Caltech 2024 EA Results

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
1

Caltech EA results are out! Please post your results in the format below (remove the spaces)

Remove the “a” in the bold, size, and color of your decision.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

2

Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (english 35, math 35, reading 34, science 36, essay 10/12)
SAT II: math ii 800, physics 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Weighted GPA: 4.24 (honors classes aren’t weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 9% but not sure exactly where
AP (place score in parenthesis): all 5’s–CSP, CSA, USH, Calc BC, Physics C Mech
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish, AP Stats, AP Gov and Econ (1 semester each), AP Chem, regular english, human centered design (cs class after csa)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Got some local and regional athletic awards but nothing major

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): high school (1 yr frosh, 3 yrs varsity) and club athletics (1 yr captain), competitive coding club founding member, asl club, key club, cybersecurity competition, stem goes red (american heart association)
Job/Work Experience: software internship at a small start up company, tutor (math, various sciences, and spanish for people in grades 5-12)
Volunteer/Community service: assisted at a math tutoring place (~20h freshman year), coder dojos–teaching kids coding (~30h total), taught junior guards swim prep (~15h freshman year)
Summer Activities: internship after jr year (~40h/week), a couple pre-college programs, sport tournaments and trainings
Essays (rating 1-10, details): personal statement 6/10 (it was written decently but the topic was pretty bad), 3 short essays 7/10 (pretty average. Decent topics but nothing would stand out), collaboration 8/10 (showed passion and was probably a little different that most), prank 7/10 (interesting story and decent writing), diversity 4/10 (pretty bad tbh. I have a few chronic illnesses/disabilities so I could have written about that and how going through that and has shaped me, especially choosing to play a sport despite all the added struggles. I could have made that good but I knew my mom would read and kill me if I said that so oh well)
I started the essays about a week before and then completely rewrote them on the due date so they’re probably actually worse than I said
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: stem–ap physics teacher 8/10 (I was one of his favorite students and knew him well but only the top students at my school take ap physics so I definitely wasn’t one of his best)
Teacher Rec #2: non-stem–english 10 and 12 7/10 (One of the better students academically and showed decent creativity. Wasn’t close with the teacher sophomore year but this year I participate way more and am very different so if he mentioned my growth that might have been a good rec)
Counselor Rec: 5/10 had a different counselor 9-11 grade and this is my counselor’s first year. She doesn’t know me at all and there’s ~700 kids in my grade so this was definitely extremely generic
Additional Rec: 9/10 My boss from the internship. tbh I didn’t work very hard but I did better work than their full time college graduates who previously had my duties (I was told this by my boss’s supervisor) so it was probably pretty good
Interview: none

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: computer science
State (if domestic applicant): california
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: large public school
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: probably highest or near highest (don’t know the number)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): recruited athlete (not a huge impact)

Reflection
Strengths: my scores are decent and I don’t think they held me back but they weren’t great. Honestly athletics was probably the biggest thing
Weaknesses: extracurriculars for sure. Nothing stands out and I don’t have any awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m guessing athletics was the main reason. I’m nowhere near qualified so I guess I was just one of the lucky ones
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere yet

General Comments:

[/quote]

I had like a 0% chance of getting in but I did. So much of the application process is luck so one rejection doesn’t say anything about how good of a student you are. If you want to go somewhere, even if it’s a reach, you might as well apply because who knows.

3

@Amsee01 congrats on getting into Caltech! Could you please share your stats?

4

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1590 (Math: 800, EBRW: 790)
ACT (breakdown): 36 (English: 35, Math: 36, Reading: 36, Science: 36, Essay: 10)
SAT II: Physics, Chem, Math II - 800; Bio (M): 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Rank 1/102
AP (place score in parenthesis): Computer Science A (5), Microeconomics (5), EVS (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Predicted - Physics HL (7), Chemistry HL (7), Mathematics HL (7), English Lit & Lang SL (7), Hindi B SL (7), Geography SL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: Physics HL, Chemistry HL, Mathematics HL, English Lit & Lang, Hindi B, Geography and regular IB requirements

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

[ul]
[] International Exhibition for Young Inventors (organised by JIII Japan, competitive Asian Science Fair) - Silver.
[] Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) TechExpo Winner x2 (Undergrad level science expo, youngest competitor). See Pixie and JARS in extracurriculars.
[] Finalist for India’s ISEF Qualifier (IRIS Fair)
[] Cambridge IGCSE 11A, World Topper (1st/800,000 test- takers): Add Math (Calculus), Physics & Biology. Only student to top the world in three subjects.
[] Cambridge IGCSE India Topper in Geography
[] Homi Bhabha Young Scientist Contest Gold Medal x2 (3-stage contest, 50,000+ participants, 1 Gold)
[] Duke of Edinburgh (IAYP Silver) Award
[li] Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI) National Level Finalist[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

[ul]
[] Founder, Liquid Protocol (Blockchain Startup): Top 15 startups/500 entries at Blockchain Competition Zug. $50,000 in seed funding secured. Whitepaper complete, MVP rollout in early 2020. Awards from Govt. of Dubai, Govt. of Belgium and several other high other high-profile entities.
[] Published Peer-Reviewed Paper: Shared ML over Blockchain Protocol . Paper presented at an IEEE Cybernetics Conference at Univ. of Salamanca, Spain.
[] ZKPs cryptography research w. Dr And blockchain that is completely private.rew Miller, UIUC. Developed ZeroWallet - open source protocol for privacy-centric, non-custodian, password operated crypto wallet. Nominated for ZCash Foundation Grant. Covered by UIUC on their website.
[] Blockchain thought leader, writer: Addressed 20,000+ students and execs at 15 industry events, university symposiums and govt. conferences on how blockchain can merge privacy and transparency. Awarded public speaking fellowship by ‘SpeakIn’ society.
[] Created JARS: electronic safety jacket for bikers. Phone-connected jacket that automatically toggles turn indicators & allows for safe navigation. Fully wearable, all components sewn into the jacket fabric using conductive thread. Patented device.
[] Developed Pixie: $5 home automation device for power saving. Designed to be an upgrade over motion sensors. Manages lighting & cooling based on occupancy. 200+ hours live test; ~1000W/day saving. Currently being pilot tested in 4 condos.
[li] Mentor: School Prototyping Club & Amity University. Founded ‘Prototyping Club’ for students to ideate & build products. Ethereum advisor for Amity’s blockchain executive program.[/li][/ul]

Job/Work Experience:

  • [] FinTech Advisor, The Partnerships Consulting Dubai - multiple paid blockchain assignments, including one for a PoC that manages $8bn in agricultural subsidies.
    [    ] Consultant, Blockchain Fortress Canada - Backend developer on Jaxx Wallet project (https://jaxx.io/) which currently has 700k+ users. Later made a technical consultant.
    Researcher at National Bank of Dubai

Volunteer/Community service:

  • [] Founded Drive for the Rehab. of Native Urban Bird Species: Ecological engineering project for the falling numbers of sparrows and mynahs. Built a sparrow protection enclosure with local blacksmith that led to several nests being formed. Successful government petition with 400+ signatories. Plans adopted by Mumbai Municipal corporation for 2034 Mumbai Redevelopment Plan.
    [    ] CoFounder, Mental Health Drive for Street Children

Summer Activities:
ZeroWallet (already described)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9

[ul]
[li] Teacher Rec #1: STEM, IB Physics Teacher - 9 - Stated that I was the best student he’d seen in the 18 years he’s taught at high schools. Mentored me for my prototypes (Pixie and JARS), so spoke highly of them. Very impressed by my research on blockchain, and it seems like he dedicated a good section to it.[/li]
[li] Teacher Rec #2: Non-STEM, IB/IGCSE Geography Teacher - 9 - Spoke of my side beyond STEM. My biodiversity project was a highlight in her reco. But I feel what really made a difference was her characterisation of me; nobody really takes Geography seriously in school, but I do. Confident she wrote about that. I also wrote a paper on online privacy as part of my IGCSE Global perspectives course taught by her, so I’m sure the admission officers linked that to my work in blockchain & privacy.[/li]
[li] Counselor Rec: 9 - Generally very impressed, I’m sure her rec was great.[/li][/ul]

Additional Rec:
(1) Prof. Dr Andrew Miller, UIUC (9/10): Worked with him over the summer for ZeroWallet. Took grad school abstract algebra courses, created and implemented a new cryptographic protocol in under 6 weeks (14 hours/day work). Super impressed by work ethic, computing skills, and presentation abilities (pitched ZeroWallet to 50 ECE profs). Said he’d write the best rec letter he’s written till date.

(2) Mr Tanvir Shah, partner & employer (10/10): Working as a paid FinTech consultant for his Dubai based consultancy firm. Have written multiple GDPR compliant white papers, pitched them to clients and developed blockchain (Hyperledger) proof of concepts for them. He is also a strong proponent of my start-up ‘Liquid’ (called it the Bloomberg of cryptocurrency) and an advisor on our board. No doubt the best rec.

Interview: Not available.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): -
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: Private, Urban, IB
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.

Reflection

Strengths: Rock solid academics. My school is one of the most competitive (IB average of 40/45) ones globally for IB. Standardised Testing top notch too. Great experience in product development (competition with people in college, still won). But perhaps my greatest USP was blockchain and cryptography. Very few people are involved in blockchain research, development and leadership because it’s still such a nascent feel. I think this was unique amongst applicants and got me in.

Weaknesses: Limited athletics. No AMC/AIME.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Already mentioned in strengths, blockchain was the USP. Playing on a field with Fortune 500 executives thrice my age caught their attention, in my view.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UIUC CS accepted.

General Comments:
I applied to Caltech knowing I had a shot at it, but with just around 17 international students getting in every year, I also knew that it really boils down to luck after a while. I wouldn’t take the rejection with more than a pinch of salt; I’m glad I got in, but if you didn’t, it’s best not to be disheartened. There are other really cool universities to go to, and I’m sure you’ll find a fit that’s right for you.

5

This is embarrassingly late but I figure some junior/senior looking to apply to Caltech might want to see it, so here it is:

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit.
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36 everything but 34 reading, 10 essay)
SAT II: 800 math, 780 physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB & BC (5 & 5), Chem (4), APUSH (5), Stats (5), Comp sci principles (5), Physics C: Mech & EM (5 & 5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Euro, Honors Short Story, AP Psych, AP Chinese
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): literally nothing lmao

Subjective: I was recruited for swimming and went on the recruiting trip in October.

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swim (private club), Science Team (VP junior year, president senior year), Math team
Job/Work Experience: Mathnasium (12th gr.), Kumon (9th gr.)
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: Women’s Technology Program for Mechanical Engineering at MIT - it was pretty selective and I wrote about some of the experiences I had at MIT. Harvard Summer School - took Multivariable and Intro to Theoretical Physics summer before junior year.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8. I think this really put me over the edge to be honest. I made sure to put in as much information from my recruit trip and Caltech values as possible. I was on the last recruiting trip so at some points it’s obvious that I’m just trying to squeeze observations in. I didn’t have any extremely edgy essays or have any crazy experiences that would have put me over the edge. My writing was, well, not gonna lie when I read it now it was a bit boring/cheesy.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 6 APUSH teacher: this was such a wild card. I didn’t do well in his class and would be in his office crying every other week (or so it felt). However, I worked my butt off nonstop, more than any other class. No idea if he recognized that or not. No clue what he said in my recommendation. Honestly was surprised to see that he even submitted it on time because he’s a bit of a mess.

Teacher Rec #2: 10 AP Physics teacher from sophomore year: She LOVED me and really encouraged me to be a strong woman against the bureaucratic school system. She saw a lot of potential in me.

Counselor Rec: My counselor literally doesn’t care about me at all. She knows who I am and that I’m a pain in the science department’s @$$, but doesn’t really know me outside of my GPA and course selections.

Additional Rec: 7 Summer program director: I realized I hated engineering during the program. It was probably good since she’s a professor at MIT, but I can’t guarantee that it was the best recommendation ever.

interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but dropped it after calling the financial aid department. Long story ish that I don’t feel like sharing.
Intended Major: Applied & Computational Math, maybe double in Econ but I’ll decide that later.
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public (~2200 students)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope not really. Being female isn’t really a hook but 2-3x more males apply than females so to keep the ~50/50 balance I guess it’s technically a bit easier to get in as a female?

Reflection

Strengths: Swimmer, female, a LOT of demonstrated interest in STEM.
Weaknesses: Essays were a bit lackluster. Don’t have major awards, never did research.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Caltech admissions apparently doesn’t make mistakes, so I guess they were able to discern who I was behind my writing and decided I was worthy.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Rejected MIT, accepted UCSD, waitlisted UCLA, that’s all I’ve gotten so far.

General Comments: Good luck aspiring young children out there!

6

This is also super late but I obsessed over other’s stats when I was applying because Caltech was my dream so I thought I’d give back to the community <3

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 36; 35 english, 36 math, 36 reading, 36 science, 11 essay
SAT II: 800 math II, 780 biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Weighted GPA: 4.29
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5% weighted
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A, I came from an IB school and I did IB diploma, IB Spanish SL (7), Math HL (TBD), Biology HL (TBD), Psych SL (TBD), French HL (TBD), English HL (TBD). In addition to my diploma classes I took a year of IB Chemistry HL and IB Physics HL.
Senior Year Course Load: IB Mathematics HL (Group Theory option topic), IB Biology HL, IB English HL, IB French HL, IB Psychology SL

Subjective: I was a water polo recruit, and I went on a recruiting trip in August. Middle Eastern first generation immigrant.

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years varsity high school water polo (team captain), 4 years club water polo, olympic development program for water polo, part of a selective research ‘workshop’ class held by Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), piano since I was 4, gave 3 talk at OHSU about my research, won honorable mention for international DNA Day Essay writing contest, gave talks to local middle schools about being a woman in stem

Job/Work Experience: 2 years of 30 hours/week research assistant experience at OHSU–> 2 publications

Volunteer/Community service: 2 hours/week volunteering exercising with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities

Summer Activities: OHSU research assistant, this was full time during the summer so I didn’t have much time for anything else. I also gave talks, but this was through my job.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I think my essays were the strongest part of my application. I spent a LOT of time writing and perfecting them. I really tried to be myself and let my personality really show.
STEM essays: 10, 9, 9. I wrote my strongest STEM essay about developing novel plasmids at work which earned me one of my publications. The other ones were more on the quirky side, I wrote one of them about how my dad and I got our car stuck on an icy slope and had to use physics properties to figure out how to get it over.
Collaboration: 9 I wrote about my experience collaborating in the lab.
Fun/Pranks: 10, I wrote about how my dad and I windsurf together over the summer, and how we had to build parts of our mast and sail and how my mast broke in the middle of the sea once so I had to fix it right then and there (sooo stressful)
Diversity: 9, I wrote about being a first generation turkish immigrant. I also tied in being an athlete.

Teacher Rec #1: 10. My IB math HL teacher told me it was one of the best letters she had ever written. Although she was only my teacher senior year, we had an extremely strong relationship.

Teacher Rec #2: 9 My IB Psych SL teacher told me that it was one of the strongest letters he had written. I had this teacher for 2 years, and he and I were very close.

Counselor Rec: 6, my counselor really doesn’t know me too well.

Additional Rec: 10, the principal investigator of my lab. I actually got a chance to read this one because my PI sent it to me after he submitted it (weird), and it was very flattering, positive, and honestly the best letter I could have asked for.

interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: bioengineering or computational and neural systems
State (if domestic applicant): Oregon
Country (if international applicant): Multnomah
School Type: Public, 2 000 students
Ethnicity: White (middle eastern)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I guess being an athlete, and I had strong long term research, also I’m not first generation college, but first generation in america.

Reflection

Strengths: water polo recruit, my essays were super strong, a LOT of research (like 3000+ hours)
Weaknesses: my GPA for sure, and my first semester senior grades were not so good (3.84 GPA after sem 1). I had some B’s in STEM classes (my sophomore year was an oof).
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I thought I would get rejected honestly because of my GPA, but I guess I showed enough genuine passion for STEM because it really is my passion.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted to UCSD, UCSB, U toronto, UW honors, waitlisted at UCLA, deferred Harvard EA rejected from Hopkins. Still waiting to hear back from some other schools.

General Comments: I can’t believe this actually happened. Also don’t write your essays last minute, I’m convinced they saved my application.

7

[DECISION]: Decision: Accepted

[Income (w/ Family Member #)]: 38k with divorced parents

[Extenuating Circumstances/Hooks (First Gen, Hooks, Sports)]: Parents live in separate households and paid for my little brother to attend private school
[SAT (Composite, Writing)]: 1570 total, 790 Math and 780 Reading
[SAT II (Subject: Score)]: Math: 800, Chemistry: 800

[AP Scores (Subject: Score)]: Calc BC:5, Chem:5, Physics1:4, Bio:5, APUSH:4, World Hist:3, Lang:5, Music Theory:5
[Senior Course Load]: DE Calculus III/Diffeq, AP Gov&Macro, AP Lit, Band, AP Phys C, Biotech Honors
[Major Awards]: National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar SOmething, FL All State Band, 2019 Sarasota Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition Finalist, 2018 FL Blue Key Speech & Debate Semifinalist, Carnegie Mellon Summer Academy for Math and Science
[Extracurricular (Volunteering, Work, etc)]: Tuba Player (3 ensembles), Speech and Debate VP and Humorous Interp Captain, Class Officer (treasurer), Faulhaber Fab Lab Executive Committee & Volunteer, Math Club/Mu Alpha Theta President, PrimeGrid Prime Number Search Administrator and Challenge Coordinator
[Final Thoughts]: Idk man i’m at a loss for words. I just did my best, didn’t stress myself out too much, and wrote my essays in a conversational tone. I’m over the moon right now!

8

[asize=4]Decision: Accepted[/size]

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1490 but i didnt report 790 math 700 english

ACT (breakdown): 34 total english 35, mathematics 34, reading 35, science 33

SAT II: 770 chem, 760 math II

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0

Weighted GPA: 4.56

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/400 ish

AP (place score in parenthesis): 5: APUSH, APHG, ab subscore calc 4: stats, english language, chem, bc calc 3: physics 1

IB (place score in parenthesis): nope

Senior Year Course Load: linear algebra (university), AP gov/econ, AP Physics C, multivariable calc (university), AP english lit

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, a bunch of figure skating awards, BORLAUG SCHOLAR AWARD, ROBOTICS STATE QUALIFIER, 4-TIME REGIONAL FINALIST Figure Skating, TWO-TIME GOLD IN MOVES AND FREE SKATE

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Figure Skating, Literature Society (president for 3 years), Robotics Club (secretary), Flute, Private Tutoring

Job/Work Experience:
Sacchettini’s X-Ray Crystallography Lab Intership/Job (14-35 hours for week)

Volunteer/Community service:
AMCHS Student Council (300+ hours), figure skating coach/skate therapy for disabled kids

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I think my essays were good? maybe a 7.5 average across all essays, maybe 9 for main essay

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: APUSH Teacher; 10 made me cry when i read it
Teacher Rec #2: AP Physics; 8 idk she’s not my fav teacher but we vibe sometimes
Counselor Rec: 5; lol idk him that well
Additional Rec: 10 Lab PI, hes cool and he likes me
Interview: nope lol

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yup
Intended Major: Chem/Bio idk yet lol
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Woman
Income Bracket: Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope lol

Reflection

Strengths: essays, rec, gpa, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i think my essays are good?