Spring and Summer Communication

Student Communications

Dear New Students,

The countdown is on: officially two months until the start of orientation (Sunday, September 21)!

Below are some announcements:

The next Info Session is tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. PDT | Zoom link here

Hear from the Caltech Y on ways to get involved, federal work study opportunities, and the popular Y-Hike for first-year students. Grubhub credit will be given to the first 5 student participants (starting 11am). If you missed a session, you can view recordings of previous information sessions here.

Mail Service Codes (MSC): Each incoming student is assigned a unique Mail Service Code (MSC), which will be emailed to you prior to your arrival on campus. This code must be included in your mailing address in order for you to receive mail and packages at Caltech.

Mail Services will begin accepting packages up to two weeks before your scheduled arrival date. Please refer to the chart below to see when you can expect to receive your MSC:

If you are part of more than one group, your MSC will be sent based on your official arrival date.

First-Year Caltech Connectors posing for photo

Introducing FCCs – what does that stand for?!? First-Year Caltech Connectors (FCCs) are upper-year students and serve as orientation leaders. They are peer mentors and provide guidance, advice and support throughout your first year at Caltech. As a new student, you will be assigned to a small group with other new students and each group will be led by 2 FCCs. You will participate in social activities throughout orientation week with your orientation group. Be on the lookout for an email from your designated FCCs in early September.
This year's lovely FCCs!
New students should have received an email from Beth Larranaga ([email protected]) to their Caltech email, highlighting suggested concepts for review, per the Foundations Assessment.
2029 Canvas course is now live, which includes the Letter to Advisor due on August 29.

The following items on the To-Do List are due by:

Wednesday, July 30:

Health Forms Due (Required - All New Students: First Year, Transfer, 3-2 and Exchange)
Contact: Student Health Portal or call (626) 395-6393 if you have not received confirmation that your requirements are complete.

Friday, August 1:

Housing Contract Due

Have a great rest of July!

Best,

Isabel

Dear New Students,

Fun Fact of the Month: Caltech Ditch Day, an annual tradition dating back to the 1920s, is a highly anticipated event where students participate in elaborate puzzles and activities planned by the seniors. The exact date of Ditch Day is kept a secret until the morning it happens, and there is a famous saying across campus: Ditch Day is (always) tomorrow.

The Interhouse Committee (IHC) is Caltech's undergraduate student government. The IHC Chair, Elisa Grillo, wrote a welcome letter (attached) to new students, feel free to review.

📅 The next Info Session is tomorrow, Thursday, July 10 | 1:00-2:00 p.m. PDT | Zoom link here.

Join Caltech Housing and Residential Experience for an overview of rotation. The IHC chair will also be available to share info about rotation from a student's perspective. Grubhub credit will be given to the first 5 student participants (starting 1pm).

If you missed a session, you can view recordings of previous information sessions here.

The following items on the To-Do List are due by:

Friday, July 11:

Enrollment/Waiver period begins for Student Health Insurance Plans. Students who do not want to enroll in 2025-26 coverage need to take action to submit their waiver(s). Students will only be enrolled by default in Caltech Student Medical and Dental coverage. The Caltech Student Vision plan requires active enrollment each year.

Monday, July 14:

Chemistry Advanced Placement Exam (Optional) Due before July 14, 2025, at 11:59pm PDT.
Log into Canvas for test details.
Contact: [email protected]

Friday, July 18:

Math Advanced Placement Exams Due (Ma 1abc, Ma 2, Ma 3) 12:00 p.m. PDT (optional - Transfer Students please email the contact below to sign up for the Math Foundations Assessment, if necessary, based on your transfer credits)
Contact: [email protected]
Physics Advanced Placement Exam Due (Ph 1a) 12:00 p.m. PDT (optional - Transfer Students please email the contact below to sign up for the Physics Foundations Assessment, if necessary, based on your transfer credits)
Contact: [email protected]
Complete Student Patent and Computer Software Agreement (Required - All New Students: First Year, Transfer, 3-2 and Exchange) & Student Multimedia and Distribution Consent (recommended)
Instructions can be found at https://registrar.caltech.edu/froshreg

Best,
Isabel

July 9th, 2025

Hi everyone!

Welcome to Caltech! My name is Elisa Grillo, and I am your current Interhouse Committee (IHC) Chair. To quickly describe, the IHC is a part of student government that consists of the eight presidents of the individual Houses, the IHC Chair, and the IHC Secretary. In this committee, we serve as a key line of communication between Houses, and we work together to plan events like Rotation.

The House system is a huge part of many students' Caltech undergraduate experience. Unlike traditional dorms, the eight Houses provide immediate, tight-knit communities that you get to be a part of! In addition to social connections, Houses also offer helpful resources and a network of upperclassmen who are eager to support you as you transition into campus life. Rotation is the one-week process where you'll have the chance to explore what every House has to offer through a variety of events.

During Rotation, you'll be able to attend House dinners, desserts, and events to meet people and get a feel for each House's unique culture. It's a great way to connect with both other first-years and upperclassmen who are looking forward to welcoming you. Everyone participating in Rotation wants to get to know you, and just as importantly, help you get to know us.

While Rotation might still feel far away, I understand how it can sound high stakes, but it's not meant to be stressful. Everything is optional, and Rotation is simply an opportunity for the Houses to give you a chance to learn all about them. You can always change/add memberships after Rotation, and your House does not limit your friends and experiences. Throughout the year, there will be multi-house events, Interhouses, ASCIT events, or you can just go hang out with friends in other houses!

At the end of the day, this is supposed to be a time for you to explore the campus, make connections, and most importantly have fun! Rotation is one of the most memorable parts of the year, and all of the upperclassmen are happy to meet you and welcome a new class into their Houses. Everyone is working hard to make sure each House feels warm, welcoming, and ready for you to explore.
You'll get more information later in the summer and during orientation, but please don't hesitate to reach out with questions! You can always reach me via email ([email protected]), and the rest of the IHC has their emails listed at https://ihc.caltech.edu/ihc-roster.

On behalf of the IHC and the campus as a whole, I am so excited to see all of you come to campus and become a part of our community!

All the best,
Elisa Grillo
Interhouse Committee Chair

Hello Caltech Class of 2029,

Welcome to Caltech! We are so thrilled to have you joining our community. I'm writing to introduce you to a new Canvas course that you will be added to this week. The Class of 2029 Canvas course is a new resource that is designed to provide you with information that will assist you as you navigate your first year at Caltech. The course includes a few different components.

First Year Core

The course will include information about each of the core STEM courses you will likely be enrolled in this fall. For each course, you can review:

Overview of information taught in that course
Information about the instructor for that course
Suggested readings/resources, if you would like to do a little extra prep work before the course begins; you may have already received some resources through the foundations assessment, so this may supplement that

Academic Resources

In addition to the information about specific courses, we will also publish information later in the summer and fall about some helpful academic resources that you may want to explore such as:

Caltech Honor Code
Regis/Registrar
Caltech Accessibility Services for Students
Student Wellness Services
Undergraduate Deans' Office (known simply as "the deans' office" to you!)
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships

Finally, this course also includes your first assignment! That is the Letter to your Advisor that you'll see under the assignments tab, or directly below the welcome on the modules/home page. Don't worry, it isn't graded. But we hope you will use it as a chance to introduce yourself and your academic goals to your advisor.

Course content will be added throughout the summer months and during the school year. We will ask for feedback along the way, so please let us know what's working and what isn't. If you have particular questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the deans' office, or to Isabel Peng in the office of the first-year experience.

To ensure that you receive updates when more modules are added to the Class of 2029 Canvas course, please be sure to enable notifications in Canvas.

We hope this serves as a useful resource. We look forward to seeing you on campus in September!

Your first-year dean,

Kristin

Kristin Weyman | Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students

Caltech | MC 210-87, Pasadena, CA 91125 | (626) 395-6351

Book an Appointment

Dear Incoming Caltech Student,

We are confident that every student we admit is highly capable of succeeding at Caltech. In the past, however, many students encountered difficulties with Ma1a because their high school mathematics courses had not prepared them for the type of mathematics that is done in this class. Most commonly, students, though computationally quite skilled, lack exposure to formal reasoning, writing proofs, and common proof techniques.

To assist you in preparing for Caltech mathematics, Professor Bob Pelayo (Caltech Ph.D., 2007) has designed an online course, Math 0 - Transition to Mathematical Proofs (TMP), for you to take at home this summer before your arrival at Caltech. Most students find the asynchronous, online, self-paced structure of Math 0 to be compatible with their other summer plans.

Math 0 is intended to allow students to gain some experience in mathematical writing and in constructing proofs. It consists of 7 modules, each consisting of a set of video lectures, exercises, and a mechanism for submitting work. In addition, the course offers an introduction to LaTeX, a platform for typesetting Mathematics and scientific writing. Your submitted work will be assessed by teaching assistants, who will provide both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Assessed work will be returned to students electronically and progress will be recorded by the TAs.

The course site will go live on Monday, July 7. It will be hosted on Caltech's Canvas portal, and all new incoming students will be automatically registered for the course. The course is asynchronous and designed so that you can proceed at your preferred pace.

Although you will be automatically registered, participation is entirely voluntary. You will receive no credit for the class, and it will not appear on your transcript. We believe, however, that you will find it worthwhile to participate in Math 0. Students who took the course last summer did significantly better in Ma1a than those who did not. Students who have been placed in Ma 1a, Section 1 and/or Ma 8 should find Math 0 particularly beneficial, and we strongly urge you to take the course.

More information will be sent in subsequent emails closer to the start of this course. If you have any immediate questions, please contact instructor Bob Pelayo at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Bob Pelayo

Math 0 (TMP) Instructor

[email protected]

Dear New Students,

Happy June! It is a beautiful sunny day here in Pasadena (29 °C/84 °F).

Fun Fact of the Month: Caltech students have a long-standing tradition of elaborate pranks. One of the most famous occurred in 1984 when students changed the Hollywood sign to read "Caltech." Another legendary prank involved altering the scoreboard at the Rose Bowl football game to show "Caltech" as the winner.

Below are some announcements:

Moving forward my letters will be sent to your Caltech email address only (instead of also to your personal email) so please ensure you have activated your Caltech email. All copies of the summer communication will also be available online.
As a reminder, please review the new student handbook for important information about the first-year experience. Want to learn more about the Rotation process? See page 8. Have questions about when to send packages to campus? See page 31.
Academic and Student-Services Virtual Info Sessions: Each week over the next three months, you are invited to attend info sessions over Zoom to hear from different office staff about how they support new students and students have the opportunity to ask questions. Attached is the calendar of events. The first 5 student participants at each session will receive a $15 GrubHub credit (credit will be sent to your Caltech email after the session; if there are more than 5 students, recipients will be chosen in a random draw). Below are two upcoming sessions, and reminders will also be sent closer to each session:
- Monday, June 16 at 11am-12pm (PT) | Student and Family Experience | Zoom Link here
  Overview of the first-year experience, New Student Handbook, move-in day, New Student Information and Housing Options form
- Monday, June 23, 11am-12pm (PT) | Center for Student Success | Zoom Link here

Introduction to the Center and the various student supports available

This Friday, the New Student Information and Housing Option Form will be sent to your Caltech email address through Qualtrics. This is an important, mandatory survey to indicate your housing preference. If there are any questions about the form, please attend the info session on June 16 or email me. The deadline to complete this form is Friday, June 27.
There is still time to apply for the Integrated First-year Core! Please see this link to read the details about the Integrated Core program, how it works, how to apply, and responses to frequently anticipated questions. The application is due soon on June 23.

Please note, the following items on the To-Do List are due by:

Friday, June 13:

Add NameCoach to Canvas

Sunday, June 15:

Writing Placement Test Due by 5 p.m. PDT (Required - First Year and Transfer Students who have not taken placement test.)
Contact: [email protected]

Monday, June 16:

Foundations Assessment Due by 5 p.m. PDT on Canvas (Required - First Year Students)
Contact: [email protected]

Friday, June 20:

Deadline for incoming students to register with Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (CASS) for housing accessibility accommodations for fall 2025-26.
Contact: [email protected]
Complete Course Selection Survey (Required - First Year Students)
Survey will be sent to your Caltech email address.
Contact: [email protected]

Monday, June 23:

The Integrated Core Application Due. (Optional - First Year Students only)
Chemistry Advanced Placement Exam Testing Window Opens - (Students who excel on the Foundations Assessment will be encouraged to take the exam.)
Log into Canvas for test details.

Contact: [email protected]

Until next time! 👋

Best wishes,

Isabel

From: Dean of Undergraduate Studies

Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2025 9:03 AM

Subject: Announcing Caltech's Integrated First-year Core!

Do you like a challenge? Do you like connecting the dots across disciplines? Does out-of-the-box thinking appeal to you? If so, consider taking the Integrated Core.

Motivated by the fact that many of the most exciting problems in 21st century science and engineering demand interdisciplinary solutions, we seek to train a cohort of intellectually adventurous students in the ability to integrate across ﬁelds. Both depth and breadth are necessary in modern STEM. Over the course of a Caltech education, through your disciplinary major, you will gain depth. Prior to selecting a major, learning how different ﬁelds can contribute intellectually and technically to solving complex problems provides an opportunity to leave the siloed course work of high school behind. You'll become scientiﬁcally multilingual and identify the discipline in which you want to become ﬂuent with the beneﬁt of introductory exposure to the methods of state-of-the-art research in these disciplines. We believe such training will prime your ability to innovate long-term.

As an Integrated Core student, you will be taught by faculty who are passionate about research and teaching. This year, the problems you will be exposed to will have energy as their theme, spanning the challenges of space travel, sustainable energy production and consumption, and climate change. You will learn how abiotic and biotic factors contribute to these problems and their potential solutions, and you will come to realize that the deductive and inductive logic used across ﬁelds is very similar. While intense, this class will have many non-standard beneﬁts, including ﬁeld trips (both on and o􀀁 campus), laboratory experiments that integrate lecture concepts by way of hands-on problem-solving, training in humanistic consideration of how science and society are intertwined, and the chance to learn how to compose a hypothesis-oriented research proposal that could pave the way to a SURF project.

Unfortunately, we can only accept 24 students into the Integrated Core as our teaching program will best be accomplished with an intimate cohort. Please see this link to read the details about the Integrated Core program, how it works, how to apply, and our responses to frequently anticipated questions. Feel free to contact us if you have a burning question that isn't on this list. The application is here and is due June 23rd, 2025.

We look forward to learning together!

Dear Caltech Class of 2029,

I am delighted to be among the first to welcome you to this extraordinary research and learning community and look forward to meeting and working with you in the months and years to come. With the May 1 decision deadline behind us, we are looking towards fall when we will be officially welcoming you and the rest of your new classmates to campus. At the same time, we are aware that you may still have a month or more left in your current schoolyear – as do we! The information below is designed to help you get started with your summer learning and preparation, but it is just the beginning.

Here are a few items to which I'd like to draw your attention:

The summer To-Do List is now live on the New Student Orientation website. The information and deadlines in the following bullets will appear on that list, so you don't have to keep track of all of them right now.
You have already heard from Dean Jahner about the mandatory Foundations Assessment. Comprised of three tests (one each in math, physics, and chemistry), which can be taken independently, the assessment will be available later in May and will be due June 16. You'll receive feedback in early July to help you brush up on specific skills that will be essential to the Core curriculum.
The Writing Placement test, also required, will be available June 6 through June 15. This exam determines whether you must take Writing 2 in fall term and successfully complete the course before you enroll in your first-year humanities coursework.
In mid-June you will be enrolled in the Class of 2029 Canvas course, which is designed to provide you with information that will assist you as you navigate your first year at Caltech. This is where you will find assignments, such as the Letter to Your Advisor, as well as details about each of the Core STEM courses and helpful academic resources.
If you have a disability and require housing or academic accommodations in the fall, please register with Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (CASS) by June 20 (for housing) or September 1 (for academic services). If you require accommodations for placement testing, you should register and send your materials by June 9.
Caltech will be sending information to your families soon and we would like to make sure we have their correct contact information. If you have questions about our communications or your family members' email addresses, please reach out to the Office of Student and Family Engagement at [email protected].
You will receive additional information about New Student Orientation – as well as reminders about items on the To-Do List – throughout the summer from First Year Programs. Please be sure to keep an eye on your email (primarily your Caltech email, once you set it up later this month) and check back with the To-Do List periodically for updates.

As I look forward to the start of my eighth year at Caltech, I can genuinely say that my favorite part of the Caltech community is you, our students. Getting to know you, seeing you learn and grow and explore new passions, hearing about your research and what you're studying – it's truly awe inspiring, and Caltech is an amazing place. But I'll be honest with you: Caltech is also hard. You will struggle. And that's ok! As your First-Year Dean, I'm here to support and encourage you in your academic, personal, and social development. If you ever have a concern – whether it's something in the classroom, or a problem with family back home – please be in touch. If you don't know where to go or who to ask, you can find a lot of answers, as well as the link to book an appointment with me or another of the deans, at deans.caltech.edu.

On a personal note, I love travel and the outdoors. If your hometown is in a beautiful place with good hiking or good food, let's talk! I live near campus and you're likely to see me walking my dog, Daisy, in the evenings. You're always welcome to come up to us and say hello.

I look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Your dean,

Kristin Weyman
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students

Family Communications

Dear Families,

Congratulations on your student's recent commitment to the California Institute of Technology! Caltech is a special place, and we are proud to have such an exceptional group of incoming students arriving this fall.

The Office of Student and Family Engagement looks forward to getting to know your family and your student. One of the most rewarding aspects of our work is the opportunity to engage with students during this pivotal time in their lives and to help shape their paths as future leaders, innovators, and researchers. Students' family networks are an essential partner in this journey, and our aim is to be a shared resource for you so that we can all assist your students in their transition and progress at Caltech.

Throughout the next few months, and then continuing into their academic careers, Caltech will send most of our communications directly to students. All official communications to incoming students are posted online for their reference.

Today, we are writing to share the New Student Handbook, which was recently sent to students last week. This Handbook should be consulted as your go-to-guide on important information, dates, and resources for the first-year student experience. In addition, throughout the summer, we will host informative Zoom sessions covering a variety of topics designed to help incoming students prepare for the year ahead. The schedule will be posted on the orientation website this month. These sessions will be recorded and posted online, ensuring students can access the content even if they are unable to attend the live discussion. Family members are also welcome to join the Zoom sessions.

We also want to take this opportunity to highlight some important dates and information for your awareness for the year ahead.

Information to Plan for Your Students Arrival at Campus:

Students should plan to arrive to Caltech on September 21, 2025 or September 17, 2025 if they are international students, unless they need to arrive early for one of our summer programs.
Student housing assignments will be provided on arrival to campus.
On June 13, 2025, students will be sent a housing survey in which they have the option to commit to live in the Bechtel Residence for the entire year (this commitment is binding) or move into a temporary housing assignment for their first few weeks on campus. Students who opt for the temporary assignment will receive a permanent assignment through Rotation after the start of the academic year. Additional information on Caltech's Student Housing and Rotation is available on page 8-9 of the handbook.
Incoming students' mail service codes (MSC code) will be emailed in advance of students' physical arrival to campus. Mail services can begin receiving packages two weeks prior to students' arrival on campus. Please see package shipping guidelines on page 31 of the handbook.

Students may arrive on campus on their own or with family. In either situation, we will have student and staff volunteers on-site to assist your student in the move-in process. Please note that if your student is in a temporary assignment, their move to a permanent room will be facilitated with the support of staff and their peers.

2025-26 Academic Year Dates to Note:

iBegin@Caltech for International Students: September 18 - 19, 2025
New Student Check-In and optional family programming: Sunday, September 21, 2025
New Student Orientation: September 21- September 26, 2025 (students only)
Rotation: September 24-October 1, 2025
Thanksgiving Holiday: November 27 – November 28, 2025
Winter Break: December 13, 2025 - January 4, 2026
Family Weekend: January 30 - February 1, 2026

Your support, encouragement, and involvement are invaluable, and we are committed to working with you to ensure that your student has a fulfilling and enriching first-year experience. Please feel free to review the orientation website throughout the summer for the most up-to-date information. If there are any other questions, please reach out to [email protected] and a staff member will get back to you within 1-2 business days.

Sincerely,

Student and Family Engagement

Spring and Summer Communication

Student Communications

July 21st, 2025

July 9th, 2025

July 8th, 2025

June 27th, 2025

June 26th, 2025

June 11th, 2025

May 22nd, 2025

May 2nd, 2025

Family Communications

June 9th, 2025

May 14th, 2025