California Institute of Technology

This private university in Pasadena offers six different academic divisions to students that are looking to study and excel in science and engineering. The campus is set on 124-acres of land just over 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The school has been attracting prominent scientists since its founding in 1891 and today is home to nearly 1,000 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students. The staff and alumni is made up of a number of impressive members including 31 Nobel Prize winners, 66 National Medal of Science or Technology winners, and 110 elected members of the National Academies. The undergraduate program emphasizes arts and science and offers 24 majors and six minors. Undergraduates are required to take 30 core classes and they are enrolled in their first set of classes based on math, physics, chemistry, and writing placement exams. The classes are graded on a pass/fail scale and collaboration is encouraged on homework and study. The graduate program is also bound by a similar Honor Code. Graduate programs are offered in science, technology, math, and engineering. All first year students in the undergraduate program are required to live on campus and the college offers an active student life program. The school's athletic program includes baseball, cross country,

men's and women's basketball, fencing, men's soccer, swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's water polo, and track and field, women's volleyball.