Caltech promotes a close-knit, collaborative living and learning environment for all undergraduates on campus throughout their academic career.
Students are annually invited to choose among 11 different residences, which boast a variety of living arrangements — from singles to doubles to suites — and celebrate unique traditions and activities. All of the residences provide an opportunity for students to learn from and grow with each other, with many bringing together undergraduates from all class years to share and explore diverse perspectives, interests, and passions with faculty, staff, and sometimes even graduate students.
In each residence, students can find opportunities to join student leadership, plan and organize special activities — such as study breaks, movie night, and field trips around Los Angeles — and may dine together.
To learn more about our residences, including the 211-bed Bechtel Residence which opened on campus in the fall of 2019, please visit the Caltech Housing website.
Rotation
Incoming freshmen get to know the different residential communities during a selection process known as Rotation at the start of the academic year. During this process, all freshmen are invited to visit each residence and meet some of the existing residents; each activity is optional, and at the end of the week the freshmen provide a ranked selection of where they would most like to live for that year. Almost everyone gets assigned to their first- or second-choice, and no one is required to live in a residence they don't like.
At the end of each academic year, students have the opportunity to say if they would like to continue living in their same residence or move to another community for the following year.
