lack of girls in the crowd and in the student body. Couldn’t wait to leave and never applied. We toured Stanford during spring break. She loved it but had the benefit of being an admitted student. We never made it to Berkeley, where she was also an admitted student. She loves the vibe at Stanford. These are very different places.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t count on getting from Stanford to Berkeley (or vice versa) in an hour if it’s trafficky at all, but they’re not that far apart. They are TOTALLY different vibes. Berkeley is all mish-mash/eclectic, different styles of building right next to one another. Lots of Berkeley is built right into the hills, so the entrance to one building may be level with the third floor of its neighbor. Berkeley the city isn’t full of high-rise offices or anything, but it comes right up to the edge of the university campus, and even integrates with it some; you feel that you are in a semi-urban place. Stanford is like a golf course, everything groomed, everything color-coordinated, all the buildings far apart, with fairways leading up to them. It’s got a gentle rise (a little steeper at the very back of the campus), but nothing like Berkeley – except there are barren foothills right behind campus that frame every view to the west. The whole campus is set away from the town by about half a mile worth of eucalyptus groves (with a mini beltway, lots of parking lots, the stadium, some museums, etc.); the campus is really isolated from everything. You can barely glimpse it from El Camino, which separates it from the town. Palo Alto itself, unlike Berkeley, is so wealthy there is absolutely nowhere for students to live, except in little ghettos that Stanford owns.</p>
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<p>Yep. My d couldn’t stand all the palm trees!</p>
<p>It’s really too bad you can’t visit both. By airplane, it’s only an hour.</p>
<p>I agree with posters who’ve pointed out that no one would enroll at CalTech sight unseen. CalTech has admitted more women recently, so I’d be surprised if a young woman felt out of place there, these days.</p>
<p>That said, I believe that everyone should have the chance to see Stanford. I didn’t feel that way until last year, when I was hosting a teacher from Japan. One day I took him on a tour to Stanford, and we drove up Palm Drive, walked up through the oval to the chapel. He was stunned. Amazed. It took his breath away. Mine too. The thing is, I hadn’t been back to Stanford for awhile, but I’d recently toured Yale, Harvard, etc. That entrance to the Stanford campus, and the entire place – cutting-edge schools and science laboratories spread out over thousands of acres, including the original ranch land where cattle still graze – well, it should rate three stars in the Michelin guide. Go as a tourist!</p>
<p>I suggest you decide based on a preference for small vs large student body / campus.</p>
<p>As a funny aside, many decades ago when I planned to visit Stanford, I couldn’t get past the eucalyptus trees because of allergies.</p>
<p>Um, as a Californian, I’d just like to gently point out that if you strongly dislike or are allergic to eucalyptus, bay, oak, and palm trees, then you’re probably going to be unhappy and allergic to the entire state.</p>
<p>As for the architecture, Stanford’s is Spanish style, and CalTech’s campus reflects that influence as well. California’s Spanish heritage is a major part of our history, so if the student is looking for New England red-brick buildings (which really don’t work well out here in earthquake country), maybe the Northeast is the better bet.</p>
<p>CalAlum… hahahahaha… So true about the trees. Red brick buildings can be found at UCLA and USC. :-)</p>
<p>Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. However, Stanford has been named among the most beautiful campuses in the entire world by architects and designers, most recently in a Forbes survey. It’s the kind of place you must visit yourself to appreciate. I would recommend visiting in the spring if at all possible, following the winter rains, when the foothills and campus are lush and green. (The hills are also beautiful in their summer golden color, if that is when you can make it.)</p>
<p>Plenty of eucalyptus on the Caltech campus too. Desert grasses can be an allergy issue as well.</p>
<p>Interesting fact: Caltech’s original buildings were designed by Bertram Goodhue who also did West Point, VMI and Rockefeller chapel at U of Chicago.</p>