At Caltech, the dorms are split into eight houses. We are sorted into these houses after Rotation, which starts in October along with classes. During the process and preseason we are placed in temporary housing assignments, meaning we may or may not stay in the same house for the rest of college.
The house I'm in right now is Dabney; the other houses are Page, Lloyd, Venerable, Ricketts, Blacker, Fleming, and Avery. Every house has kind of like their own flavor.You'll have to wait until you get on campus yourself to get a feel for the houses because me telling you would break Rotation rules. While the students of Caltech love science and math, the personalities here are super diverse, and it's in everyone's best interest to find a house they are compatible with without outside influence.
Here's a picture of the Dabney courtyard! Most of the other courtyards aren't as messy haha.
This picture is carved into the space above the main entrance. Way clever!
Something that holds true across houses is the critters! We do have a surprising number of crickets here. One that found its way into our room was successfully captured and released, but not before a photo shoot.
And now onto food! Our main dining hall is Chandler Cafe, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner on weekdays. Eating elsewhere is common too; most of us just eat lunch at Chandler. Just a couple streets west of campus, Lake Avenue has grocery stores and restaurants. My personal favorite is Chipotle, and the other places on Lake are good too.
Once or twice a week, Caltech gives us free food. The BBQs
Best,
Monica
It was the Friday night of midterms during my first year at Caltech, and I was alone in the library. That weekend (week five of term, if you’re keeping count) also happens to coincide with Halloween. But as a bright-eyed frosh trudging my way through Ma 1a lecture notes, I was just baffled that no one else was studying alongside me. Spoiler alert: not all Caltech students spend Friday night—or every night—studying or grinding sets, even during midterms. And especially on Halloween weekend.
In order to get a good sense of the Caltech community, there is no better way than to talk to the students themselves. To give a little bit of an inside perspective of Caltech, I asked some students a variety of questions. Questions ranged from conspiracy theories to Caltech-specific takes and other random topics.
I’d like to think that I keep a tidy desk, but hey— entropy prevails for everyone. Here’s a breakdown of all the items you could find on my desk, circa February 2023.
My grandma always says that it rains whenever Dragonssuperior zodiac sign
travel, and sure enough, it was raining when I landed at LAX for my last calendar year at Caltech. It’s officially my graduation year—but between leaving campus just before spring term in my freshman year and returning, twenty-one years old, as a junior, it really does feel like my time here has flown by.
