California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

[penny_aries1234]

Anyone planing to go to caltech?

Wondering if anyone of you have any idea about housing at caltech.

[synorg]

the grad housing (catalina apts) look pretty nice, and the prices are probably as good as one would find in pasadena. check out their housing website.

[synorg]

bump

there must be more people on here going to caltech in the fall!

[TakeruK]

Hi!

I will be going to Caltech this fall (for Planetary Science). I have heard from current students that the "Cats" (Catalina apartments) are pretty nice for starting out. I think we are guaranteed a spot, as first years, but not necessarily in future years so many students eventually move out into the rest of Pasadena.

My best friend is a current grad student at Caltech and he lived in the Cats for the first year. He said it was nice but he was ready to move to a bigger/more comfortable place by the first summer (he was selected for lottery for a chance to stay a second year but he moved to a 2 bedroom apt with a friend instead). For my wife and I, we would only qualify for the 1 bedroom "Cats" and they are quite small for us. My wife isn't a student, so we would probably prefer to live off campus anyways. Also, we would be moving our furniture!

However, Caltech also owns some off-campus apartments (unfurnished). Applying for a lease is first-come, first-serve, so we put in an application in March. Their off campus apartment leases are nice because you can sign one for multiple years, and it's nice to have a little bit more separation between home and work, for me.

The prices for both the off-campus apartments and the Cats are super great, in my opinion, for the Pasadena area. When looking at other places in town, we are prepared to pay around $1200/month -- I think Caltech housing is around $900 for an equivalent place. My wife won't be able to work right away (we're Canadian) so $1200/month will be pretty hard to pay until there is a second income!

[penny_aries1234]

Checked out the graduate housing website and applied for a spot. Excited!

Who else is going Caltech? There must be more than just a few of us.

[yhyh]

Just applied the housing! When are you guys visiting Caltech? I'm planning in June or July.

[TakeruK]

I visited in March for an open house but we will come back in end of July to find an apartment (in case we don't get a good place from Caltech housing). We will move all our things on Sept 1!! Exciting

[penny_aries1234]

Visited in March. But, I might visit it again this June with my family while having our vacation at LA. I still need to figure out how to move my things across the country from Chicago and find a storage area for them near Caltech. I am an international student. So, I will no where to store my things once my apt lease here end in June. If anyone happens to know anythinng about that (aka temporary storage at Caltech), please share the information with me. =)

[TakeruK]

I'm moving from Eastern Canada, so a little further than Chicago even! We are planning on using U-Haul's "U-Box" service: http://www.uhaul.com/Ubox/

It will cost us about $1500 to transport 1 box and the cost of renting those boxes is $80/month/box (or portion thereof). They will keep the box on their site until you ask them to ship it, and then keep it at their destination site until you either pick it up or ask them to bring it to you (for a cost). But it's convenient storage and transport all in one. Maybe it will be cheaper for moving within the US. We figure that using U-Box will cost us about $400-$500 more than selling all our furniture, small kitchen appliances, pots & pans and then buying it again in Pasadena. But, we won't have a car in Pasadena and getting all the things again would be a major pain -- probably worth the extra $500.

[DNARNA]

So, Who is going to Caltech next year!?

[jmoon43]

I am going to Caltech in the fall! I will be in mechanical engineering ph.d program.

[nm.origami]

Hi!

 

I'm also going to CalTech next fall (Master in Space Engineering) ! I'm very excited, and wonder what the Catalina's apts look like ! I can't wait to visit California (I'm French...)

 

Anyone else for next fall ?