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Top Private (Non-Ivy)

Studying at Caltech

Pasadena, CAPrivate R1

Fennie is independent and not affiliated with Caltech.

Known for

  • Smallest top STEM school
  • Honor code
  • Physics and astronomy
  • Pure research focus

Popular majors

  • Physics
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Math

Academic culture

Smallest top STEM school in the country (~1000 undergrads). Workload is genuinely brutal — students often describe it as harder than MIT. Honor code is taken very seriously.

How Fennie helps here

Fennie supports Caltech's heavy STEM problem-set load with [physics](/subject/classical-mechanics), [math](/subject/calculus-1), and [quantum mechanics](/subject/quantum-mechanics) coverage.

FAQ

Is Caltech harder than MIT?

By many measures yes — smaller scale, more theoretical, less applied. Grade-deflated.

Honor code in practice?

Strict. Take-home exams are common; violations are severe.

Caltech for non-STEM?

Limited. Caltech is fundamentally a STEM institution; humanities are minimal.

Start using Fennie at Caltech

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