<p>I’d say most other tech schools are science nerd schools. Caltech feels much more to me like a math nerd school. For example, I don’t know why I need to prove properties of Fourier transforms and Dirac delta functions on my homework in my chemistry class here. At CMU for undergrad we would have learned about the properties and then be expected to figure out how to apply them; here it’s derive/prove them and, well, if you happen to figure out what they’re for, that’s cool.</p>