California Institute of Technology | Courses, campus and more

California Institute of Technology believes in expanding knowledge

The California Institute of Technology (abbreviated Caltech or CIT) is a private research university in Pasadena, California. Caltech ranks among the best academic institutions in the world, and it is one of the world’s most selective universities, with an enrollment of approximately 2400 students. The university is famous for its strengths in science and engineering, and it is one of only a few institutes of technology in the United States devoted primarily to the instruction of pure and applied sciences.

California Institute of Technology | A brief overview 

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that brings together some of the brightest minds and most innovative tools in the world to address fundamental scientific questions and pressing societal challenges. Caltech’s exceptional faculty expanding our understanding of the universe and inventing future technologies, with research interests ranging from quantum science and engineering to bioinformatics and the nature of life. 

Caltech is a small university that values excellence and ambition. Caltech’s faculty and alumni have received national and international recognition, including 46 Nobel Prizes. The Institute manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which sends probes to explore our solar system’s planets and quantify changes on Earth. Caltech owns and operates large-scale research facilities such as the Seismological Laboratory and a global network of astronomical observatories, including the Palomar and W. M. Keck Observatories. It has also cofounded and co-managed LIGO, which observed gravitational waves for the first time in 2016.

The Institute has one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the country, with 300 professorial faculty members providing a rigorous curriculum, diverse learning opportunities, and hands-on research to approximately 1,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students.  

Campus

Caltech is a private and independent university. Its 124-acre (50-hectare) main campus is in Pasadena, California, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is within walking distance of Old Town Pasadena and the Pasadena Playhouse District, which are popular hangouts for Caltech students.

In 1917, Architect Bertram Goodhue created a master plan for the 22-acre (8.9-hectare) campus. Goodhue designed the physics building, Dabney Hall, and several other structures, all while attempting to be consistent with the local climate and the character of the school. Southern California’s traditional Spanish mission architecture was the influence behind Goodhue’s designs for Caltech.

Caltech expanded significantly during the 1960s, thanks in part to the generosity of alumnus Arnold O. Beckman. Beckman was asked to join the Caltech Board of Trustees in 1953. He became chairman in 1964. Arnold Beckman and his wife Mabel ‘shaped the destiny of Caltech’ over the next few years, according to Caltech president emeritus David Baltimore.

A magnitude-6.6 earthquake in San Fernando in 1971 damaged the Caltech campus. Engineers assessing the damage discovered that two historic buildings from the Institute’s early days, Throop Hall and the Goodhue-designed Culbertson Auditorium, had cracked.

The Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, as well as the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology, opened in 2009, and the Warren and Katherine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering followed in March 2010.

In 2006, the institute also completed an upgrade of the South Houses. Caltech completed a 1.3 MW solar array in late 2010, which is expected to produce approximately 1.6 GWh in 2011.

Courses

Courses at the California Institute of Technology include 28 undergraduate majors and 30 graduate majors. Biology and Biological Engineering, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Engineering and Applied Science, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Physics and Mathematics, are the six academic divisions that offer these courses. Bioengineering, Biology, Astronomy, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Aeronautics, Space Engineering, and other subjects offer excellent research and development opportunities. The average undergraduate tuition at the California Institute of Technology is nearly $83,598 for the 2022-23 academic year. Graduate courses cost between $97,886 and $102,086.

Popular bachelor’s programs

• Computer Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics
• Mathematics
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Computational Mathematics

Rankings

• QS World University Rankings- 6
• QS WUR Ranking by Subject- 313
• Graduate Employability Ranking- 63
• US UNI (universities)- 21

Alumni

Notable alumni

• Harrison Hagan Jack Schmitt (a noted geologist and NASA astronaut graduated from Caltech) 
• Linus Carl Pauling (Famous biochemist and author)
• Mustafa A.G. Abushagur (former Deputy Prime Minister of Libya)
• Charles Gordon Fullerton (astronaut and air force colonel)
• Regina Dugan (first female director of DARPA)
• Arvind Virmani (Indian government’s former Chief Economic Adviser)
• Arati Prabhakar (DARPA’s 20th director)
• Arnold Orville Beckman (inventor of the pH meter)
• Gordon Earle Moore (American engineer and Intel Corporation’s co-founder)

Key takeaways

• The California Institute of Technology is a private research university in Pasadena, California. It is one of the best academic institutions in the world, and one of the world’s most selective universities.
• Caltech has a 124-acre (50-hectare) main campus in Pasadena, California, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It lies within walking distance of Old Town Pasadena and the Pasadena Playhouse District.
• Caltech offers 28 undergraduate majors and 30 graduate majors. Biology and Biological Engineering, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Engineering and Applied Science, and Geological and Planetary Sciences, are some of the academic divisions available at Caltech.

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FAQs

Q1. Is Caltech an Ivy League?

Ans- Stanford, M.I.T., and Caltech are not technically Ivy League schools, but they have a similar reputation and social standing. MIT and Stanford are frequently mistaken for Ivy League school, even though it is not.

Q2. What GPA is required for getting admission into Caltech?

Ans- Caltech has no minimum GPA requirement. Most successful applicants‌ have a GPA of at least 3.5 or are in the top 5 to 10% of their class.

Q3. Has Caltech waived GRE for fall 2022?

Ans- For the 2021-22 academic year, none of Caltech’s 31 graduate options will require GREs.