skip to main content
Caltech
Undergraduate Admissions
Home  /  Why Caltech  /  Academics  /  The First Year

The First Year

Let's talk about academics. As a Caltech student, you'll take an average course load of about 45 units each 10-week term. That may sound like a lot, but if you think of a typical course as three hours of class time and six hours of homework per week, that's a nine-unit class. The net result is that most students at Caltech are enrolled in about five classes each term, and the Institute divides the academic year into three 10-week terms, plus the option of a summer research term. You'll also live by our Honor Code.

The first year focuses on Core requirements.

Additional Courses Available to First-Year Students

Menu Courses

No food involved. Menu courses are science classes that will make you stretch your intellect. They're in areas like Astronomy, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Science and Engineering, Geology, or Information Science and Technology. As part of Core, we want you to realize just how much science there is to explore!

First-Year Seminars

You might also take a first-year seminar, where you and 10 to 15 other students meet with a faculty member to explore an exciting topic in the lab, around a table, or in the field.

Frontier Courses A.K.A. "Pizza Courses"

Caltech also offers a series of "frontier courses" that involve weekly presentations by faculty members on topics of current research. There are a total of 10 frontier courses offered for first-year students in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, geology and planetary sciences, engineering, computer science, chemical engineering, bioengineering, and electrical engineering. You might find a research area to explore for the summer! Why "pizza courses"? They often meet at lunch time and serve pizza. Why not eat AND learn?

Diagnostic/Placement Exams for Incoming First-year Students

The Foundations Assessment and the placement exam in writing are required of incoming first-year students prior to their enrollment for fall term. These exams are available in the summer.

Foundations Assessment: Covering principles of high school Chemistry, Physics, and Math, this assessment provides you with feedback on areas essential to the First-Year Core, coordinated with resources that can help deepen familiarity and confidence with key topics; this assessment also determines section placement in Ma 1a and Ch 1a.

Writing Placement Exam: This placement test allows our faculty to assess your work as an academic writer, and the results of the test determine what humanities coursework you will do during your freshman year.

Students may not have covered the material in these exams prior to engaging in college-level coursework, but it does benefit them to know that the Committee is looking for indicators that the student will be prepared for this material.

For more context about the optional placement exams, please use the links below:

  • Math: Ma 1 is an Institute requirement for the Core Curriculum, so you must either take Ma 1abc, or place out of the course through taking the advanced placement exam administered by the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy over the summer.
  • Physics: Ph 1 is an Institute requirement for the Core Curriculum, so you must either take Ph 1abc, or place out of the course through taking the advanced placement exam administered by the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy over the summer.
  • Chemistry: Ch 1 is an Institute requirement for the Core Curriculum, so you must either take Ch 1ab, or place out of the course through taking the advanced placement exam over the summer.
  • Computer Science: CS 1 is an Institute requirement for the Core Curriculum, so you must either take CS 1, or place out of the course through taking the placement exam over the summer.

The Writing placement exam and the Chemistry, Math, & Physics advanced placement tests will be posted to your Canvas Dashboard over the summer when they open. The CS placement test will not be available on Canvas, but instructions and contact information will be shared in the online To-Do list over the summer.