Dear Frosh,
Welcome to the Caltech community! I know that sounds lame, but you might not realize that you've not only picked a school, but you've picked a place to live for the next four years. You probably decided to come to Caltech because of stuff you've read over and over in catalogs, brochures, and other propaganda put out by the Admissions Department. You know: 28 Nobel prizes, 3:1 faculty/student ratio and all that. When you get here though, it won't be professors or Caltech administrators that shape your college experience; you're going to be spending almost all of your time with other students.
It's not just hanging out and living together, though. To a degree rivaled by very few universities, Techers are allowed significant influence over the rules under which we live. The oldest and most important of these rules is the Honor Code: "No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community." Living under the Honor Code, we get take-home exams, leave our rooms unlocked, and work together on homework assignments. Sometimes, cheating or stealing does occur, but in those cases the Honor Code Violation is investigated by a committee composed completely of other students.
The tradition of student self-governance at Caltech extends far beyond just the Honor Code. The Associated Students of Caltech (ASCIT, Inc.) is a non-profit corporation completely independent of the school. In addition to representing the undergraduate students, ASCIT prints several student publications and is the primary source of funding for student clubs. Independent of ASCIT, each of the seven undergraduate Houses also has its own Executive Committee that organizes House events and decides who lives in the House. Students, along with Faculty members, also serve on administrative committees regarding Academic Policies, Scholarships and Financial Aid, and many others; students even serve on the Admissions Committee that read your application and admitted you to Caltech this year.
Most of you probably didn't do student government in high school, but I'm sure every one of you has a long list of extracurriculars that you wrote proudly on your application. At Caltech, there are intercollegiate and intramural sports, choral and instrumental groups, more than 90 different clubs, and no barrier to starting a club to do anything that you want. If there's something you liked doing in High School, or something that you always wanted to try, don't be afraid to get involved. With no one at Caltech aspiring to be a professional athlete, journalist, or politician all it takes to play a sport, write for the newspaper, or run for a student government office is a little motivation on your part.
Outside of the classroom, you have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want, and you're not getting everything you can out of Caltech if you don't take advantage of that opportunity. Science may be what you're going to do for the rest of your life, but 14 hours of science a day can be too much even for a Techer. So when you get to campus, contact the editors of the newspaper, the members of an a cappella group, or the captains of the cheer squad - have some fun while you're here!
If you want to learn more about living at Caltech, there are a lot of resources online. Most things can be accessed through the main Caltech site at http://www.caltech.edu - try clicking on News & Information, then Campus Life. A lot of pages closer to student life and maintained by students can be found at http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu - especially see the Personal Home Pages and Student House pages. The student government has its own website at http://donut.caltech.edu - click on the Club Finder and enter a blank search to find a list of clubs on campus. Feel free also to e-mail me (tjou@caltech.edu) with any questions or concerns that you may have.
Sincerely,
-Ted Jou, your ASCIT President