4. California Institute of Technology
One of the most striking features of Caltech is its small size; only about 1,000 undergraduates and 1,250 postgraduates are enrolled there. The college boasts a high student-to-staff ratio.
Caltech aims to foster an interdisciplinary environment in which students learn about and tackle the most challenging and fundamental scientific or technological problems.
The institution was founded as Throop University in 1891. It assumed its current name in 1920.
There were 6,506 applicants for the entry class graduating in 2019 and 99 per cent of the students accepted across all years were in the top 10 per cent of their high school class.
More than half of Caltech students receive need-based financial support. The average financial aid package is $38,983.
Caltech’s mascot is a beaver, “nature’s engineer”.
Among the unusual features of the institution are the customary cookie break taken every Thursday by physicists and their students, and the university’s status as a distributor of olive oil.
