My S24 has a wide range of schools on his list but he is very interested in both Caltech and MIT on the high reach end. He will also be applying to California public’s, USC and the usual engineering flagship schools. Originally we were planning to have him apply EA to every school with that option and then apply to Caltech in regular decision. Now I’m wondering if it would be better to apply restricted EA to Caltech since that may be helpful to them in conveying his interest whereas for other schools EA isn’t necessarily an advantage. MIT clearly states that there is no advantage to applying early to their program. He would be able to still apply to USC due to the merit scholarships tied to the EA application.
You also mention some engineering flagships. Many of these also have early deadlines for consideration of merit aid. Check Caltech’s guidelines for REA. See where else you can apply early action, or rolling admissions.
I do have questions…
- Are finances a significant consideration?
- What is more important…acceptance due to ED, or affordability?
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Caltech’s restricted EA policy allows for student to apply EA to any public or private school that requires early application to be considered for merit scholarships….that seems to leave us with good options because he is definitely not wanting to ED anywhere. Finances are not a major consideration. He will certainly apply for merit wherever possible but we understand that some schools offer no merit and we will not be receiving financial aid.
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I’m not saying not to apply REA if that’s what the student wants (it’s their top choice) but I’m not sure what the schools and parents get out of this - since it’s non binding and they say this:
Caltech reserves most of our admissions offers for Regular Decision, so please do not feel compelled to apply REA to improve your chances of admission. As stated above, admission to Caltech is highly selective in both Early Action and Regular Decision, and there is a negligible difference in admission rates between the two. So what does this actually mean?
There is no rush to apply early to Caltech. Regular Decision is a perfectly acceptable and equal admissions process for the majority of applicants. We mean it.
Caltech Restrictive Early Action: Frequently Asked Questions | Undergraduate Admissions.
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That may be true, but they also state that the early application is for students who consider Caltech their first choice and plan to attend if offered admission…it seems like they may be using restricted early action to predict and improve their yield better? Not sure if it gives a little edge in admissions….
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Looks like it can’t hurt and could help. Perhaps you even get some early good news. Good luck and seems sensible.
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I’m sure if it’s a top choice it is worth it, for no other reason than finding out early.
And you can still be on time for the UCs and USC so I think it’s fine.
Just odds to me that schools wouldn’t make it binding. In the end, some may commit early but some not.
Their yield - 50% in the last cds, above two cycles ago, and well below three cycles ago is lower than some other top schools and that might be why they are trying to secure earlier admits, to see how many commit right away.
Caltech notes you can apply to schools with a Fall deadline like the UCs. But it’s unclear (to me) if you can early action at these others. Not sure which, if any schools like this, are on your list though.
What I’m unsure if and it depends on your list - certain schools like Purdue, Maryland, maybe Illinois and there may be more- fill most their class in EA so I’d look into that if applicable. A school with a rolling like Pitt is clearly ok.
Good luck to your son in whatever he decides to do.
Both Purdue and Georgiatech are on the list and require early application to be considered for their merit scholarships so it seems like we can still apply to those schools….the only school he can’t apply early to that he wants is MIT and I think that is probably where there is a fair amount of overlap is applicants.
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Caltech adopted REA only a year ago and one of the reasons was to reduce the number of early applicants after its test-blind policy has caused a dramatic increase in that number. Caltech’s small admission office and its announcement of early acceptances (traditionally) in early December (earlier than almost all other elite colleges) isn’t suitable to deal with so many early applicants. REA likely significantly reduces the number of early applicants, particularly those whose first choice is MIT. Would REA, therefore, help a student’s chance? I’d think so because Caltech would then know your first choice is likely Caltech (not MIT). But we don’t have any data yet that show this is indeed the case.
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Caltech would be so different than schools like USC, Purdue, the public flagships . Has he toured all these schools on the list? What is he looking for in a college besides the academic things? All these schools will give him a great education.
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Caltech is unique among the private elites because they are very honest and open about their admissions process and don’t seem to care about yield at all (it has hovered around 50% for a very long time). So my view: I believe them when they say there’s no advantage to applying REA. But I also agree there’s no downside to it.
You will hear by mid December and they defer very few students, preferring to make a yes/no decision instead.
Yes you can since they’re all public. Also UMD, UIUC, and Michigan - other top engineering schools for MechE.
But I wouldn’t count on getting a merit scholarship at any of these - especially Michigan and Georgia Tech.
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I was having a hard time deciphering that you can apply early action to the publics, short of those with deadlines for merit. Others say you can apply to non binding publics early. Their FAQ doesn’t.
But in this case OP seems to have that covered.
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Yeah that’s where I was unsure / confused bcuz UC has a fixed timeframe but others with an EA and RD don’t. But OP has that covered given the merit aid angle.
All good.
I think the only exclusions, with respect to public institutions, are the ED programs offered by a few public universities (e.g. UVA).
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I was having a hard time understanding his desire for Caltech as well. He attends a very large public high school in SoCal where he has excelled but really seems to be on the path to a UC or similar. However, he has toured Caltech, has a friend there with an insider perspective and is in a summer program that has modeled itself after the workload of Caltech and MIT. Now he feels he wants to be in a very academically intense environment and the JPL connection is very appealing as well since he would minor in aerospace. S24 is a very flexible kid and seems to do fine in different environments so I think that is why he has all kinds of schools on his list.
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Perhaps he is competitive and in college admissions that translates to seeking prestige. Absolutely nothing wrong with it and great that he is so driven and qualified.
Perhaps he wants to be surrounded by the greatest concentration of the best and brightest or never wants to wonder what if?
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No clue if true, but a thread on Reddit, sourced from LinkedIn and obviously not adjusted for size and no clue about major- shows the colleges most represented at JPL are
USC
Cal Poly (doesn’t say if one or both)
UCLA
Caltech
CSU Northridge
MIT
CSULA
UCB
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Purdue doesn’t need to give out much money .
It’s held tuition static for 12 consecutive years.
Incredible ROI vs other Engineering schools
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