Guide: Caltech makes the grade

A college guide now on the market, Caltech: Off the Record, offers what few college guides do: opinions and candid comments from Caltech students about everyone’s favorite institute, Caltech.

Unlike the typical college guide crammed with the cold numbers and bald statistics that parents seek on such things as admissions and financial aid, Caltech: Off the Record fortifies selected facts and figures with information on the topics that undergraduates really want to know about. The college guide is produced by the College Prowler, which has published guides to 200 other U.S. colleges.

The paperback comes in at a slim 160 pages, yet it features the valuable views of up to 100 of those who have actually studied, worked, and lived at the Institute. The guide also gives grades, from A to F, to various facets of campus life: What’s the deal on guys and girls? How accessible are the professors? How safe do students feel on campus? What’s the drug scene like? Students comment on these issues and more.

On academics, student responses ranged from the wildly enthusiastic to the decidedly mixed. One student said, “I have found the professors to be exceptional. They are all leaders in their field and it really shows,” while another responded, “The teachers at Tech are undoubtedly brilliant. They just don’t teach very well.”

Judging by students’ reports of class size as well as professors’ knowledge, ability to communicate, accessibility, and interest in students’ welfare, the College Prowler gave academics at Caltech an A.

Students also sized up the social scene, with Caltech men described variously as “antisocial trolls” by one student, “annoyingly nerdy” by another. On Caltech women, one student provided this insight: “In too many relationships, women realize they have control of the situation and take advantage of it, developing a boy toy.” Another student summed it up with, “The attractiveness of both sexes is below the norm.”

Caltech: Off the Record explains that the “ratio,” or gender disparity, on campus, is an eternal topic of conversation, but goes on to state that dating is common. “People start hooking up at pre-frosh weekend—before they even start school here!” it observes. Using the criteria of attractiveness, intelligence, friendliness, the ratio of men to women, and level of engagement, the College Prowler gives Caltech guys a C, and Caltech girls a C-.
Additional chapters are devoted to the students’ opinions on other topics crucial to quality of campus life, with pros, cons, and the ubiquitous College Prowler grade. These include Athletics (D+), Campus Dining (C+), Campus Housing (B), Computers (A), Night Life (C), Parking (B), Safety and Security (B), and Weather (A).

The online book merchant Amazon.com lists this guide as the College Prowler’s number 7 seller, and gives it a rating of five stars, based on one reader’s review (albeit written by the author herself, Mayra Sheik). The guide retails for $14.95, but can be found used for as low as $10.57.
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