<p>The best preparation for Caltech is to… not prepare. Seriously. You have 2 terms of pass-fail, which you use to acclimate to the academic intensity. You need to adjust to taking on a term with no prior preparation, because that’s what it’s going to be like on grades.</p>
<p>My summer year before Tech, I worked as a temp doing data entry and some database stuff for a company that manages and orders for college bookstores. I also hung out with my friends a lot, played a lot of volleyball, and played a lot of video games. I went on a week long worktrip with my church youth group fixing up houses for low income families. I also went on a weekend road trip with several friends to Cedar Point, which was probably the single most fun experience of my life.</p>
<p>It’s a summer with no obligations, other than making a little money. Enjoy it.</p>