The California Institute of Technology

Date: Jun 29 2004
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
Caltech offers excellent preparation for any field that requires qualitative thinking. Though the education is billed as science/math, a key aspect of Tech is that it teaches you how to think. How to innovate and think creatively. Professors ask you to write a computer program or design an experiment to figure something out. My friends are entrepreneurs or are in software, patent law, finance, as well as science. Until I went to medical school, I never picked up a scantron.

It's a small school, and you can do almost anything you want, for better or worse. This allows for some incredible opportunities. Also, there aren't any "gunners" at caltech; there are so few undergrads and everyone is doing his/her own thing that you don't compete against one another.

Finally, the social life is what you make it. There's a quirky on-campus scene, which sucks compared to any other college, but has it's moments. Pasadena is a great city; you can take classes at Occidental or Art Center, which are incredibly. L.A. is accessible, with a car. But you won't have much time.