Caltech is located in Pasadena, CA, in Los Angeles County. The city has a population of 133,000, making it the sixth largest in the county. Pasadena has a downtown area for shopping or dining, and is home to a number of artistic and scientific points of interest: the Norton Simon Museum of Art, the Pasadena Playhouse and of course, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (where many spacecrafts are designed for NASA). Pasadena is also known for hosting the annual Rose Bowl. Students are often so busy that they find it difficult to enjoy the city, but when they do find the time, they can enjoy all that Pasadena has to offer, plus the beaches and other nearby cities, such as Los Angeles itself.

The oldest buildings on campus were designed by Bertram Goodhue, who combined the philosophy of the school with the Spanish mission-style architecture popular in the region. The architecture retains that feel today, though there are also a number of modern buildings scattered about, like the newer labs. The campus seems very large compared to the small student body, because there are so many research facilities. There are small ponds scattered throughout the gorgeous green campus, and students who aren’t inside their rooms working on problem sets can enjoy the California sun on the nicely landscaped lawns.

Caltech students are assigned to live in houses, similar to the residential college systems of Oxford or Cambridge. More like fraternities than mere living spaces, the students in the various houses have rivalries with other houses, sit down for communal dinners, and generally share a sense of family. Each house has its own traditions, nicknames and mottos, and often members often play pranks on other Undergrads generally stay members of their houses throughout their school careers. The houses are divided into two groups, the North Houses (consisting of Lloyd, Page, and Ruddock) and the South Houses (Blacker, Dabney, Fleming, and Ricketts). Standing alone is Avery House, the newest in the house system—this house only recently admitted freshmen through rotation and its facilities are open to all members of the school (rather than just house members). There are also a number of “off-campus” houses, so-called despite actually being located on the campus itself. These houses do not have memberships, though many students of various houses physically live in them if, for whatever reason, they are unable to live in their own houses.

Caltech is not known for its sports teams (the basketball team just ended one of the longest losing streaks in history: 207 games lost, dating back to 1996). Like most Division III schools, Caltech does not give out sports scholarships or actively recruit athletes. Houses do, however, have inter-house tournaments in various sports, both real and made up. Lloyd House, in particular, is known as the athletic house, and has held the Inter-house Trophy for the past five years. 25% of Caltech students participate in some form of athletics.