As its last field trip of the 2012-2013 school year, CSF visited CalTech on Tuesday, May 29.
“Caltech is an extremely prestigious school that everyone knows is hard to get into,” Treasurer Mimi Chen (14′) said.”I was really lucky and got to sit in a physics class. The class only had 8 students, and the professor moved very quickly since the students are the brightest in the country.”
Students who attended the trip learned that Robert Millikan, who conducted the oil drop experiment, served as president of Caltech, and a scene from “The Big Bang Theory” was filmed there with Steven Hawking. In addition, Caltech has some great student traditions such as Ditch Day and pranks across campus houses. Most have always imagined Caltech as a very serious and school-driven campus, but the trip revealed fun traditions and opportunities for students to enjoy themselves.
“The campus was very quaint,” said CSF historian Pauline Nguyen (’14). “It’s much smaller compared to the other schools I have visited. It has more of a tight knit community feel than that of a big university, and I liked that the campus was more cozy; sometimes large universities can get overwhelming.”
Unlike the first trip, there were fewer students on the trip to CalTech. CSF’s last college field trip to UCLA yielded more members attending, because UCLA offers more academic opportunity when it comes to majors than does Caltech, which specializes in computer science.
CSF member Amber Lenguyen (’15) said, “I thought the trip to Caltech was a very good experience. It’s not everyday you get to visit a college dedicated to computer science. I think it’s always a good idea to go on college tours and see what that campus is known for. By doing so, you become more open minded about where you want to go and your future plans.”
By Sandy Hoang and Amina Ahmed
