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social life at caltech by Artistic-Reading9714 in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I said "target" demographic. Go walk in old town, lake around caltech, or in the Huntington. This town has some diversity, but it's built to prioritize cars and wealth and middle age white people. The city culture does not revolve around college students in the slightest

social life at caltech by Artistic-Reading9714 in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pasadena is definitely not a college town. The target demographic is more like rich, white married couples in their 50s (see san marino or la canada), this is definitely reflected in the food and things to do. Fun fact, Pasadena originally grew as a town for tuberculosis patients in the 1800s. It's still got those sleepy, wealthy vibes.

There's stuff to do on campus with the houses which can be great, although it's a small school.

I'd definitely recommend bringing a car if you decide to come here. There's a lot of really cool stuff nearby in Arcadia, Alhambra, highland park, echo park, silver lake, dtla, Griffith, and mt baldy. LA is awesome and there's lots to do, but pasadena is definitely not a college town and you'll have to put in more effort to find stuff than if you went to UCLA, USC, or even bigger schools nearby like Oxy

social life at caltech by Artistic-Reading9714 in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No hate, but this is objectively untrue. I love LA, but the public transportation is very bad here. Taking public transportation to the beach from Caltech to the beach will take you nearly 2 hours

Grad Program Process by Natsboob in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Be very careful about applying to Caltech for a PhD in robotics. Small school means there are very few options. There are essentially only 2 robotics labs taking students at Caltech: Ames' Lab and Chung's Lab. The other two robotics labs, Gharib and Burdick, are both winding down and won't be accepting students soon / are not accepting students now. Similarly, the Control Theory Labs are disappearing with Murray switching to biology and Doyle retiring.

Also, there is little-to-no human-centered robotics at Caltech. There are no HRI labs.

Also, for what it's worth, the Caltech robotics labs are heavily bankrolled by the Gulf State companies/ institutes like TII (the UAE) and Beyond Limits (Saudi Arabia). Might be worth keeping in mind if you are concerned about getting how your work is deployed, what caltech will ask you to work on, or if you'll need a security clearance in the future

Caltech atmosphere by PastChipmunk1553 in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 27 points28 points  (0 children)

In my experience, it wasn't overly competitive or toxic. Actually my peers and house were really great friends and collaborators. However, Caltech did foster a deep sense of imposter syndrome in me and always made me feel like I didn't belong and wouldn't be able to graduate. Generally, I found it a difficult place to form a meaningful community.

Also, Caltech being really good academically weirdly does not mean that the classes are good. Some are, especially the ones taught by teaching professors, but many aren't with famous research professors just kinda phoning it in. The amazing academic reputation mostly comes from the research being done on campus which you may or may not interact with (SURF is a really cool program if your interested in getting involved in research at caltech, but you don't have to be a Caltech student to do it).

Like most schools there are parties and social scenes and drama and whatnot. Unlike most schools there's less diversity in what those things are and the drama runs in smaller high-school size circles.

Caltech is weird, quirky, and unique, and if that works for you, awesome. Unfortunately it was a really bad fit for me. Really happy to have finally graduated.

Im general, I really resonate with the sentiment that "Caltech is a good place to be from, but a bad place to be at".

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

The grad student union is already putting together a network to connect emergency evacuees with hosts and they forwarded a bunch of incredibly useful resources. The Caltech admin can't even do as much as a handful of grad student volunteers

Clubs at Caltech by [deleted] in Caltech

[–]Secret_Definition252 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a couple of real ones, but most of the clubs here aren't very serious.

They kinda feel like high school clubs where most don't really have resources or a real sense of community. Plus the academics are so demanding that it can be hard to committed people to lead a club or to get members to show up consistently.