The California Institute of Technology

Now here are all the issues. Teaching quality is bad but that's not a surprise. The house system, which initially seems like a good idea, actually serves as a horrible influence to freshmen. Think nerdy kid who never had friends growing up suddenly being hit on by every senior, being told by depressed upperclassmen to not even bother trying (yes this is very prevalent). Oh and did I mention the fact that every student is either suicidal or isolated. Sexually closed off girls with low self esteem for the aforementioned reasons who nonetheless want to date, get ready to be raped, sexually assaulted, harassed and otherwise have your academic performance demolished by such emotional turmoil. Whatever you do, do not ever tell the administration about your problems because ever since the string of suicides about a decade ago they've been more concerned with getting rid of you than fixing the problem. Even if that means rendering you homeless and banning you from campus.

The SURF program is a complete joke. Advisors don't give a fuck about their students unless you want to work for them yet mine doesn't even take on undergraduates (so why is he an advisor). You're expected to do research while taking at least 45 (read 60) units each term and not get paid for it. You'll also deal with professors saying "don't worry about your grades, this is more important." In reality, you must do everything perfectly including said research. Your chances of getting a good recommendation from anyone are nonexistent unless you work during all of your waking hours. Professors are obsessed with their academic lineage and this really adds to the academic nepotism going on in the research scenarios described.

If you don't plan on going to graduate school this is a great place, especially for CS. Their starting salaries are insane. If you plan on going to graduate school, don't socialize (mainly if you are female), keep to yourself, go to every office hour, and make sure your parents are academics so you actually know who the professors are and what their work entailes such that you don't get stuck doing menial jobs for famous professors who you actually have no interest working for (it is not a first generation students fault that they do not know what they are getting into when they declare a major).

I hope I'm making it clear that being successful here is possible for ANYONE provided you know the secret code to success. Yet, every aspect of the university is such that the opposite is often communicated to you by administrators, school 'psychologists' and peers. Not to mention that the code itself is fucked up but that's beyond the point.If you want to be a scientist, go to MIT. Save caltech for grad school. You're less likely to end up invalidating the first 2 decades of your life that way.