2013 RD Decisions!

<p>Sat: 2360 (3rd time taking it)
Sat 2: math 2c-800
Chem-770
us history-730</p>

<p>Essays-good i guess? director wrote an amusing reply to my humorous essay...
Teacher Recs: everybody knew me pretty well
Counselor Rec: i guess it was good
Supplementary Material:</p>

<p>Location: Socal!!!
[ *]High School Type: less than 1000 kids
[ *]Ethnicity: indian
[ *]Gender: male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: Y
[ *]Extracurriculars: martial arts, math club, did an internship at microfabrication plant over
the summer
[ *]Awards: nothing too great here...
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging? i'm kinda stunned right now. must have been the essays? i got rejected ea from stanford so this kinda feels good. college admissions is a juggernaut, but we'll all get through it and ultimately be happy wherever we
decide to go.</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2360 (800 CR/ 770 M =o / 790 W) took once
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Bio M, 790 Physics, 800 Literature "
[<em>]ACT: didn't take
[</em>]GPA: 4.00 UW
[<em>]Rank: school doesn't rank
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 105 AMC 12, 5 AIME AP Physics B 5 AP Bio 5 AP Spanish Language 5 APUSH 4 AP Music Theory 3 =o
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: hopefully they were interesting
[</em>]Teacher Recs: probably not too good. i missed a lot of school.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: probably good.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: sent in transcript from summer classes
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): i guess i am a girl, but supposedly this doesn't matter [/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: CA
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: half asian
[<em>]Gender: F
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: N[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Science Olympiad, Math Club, teaching math...I had more but I can't remember which I wrote
[</em>]Awards: NMF, AP Scholar with Distinction, Science Olympiad medals, departmental awards
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I am happy, but I would rather get into MIT (deferred EA) [/li]~-wish wish wish-~ ^^[/ul]</p>

<p>Why MIT when you got accepted to Caltech?</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800M, 800CR, 800W, 12E, 80MC single session
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 800 Mathematics II, 800 U.S. History, 800 Physics (took Physics after deadline, but sent an email about it -- not sure if it mattered)
[<em>]ACT: 36 (36M, 36E, 36R, 35S, 10W) single session, 36/36/36/36/36/10 superscored (I never do as well on the ACT essays as the SAT ones, for whatever reason)
[</em>]GPA: 4.000 unweighted (no weighted system in place)
[<em>]Rank: 1 of 196
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): APs: US History (5), Chemistry (5), Statistics (5), Calculus BC (5), Psychology (5) (mostly self-studied -- doing a few more that way this year); AMC10: ~110; AMC12: ~105; AIME: 5 (not all that great for Caltech, I suspect -- but I'm not planning to major in math or physics and my DiffEq course is going well right now, so I think I'll be alright)
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I felt pretty confident about the ones in the Caltech supplement -- I wrote them rather close to the deadline, but I generally work well under pressure. I thought that the main Common App one was fairly good, if perhaps a bit typical in subject matter (influential teacher, role in developing scientific interests), but I don't have anything to compare it to. I also wrote a brief statement about a research project at Caltech that interests me.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I got them from teachers who regarded me very highly, so they must have been fairly good.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: My counselor was new this year, but I provided plenty of reference information to help in writing it.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: explanation of why I had AP tests for subjects my school does not offer, comments on coursework and grading system, brief listing of extracurricular involvements and summer activities, fairly detailed supplemental explanation of all extracurricular/summer activities and my roles in them, listings of awards received in extracurriculars and otherwise, statement on a Caltech research project that interested me, paper about a project that I did for my FIRST Robotics team (via the paper submission system for admissions) -- about 16 pages total, not including the robotics paper (16 pages long). I was a bit worried about sending so much information, but I kept things very organized and clearly labeled the documents as supplemental/optional. I forgot to mention that I applied on paper -- it allows more flexibility in formatting and attachments than does the online system. Caltech scans everything, anyway, but this allowed me a bit more freedom.
[<em>]Hook (recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): I doubt it.
[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Midwest
[<em>]High School Type: Public, suburban, ~1,000 students (rapidly growing, hence the disproportionately low graduating class size)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Did not report (Caucasian)
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Decidedly so
[/ul]
Other
[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Strong, multi-year commitments in about half a dozen activities, less major ones in a few others (not resume fluff -- I just didn't have time to get more involved or the organization itself did not meet often), lab research at a medical school (I have only been doing this for about six months, though), a few hundred hours of community service, part-time job with local technology company.
[</em>]Awards: Siemens Award for Advanced Placement, Presidential Scholar Nominee (not reported due to timing), National Merit Finalist, Eagle Scout, AP Scholar with Distinction, and some less important stuff
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I think the test scores were probably the most helpful -- Caltech seems to place greater emphasis on them than do most schools of similarly high ranking and selectivity (Yale is the only other example that comes to mind). Other than that, my research experience, job, and math/science activities probably helped as well, and the Siemens AP award was a nice addition. I am still waiting to hear from the other schools to which I applied, but this seems to presage favorable results.[/li][/ul]
Good luck to everyone in the coming weeks!</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2330 800M 800CR 730 W (third try, though 1st was in sophomore year)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 M2, 790 Physics, 780 M1, 750 Bio, 700 World History
[<em>]ACT: 35
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 UW, hardest courses through high school
[<em>]Rank: Top 2%
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC12 highest: 105, AIME: 5; AP Physics C-M: 5, Calc BC: 5, Bio: 4, French: 2 (our teacher told us we were ready and no one in our class got higher than a 3)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Common App: one audition experience that was well written; Caltech big essay: I wrote about how the little things I do everyday reflect my interests (I stressed a lot about this essay); Humor: bassoon brothers/my bassoon quartet
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I know my history teacher wrote a very good one and I know my math teacher really well also, so I'd imagine it was good.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Probably good. She knows I'm smart and that I'm commited to what I do
[</em>]Supplementary Material: I sent in a CD of my bassoon playing; not sure if they listened to it
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Female, white, bassoonist
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Massachusetts
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: The two major youth orchestras in my area, school's math team, local community band, cross country/track
[</em>]Awards: Basic national ones (AP/NM commended), high bassoon awards (state and national), local/school ones; pretty normal I think (nothing overly outstanding)
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I'm defintely excited. My friend's a techer and has been pressuring me to get in (not like I have that much control). I have no clue where I'm going to end up next year. We'll see how it all plays out. [/ul]</p>

<p>Did any internationals get their packet(Fed Ex) yet?</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2130 (800 M, 700 W, 630 CR)
SAT II: 800 Math IIc, 800 Physics, 760 Chem
ACT: (not taken)
GPA: Not known
Rank: Not known
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Toefl...</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays:
"Common App" - very personal about my science project
"Ethical Dilemma" - work experience in Students government
"Sense of Humor" - Definetly not a good one.
"Math/Science Interest" - Project mostly, etc.
Teacher Recs:
Biological science teacher also my project director, know me for 3 years and we are in a very close relationship.
Professor from China's Academy of Science, I worked in his lab.
English teacher from Canada.
Counselor Rec:
It should be good.</p>

<p>Supplementary Material:
A booklet, science paper, awards certifications.</p>

<p>Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
200 hours as volunteer in Shanghai Museum.
Intel ISEF awards in U.S..
Minor planet nomination.</p>

<p>Location: Shanghai, P.R.China.
High School Type: One of the 4 National Key High School.
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Male
Other
Extracurriculars:
Basketball training in United States Basketball Academy Summer Camp in China, Beijing.
Tv station issues.
Volunteer work.</p>

<p>Awards:
ISEF Grand Award 2nd
Special award from U.S. pharmacy society 1st
MIT asteroid nomination
Some other city or school awards and scholarships.</p>

<p>Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Anybody tells me how can I check my Finacial aid status?</p>

<p>Omgoodness!
You guys are really really great!
You supercede my stats by a mile. :)
I think I might just be lowest-scoring person that they accepted this year!
hahaha</p>

<p>randominimus, i feel you</p>

<p>mvz315, i feel the same way. Im the only one from my school who was offered admission, out of like 7 applicants. I definitely had the lowest scores out of all of them, i guess my essays won them over :)</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>SAT: 800 Math, 800 Critical Reading, 790 Writing
SAT: subtests: 800 Math 2, 800 Biology M, 800 US History
ACT: 36
Bunch of 5''s on various AP tests</p>

<p>White, male
Catholic School, 250 students</p>

<p>Great recs
Basic EC's: Varisty Cross Country, Math Club, Copy Editor/Ad Manager School Paper, Fellowship of Christian Teens-Leadership Board, Mathcounts coach, Spring musical</p>

<p>Admissions officer commented on the research work I did after my junior year at a nearby university.</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 2050 (800 maths)
SAT II: Math (II) 800 Physics 800 Chemistry 770
GPA: No idea, my school uses British curriculum, so I do A-levels </p>

<p>Subjective</p>

<p>Essays: for Common App, I wrote generally about myself
for the supplement, (my best essay) I wrote about the way I think
for the humor question, I write about playing with gum
for ethics, I wrote about sticking to rules
Teacher Recs: Ok I guess
Counselor Rec: OK
Supplementary Material: research paper on stem cells
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): ???</p>

<p>Personal</p>

<p>Location: Bangkok, Thailand
High School: Shrewsbury International School
Ethnicity: Asian (Thai)
Gender: Male
Applied for Financial Aid: N</p>

<p>Others</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Work experience at Nanotechnology center of Thailand, Some charity/community services, Music: Piano/ Voice, Sports: Tennis
Awards: Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, History Best in Thailand in IGCSE exams</p>

<p>PS: I have very low SAT scores compared to people in this thread!!!
Anyway, I'm Tenth! and I like Physics.</p>

<p>[ size=+1][ color=blue][ b]First USAMO Winner Waitlisted?[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2050
[ *]SAT II: 800 math, 720 Physics
[ *]ACT:
[ *]GPA: dunno, our school is pretty complicated, basically a few B s
[ *]Rank: 28
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): USAMO: 34
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: mediocre
[ *]Teacher Recs: mediocre
[ *]Counselor Rec:mediocre
[ *]Supplementary Material: great, a research paper submitted to Math Mag
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): USAMO Winner who got a negative zero on the TST [ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: Louisiana
[ *]High School Type:public
[ *]Ethnicity:Chinese
[ *]Gender: Male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Student Government, Art Club, Basketball, Church, and of course math related stuff
[ *]Awards: USAMO winner, IMO team alternate, and other mediocre trophies
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? I dont have time to cry since I have to work on my English research paper that I haven't started yet. And it's due tomorrow.
Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>

<p>I'm doing this for my girlfriend who got in recently. Just so there's no confusion. Also why I can't give more specific info. At least you have some objective statistics though</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2330 [M: 780, W: 790, CR: 760]
[li]SAT II: Physics - 750, USH - 750, Math 2 - 740[/li][</em>]ACT: N/A
[<em>]GPA: UW - 3.998 (or something), W - 4.6 ish (one A- and rest A's)
[</em>]Rank: 1/150ish
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Physics B - 5, USH - 5, English Lang - 5, dunno about others
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: I thought they were amazing
[<em>]Teacher Recs: Also amazing. I heard them, and I doubt they'd written better ones for any other student
[</em>]Counselor Rec: dunno
[<em>]Supplementary Material: turned in Siemens Project (semifinalist)
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): girl, varsity volleyball
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: so cal
[</em>]High School Type: Catholic
[<em>]Ethnicity: white
[</em>]Gender: F
[<em>]Applied for Financial Aid: No
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: volleyball, tutoring, spanish honors society, ton of other crap
[<em>]Awards: siemens semifinalist, i dunno what else
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: nope[/ul]</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: Superscore: 800M, 780CR, 720W
[</em>]SAT II: 800 (Math II), 780 (Physics)
[<em>]ACT: 35/36
[</em>]GPA: 3.98 unweighted, 4.69 weighted
[<em>]Rank: 5/350 or so
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Comp Sci A, Calc AB, Physics B, Physics C - Mech, Env Sci, US Gov & Pol, Comp Gov & Pol, English Language, Calc BC: 5; Chemistry, Biology: 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: meh
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Haven't seen them, but I'm sure they were very good.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Haven't seen, sure it was good.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Research paper from NASA Ames Research Center internship
[<em>]Hook (recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Washington State
[<em>]High School Type: Public, rank in the 30s, I believe...
[</em>]Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: NASA Ames Research Center Internship, FIRST Robotics Club, Math Club, Battlecode Club, Junior Statesmen of America, Astronomy Club
[</em>]Awards: Some math competition awards, USAPO, National Merit, National AP Scholar/AP Scholar w/ Distinction
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Uh... I'm very surprised that I got accepted, especially since most of those who got waitlisted in this thread are far more qualified than I am...[/ul]</p>

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2390, 10 off Writing.
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math IIC, 800 Biology M, 770 Chinese w/listening
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: 3.95 Unweighted, 4.5 something weighted.
[<em>]Rank: Top 10%
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc BC, US History, Physics C Electricity/Magnetism: 5, Physics C Mechanics: 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Decent.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I thought decent.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Dunno
[</em>]Supplementary Material: I sent a flash I made about how I see the world.
[li]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Bay Area
[</em>]High School Type: Public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[</em>]Gender: Female
[li]Applied for Financial Aid: Yup</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: 2 Years Science Bowl (1 year B team, 1 year A team, with us winning regionals this year, so we'll be going to Nationals), 3 years Math Club, 2 years FNHS (Activities Director this year), 3 years some volunteering club. More volunteering stuff.
[</em>]Awards: Various School awards, National Merit Semifinalist, Presidential Scholarship Candidate, USABO semifinalist, AP Scholar with honor.
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Baw. :<</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]</p>

<p>Waitlisted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2330 (780 Math)
[</em>]SAT II: 2380 (800 Math, 780 Chem)
[<em>]GPA: 4.442
[</em>]Rank: t-1
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc BC - 5 (subscore:5), Chem - 4, Bio - 4, 3 other AP's, hadn't taken AMC yet
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: One good, other might depend on reader
[<em>]Teacher Recs: one had high praise though appeared formulaic, other 2 idk
[</em>]Counselor Rec: don't know
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: LA
[<em>]High School Type: Public, 5 or so to elite non-UCLA/UCB schools each year (None to Caltech to my knowledge)
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Math Club 2 years (VP/P), Science Bowl 2 years (Mem/Capt), Acaedca 2 years (Mem/Capt), Chess Club 4 years (Mem 2/Treasurer/P), Jazz Ensemble 4 years
[</em>]Awards: National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Acadeca team top score, probably one other thing
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: The 4's on the two science AP's probably did me in along with the lack of AMC participation and awards. My only B's were in AP Bio. Probably won't put name on waitlist, or at least won't stay past May 1.[/ul]</p>

<p>Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2280 (W: 800, M: 780, CR: 700)
SAT II: 790 Chem, 780 Bio, 770 Math II
ACT: N/A
GPA: ~4.5 Weighted
Rank: 2/52
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Calc AB, BC, Bio, USH, English Lit: 5</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays: Common App: Killer, or so I've been told.
Teacher Recs: Awesome
Counselor Rec: Great
Supplementary Material: Just sent a nice letter upon Deferral from Early Action stating that Caltech was still my absolute top choice, along with an additional teacher rec.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Pioneering member of first graduating class of HS, I suppose.</p>

<p>Personal
Location: Los Angeles
High School Type: Independent/Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Applied for Financial Aid: Yes </p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: Varsity Basketball (well... as a statistician...), Student Government, Founded 4 clubs, Piano
Awards: National Merit Finalist, World Languages Department Award (awarded to top student in Foreign Languages in each grade level), AP Scholar With Distinction, Dean's List
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I'm absolutely ecstatic. Caltech 2013!!!</p>

<p>Incidentally, I was rejected by MIT.</p>

<p>Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 800 Math, 700 Crit. Reading, 670 Writing
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 US History, 790 Biology M
GPA: 4.00 unweighted, ~4.52 weighted
Rank: 99 Percentile of ~430
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Chemistry (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Calc BC AB Subscore (5), AP English Literare (to be taken)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: Good, apparently. I stuck in some random humorous tidbits from time to time.
Teacher Recs: They must have been good, but I haven't seen them.
Counselor Rec: Must have been good too. Haven't seen it.
Supplementary Material: Research Paper on Solar Sail Design presented at International Space Olympics
Hook (recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none</p>

<p>Personal
Location: Virginia
High School Type: Public, rural. Not many AP courses, no IB or anything like that. I do attend a science/technical school for half the day though.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Applied for Financial Aid: Yep.</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: Marching Band (Drum Major 3 years), Indoor Drumline, Jazz Band, Youth Group, International Space Olympics 2008, Science SCAEL
Awards: National Merit, AP Scholar, 6th Place Overall ISO 2008
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I also was rejected by MIT, where I applied early and was deferred. Unfortunately.</p>

<p>I feel like contributing to the statistics..</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2390 (800 math, 800 reading, 790 writing)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 US History
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: 4.00 unw (don't know/don't care about weighted)
[<em>]Rank: DNR
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Physics B, European History, US History, Computer Science A (all 5). Some lousy AMC scores I didn't report to Caltech, but I did manage a 102.5 on the AMC12 and subsequently failed to figure out when the AIME was. Dx
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: pretty good, although the supplement one got a little wacky. Caltech was my last app because of the lovely deadline.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: letter of rec from research mentor (no paper, unfortunately)
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): letter mentioned above
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: SF Bay Area
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Y[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Academic Decathlon, various music stuff, math and robotics clubs
[</em>]Awards: NM Semifinalist (at time of application), passed the AMC 12, 1st in county Academic Decathlon, various school awards
[<em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I join a seemingly large pool of people accepted to Caltech and rejected from MIT. I was hoping for the latter, so *sigh</em> (I also applied early/was deferred there)[/ul]</p>