<p>I'm a high school senior who will be attending the University of FLorida this year and am intending on applying to CalTech next fall as a transfer. I already have amazing research contacts and am doing great and hopefully publishable research in MEMS development. In addition, I'm hoping to make it on UF's Putnam team which placed 12th nationally last year. I think I would be a fairly competitive applicant because of these traits, given that my grades stay high and I do well on the transfer examination. My only qualm comes when they evaluate my secondary school record which is absolutely awful. I made a B in Calculus BC for both the first and second semesters this year, and I'm afraid this could warrant my rejection. The issue is not that I have an insufficient math aptitude, but the fact that the teacher bases the grades off of "notebook preparation assignments" that I usually don't/forget to do. Is it possible to gain transfer admission with these grades?</p>
<p>You might want to mention the circumstances for your grade in the application, but if you say, get a 5 on the AP test for Calc BC and get As in your UF math classes I don’t think the B in high school will matter as much.</p>
<p>Edit: BTW what are you doing in MEMS? That’s my field :D</p>
<p>The research I’m just now getting into isn’t so much actual MEMS development as it is nanotechnology research with applications for MEMS technology. I’m working under a project that hopes to develop more efficient methods for chemical vapor deposition and electroplating techniques. I’m planning on majoring in ME, so I’m going to try to find a group that does actual MEMS development next year.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it too much. My son had never taken Calc BC as it was not offered at his school, and they took him. I think a B in it would be preferable to not having taken the class.</p>
<p>I certainly wouldn’t mention the circumstances if the cause is a failure to do the assigned work.</p>
<p>What if you had an A on the class, and had a bad test day and ended up with a 4 on the AP?
Rejection?</p>
<p>Caltech, like most other top universities, evaluates applications holistically. There is no way we can tell you if you are going to be rejected or accepted, especially on the basis of one statistics in a contextual vacuum. </p>
<p>Just try to do the best you can and you’ll either get in or you won’t. It’s not like you can change your performance after the fact.</p>