Hi!
I haven’t seen any threads for Caltech EA yet, so I figured I might start one! 
Has anyone heard anything about when decisions might be released? Since it came out the first Saturday of December last year, I was wondering if it could come out this Saturday?? Super nervous!!!
most likely this saturday, maybe next saturday at the latest.
look at last year’s thread (http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/2113475-caltech-ea-2023-p1.html), the checklist will disappear the day before decisions, so we’ll know by friday…
i’m nervous as well, but good luck to all!
I’ve applied RD to Caltech. Unlike most other colleges, Caltech Application Checklist does not display the received and missing items. It displays the following message instead. What if my school forgets to send in my transcript and recs? My GC and his staff are handling hundreds of kids and thousands of colleges. Wouldn’t it be too late if I find out my application was missing docs ten business days after the deadline?
“The Application Checklist only tracks required application credentials and will be activated 10 (ten) business days AFTER the application deadline. The Admissions Committee will render a final admissions decision even if required credentials are missing.”
I’m not sure either as I’ve only seen the “Mid-December” description on their website.
Apparently it has been the 10th, the 11th, and the 12th. It could be the 2nd Saturday of December, which is 12/14 this year.
I’m pretty sure that they shall send you an email around the time when decisions are available. Good luck!
I suppose we’ll be using these forms once we see our decisions?
I’ll fill it out early now. :neutral:
I shall update if the decision isn’t a rejection.
[SPOILER][B][size=4][color=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size][/b]
[B][size=4][color=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size][/b]
Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1590 (800 Math, 790 ERBW)
ACT (breakdown): N/A since I lost my records
SAT II: 800 Math II, 770 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/320
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC & AB Subscore (5), Research (5), US Gov (4), Seminar (4), US History (5), Statistics (5), Chinese(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, AP CSP, AP Chemistry + normal classes + Intro to App Development, Intro to Biotechnology, Developing AR & VR Environments
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None… but AIME 6 (sad) AMC10A 126 & AMC12A 93, Math Prize for Girls 43rd (out of 286, eh)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): State Math Circle as Team 1 member- mostly does ARML; FRC as CAD member- pretty well known team; Math Club - pretty well known in club as highest scoring person but we don’t have a leader so…
Job/Work Experience: Internship at local antenna company - I got to scan papers and check lists and make spreadsheets; teaching MathCounts at a local cultural school
Volunteer/Community service: N/A SUBMITTED, but 9th grade 28 hours, 10th grade 15 hours, 11th grade 30 hours
Summer Activities: the internship I mentioned above
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
3 Short essays: 9/10
All other essays: 6/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
6/10, 10/10, 6/10
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 6/10; I got along relatively well with this teacher, but I also bothered this teacher a lot last minute and borrowed materials from his classroom to do spontaneous things (ie making a truncated icosahedron out of 50 pieces of tracing paper). Since I really have no idea what the recommendation is like - great or mediocre - I’ve decided to assign it an average value.
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 10/10; this teacher really amazed me. She asked me what I wanted her to include in the recommendation, even though I already sent a sort of personalized list to her - which she read, I assume. She also told me about some of my traits she thought were significant and unique and said she wanted to emphasize them.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 6/10; I go to a relatively large school, and although I have mellow relationships with many of the teachers and staff, the relationships are just that - mellow. She doesn’t know me very personally.
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Other: I submitted the AP Research paper as part of the portfolio. Subjectively, I consider it pretty underwhelming among others who submitted research papers.
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering I think?
State (if domestic applicant): Prefer not to state
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflections: I think I should have done more during the EA process. Much of my application would have benefited from more work.
Strengths: I would say the objective scores, but it seems that after a certain level, they don’t make a difference. I’m not actually sure what else I mentioned in the application is something I could call a strength.
Weaknesses: About half of the essays I wrote, in my opinion, were bland. There were some that were vague, and some that I thought were blatantly ingenuine (written under hypnotic state). I also haven’t won any major awards or held any formal leadership/volunteer positions and I think I don’t show a lot of passion.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nothing really stood out, and I was never lucky with lotteries.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: N/A; waiting
General Comments (if any): I’m glad that I got this over with and can now focus clearly on the road ahead of me. Perhaps after I graduate and (hopefully) gain accolades, I’ll be able to practice the art of sending my outstanding achievements to the school every year to show them what a loss I was.
Also, to be honest, I’m happy I received a rejection rather than a deferral: I won’t be kept on the hook for another month or two.
[/SPOILER]
They didn’t send an e-mail the year my son was accepted (2018). The only way he knew he was accepted was when he checked the portal at exactly 12:00 noon. The decision posted almost immediately. He also never received a traditional “welcome packet” in the mail. So don’t wait for a letter or an e-mail…check the portal. Good luck!
I’ve heard that Caltech likes to send out their decisions before MIT so it should be before 12/14 at 12:14 EST
I though I’d comment on this thread as a Californian, throwing my hat in and estimating they probably won’t release the results this Saturday because of the California wildfires (they extended the application for a week because of this). Since they extended the deadline, I’d assume they put off result releases until Saturday the 14th (probably close to 8:00 in the morning just to beat MIT EA results, but this is a guess at best) to give the admissions office more time to evaluate their applicants.
I logged onto the applicant portal just now, and the checklist is still there… Guess this means another week of anxious waiting for me! I hope they release it before MIT, though.
Maybe they’ll do something like 8:10 on 12/14? or 10:11 or 12:13 on 12/13? or 12:12 on 12/12? I’m pretty sure they like to have fun with the numbers like MIT
Can someone clarify how you know to check the portal?
Caltech apparently doesn’t send an email (although there is a new Admin Dir this year). Does Caltech tweet? Post on IG? Announce on the UG Admin site? Do people just check to see if the checklist is gone everyday and know to check the next day? Again, with a new Director it may be different this year, but if anyone can clarify, that would be great.
Check everyday, or just wait until someone told you that the decision was released. Caltech likes to give us SURPRISE.
I was EMailing Admission Office on Thursday. They told me they did not decide a date at the time, and when I asked will that date be released before the results(meaning if we get told the time of release like MIT, or will we just get a it’s here EMail), she replied with she told me everything she knows.
Also about the fire and delayed deadline: I would assume CalTech does not actually need 5 weeks to process everything. I am not saying it definitely doesn’t, but just there is a good chance that everything is done already. Their behavior of how they release decisions has always been unpredictable from what I read, and I would not be surprised if they choose to mess with us a bit this year just for fun … On the other hand, I would not be surprised if they choose to announce their decision on saturday morning …
@timchpi Thanks for sharing some super useful information. Do you know what would happen if my high school sends in my LoRs, transcript and test scores late or never sends them in? I am applying RD, by the way, but my school is big enough that my GC and his staff will miss some college deadlines from time to time. Since Caltech is my top choice, I don’t want them to miss it. But there is no way to know from Caltech’s portal. Is it okay to call them? I can’t trust my GC’s office based on their previous records. LOL. The more you care about something, the more anxious you become.
@grw110 I would circle back with your GC and verify the info has been sent. If you are unable to verify it on your end, then reach out to Caltech admissions. It’s always best to work/exhaust your end before reaching out.
Good Luck!
@gRw110 The last LoR I got in for EA was 21 NOV, 20 days past deadline because I asked the wrong teacher, and it took time for me to ask another. My portal showed they have not received my Non-STEM so I EMailed UGadmissions office and they explained what was going on. And then it took me a few days to ask for another LoR. It’s fine to submit materials after the deadline as long as you are not intentional - that’s literally what admission portals are for. Your portal will be active 10 days after thebdeadline, and if there are something missing, you will know. You still may submit missing materials after the portal shows up(that does not mean you get to submit material two days before release of decisions).
Cheers and best of luck?
Also to all: This is not officially confirmed and I’m pretty sure they are keeping it a secret, but I would’t be suprised if they release the decision on 12/12 12:12 or something of the sort.
Only a guess.
Cheers
Tim
@timchpi Thank you for answering my questions.
To all EA applicants, best of luck to you all this week.
I have NO inside info, but I am guessing it will be noon on Saturday at this point: second Sat. of December. Sigh.
Just got a rumor from somewhere else, the decision will be released on Sunday (Dec 15). I don’t know it’s true or not
Where did you hear it?!! I’m dying to have any form of solidity!