Lesson to learn

I have to be blunt. I did my bachelor’s degree at the University of It Doesn’t Matter, my MS at Who Cares State, and my PhD at Pretty Much Irrelevant Now Institute. I’m happy with all three, because I have a career that I love, and I learned a good deal along the way. Others who went on similar paths may disagree. We make too much of universities as brands.

What does it feel like to attend a world-renowned university?
I’ll speak up for Caltech here.

Going through undergrad at Caltech is the hardest thing you’ll ever do.

Before I can talk about anything else, you have to understand what I mean by this.

Caltech is a place that was built up to take the best scientific minds in the country and push them harder, faster, and further than they’d ever experienced before. It manages this through a couple of key points:


There are almost no introductory classes. The ‘normal’ class track for most majors has you taking graduate-level courses starting in your sophomore or junior year.
The core curriculum requirement is incredible. Every undergrad at Caltech is required to take courses in analysis, multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, probability and statistics, classical mechanics, special relativity, electricity and magnetism, waves and optics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, general chemistry, physical and organic chemistry, chemistry lab, a second lab class chosen from the likes of nanofabrication labs, physics labs, etc, biology and biophysics of viruses, and a ‘breadth’ or ‘menu’ course chosen from the likes of introductory astronomy, geology, information science, energy science, etc. Everyone takes all of these. No matter your major. Yes, even the premeds have to pass quantum mechanics.
You take many, many classes. Taking 5-6 courses simultaneously is considered normal. This doesn’t count any ‘small’ course listings like playing for the athletic teams or somesuch. No, we’re talking 5-6 full-blown, hardcore science courses. Taking anything less, even just 4 courses, makes it difficult to remain a full-time student, and difficult to fulfill all the requirements you need to graduate on time. On the other hand, many students find themselves taking 7 courses at once in some terms.
The classes move extremely quickly. Some time ago, Caltech moved to a quarter system where each quarter lasts 10 weeks. Rather than simply teaching less material than a corresponding semester-long course, the professors adopted the policy of just accelerating the coursework so that each quarter-long course covers a full semester’s worth of material.