<p>These months were nightmare to me. I was rejected by UCSB in middle March, by UCLA,UCB these days, with UCI, UCSD pending. </p>
<p>UC Davis is the only UC admitted me (to CSE major).</p>
<p>This is my first year in the US and a CCC. I haven't taken any GE course here, no English course finished, and only had 26 units by this winter -- not satisfy the minimum requirements to UCs. But I really want to thank UCD, which gave me a chance and made me feel better. Really thank you!</p>
<p>I just received the admissions letter from Caltech in a small envelope(scared me again!). I was really worried about it! Thank you Caltech! You really know me well! I would have tears full in my eyes if noone recognize my talent.</p>
<p>I also want to say thank you to Galen! You are a very kind man. I emailed you 3 times and you replied me very quickly!</p>
<p>Finally, good luck to everyone! Don't lose hope!</p>
<p>I have taken or taking all the math physics courses required for the 1st & 2nd years. </p>
<p>The letter doesn't say anything about the transfer level or the financial aid. I regret that I sent out the acceptance letter and deposit without knowing the financial aid! I'm worried about the money, $41,000, impossible for me! I was just too excited.</p>
<p>The letter is dated on 3/29/05. I was taking the entrance exam that day, and my instructor told me he would mail it on 3/30, a few days before the deadline, so I don't know how they weigh the entrance exams.</p>
<p>That's strange to hear that they didn't have your test results before making a decision. I've always heard that the test was one of the most important parts of transfer applications. If you could humor me, could you post you college accomplishments so I have another example to measure what they are looking for?</p>
<p>If the date is not wrong, then it may because of my recommendations. One instructor recommended many students to Caltech, and the other has a phD in Math from Caltech. Most of my test scores are 100% or near, so they might think I'm good and don't want to review my stuffs again after the results. They can revoke the admission later if my test results were too bad. In fact, the exams were not hard for me after a review of the stuffs, and they should be easier than regular Caltech tests. I heard another student in my cc was admitted too, but I don't know him, so I cannot know when his decision was made.</p>
<p>BTW, do you guys know anything about the financial aid? Because my family doesn't have that much money, I am really worried about if they will provide me enough financial aid or not. If not, I won't be able to attend. And what will happen next after accepting the offer? I really have no idea. Anyone knows? Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>Caltech will send you a lot of stuff soon (financial aid, enrollment package, etc.). Caltech financial aid is generally known to be extremely generous, and is willing to revise offers if you would have trouble making it with what they give you. The most important advice is to always call the financial aid office if you have any questions whatsoever. They love to help.</p>
<p>Thanks Ben! I emailed them and they told me they will evaluate my information and send me a reply. I hope they would provide me full financial aid.</p>
<p>Upon on many inquiries about transfer to Caltech(someone is even 14 by now). I'd like to say something about it here:</p>
<ol>
<li>I don't know my transfer level by now. </li>
<li>I'm not willing to say too much about my personal experience or stats, and don't want to be considered to be conceited either. GPA doesn't mean too much: 90% and 100% are all As, but there are lots of differences. Every year my college has average 2 students transfer to Caltech (4 at most); however, I am the first one admitted in one year, so that means I do have something unusual.</li>
<li>Be sure to show your passion in math\science\engineering in your essays if you really have. Don't pretend to be anyone else. You can even submit anything else like research papers and math\science awards with your application to support these. Looking at GPA is boring for them I think, applicants have similar ones.
4.Please have the best recommendations as you can.
5.Entrance exams are just another way to test how good you are. My only advice is: be prepared, they are not designed to test how clever you are but the comprehensions of the most important stuffs in every subject. (there are some other posts talking about the exams in more detail, but I cannot release anything about them, otherwise it's not fair for other applicants)
6.If they know you are smart, they will admit you
7.If you are not admitted, you can still go somewhere else like Berkeley, UCLA.
8.If you are unlikely to go anywhere else and you are very smart, please be determined! :)
Finally, don't make your applications hard to read. Good luck!</li>
</ol>
<p>Yeah, I think the applicants are all very smart. I didn't experience any admissions process, so my opinions are just my opinions. 6's what my physics instructor told me, I just wanted to make 6\7\8 a little consistent :) , and "smart", of course, is a very ambiguous word.</p>
<p>My cc is the one .... it. :) My instructor told me that one people transferred there had a 4.2 GPA, which balanced the record in Caltech's history, and most people transferred there got As, seldom got Bs, so they know us well. I don't know it's true or not.</p>
<p>As far as I know, there was another one transferred to MIT in one year here.</p>
<p>I'm not a techer yet, and let others answer questions. I really feel a little sick about this. I don't want to say much any more... All I should do is to get in and succeed there.</p>
<p>Sorry, it's all because of my English, and misunderstanding happens all the time. In fact, noone was pestering me, and I'm willing to help anyone who has questions.(but please note that I'm not an expert, by no means). I mean: I'm a little sick about saying how good we are or I am or to show off that I'm admitted to Caltech. I shouldn't do that. All I should to do is to do my own job well and I tend to begin to do all the jobs bad these days, so I must be serious about my jobs now...(sry, I still cannot explain it clearly, and I've edited this post several times already :P )</p>
<p>Well I understand how you could feel bad about gloating but put there is nothing wrong with it. You have worked hard to get in and it's okay to talk about your achievment. </p>
<p>Anywho, my main question was if you have done any research like a summer fellowship or anything. Aside from getting good grades, what made your application stand out? There aren't many transfers on this board and any help you could give would help.</p>
<p>Sorry for the delay. Writting in English costs me too much time... I should stop writting fragments in my math\science tests and start to pratice English now.</p>
<p>I don't have any real research experience because of lack of opportunity, but I do have some national math\physics awards.</p>
<p>My recommendations certainly weighed a lot. Besides, my essay does show my passion alent\hard work though my grammar is bad. A counselor read my essay and said she felt very excited. I also sent a paper showing my creativity.</p>
<p>I think people who are admitted must appear to match the type of students they are looking for - accomplished students with passion and creativity in math\science\engineering. If you are really this type, don't hesitate to express yourself. Don't hesitate to send supporting materials that might be helpful. My theory is: If they like you, they want to know you more and would like to read everything you submitted(don't submit too many though, just useful ones). So even if being rejected, it's not because of sumbitting extra things. (Please note that I am NOT an expert!!!! And if everyone submits many things, they, of course, would be annoied.) </p>