Interesting to know spread between male and female acceptances.
Decision: Accepted
Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 800-800-780
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): 2400
[] ACT (breakdown): 36
[] SAT II: Math 2 760; Chem 770; Lit 800
[] Weighted GPA: 4.41
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Valedictorian
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5: Calc BC, Stats, English Lang, Spanish, Music Theory, World, Euro; 4: Chem
[] Senior Year Course Load: International Relations Honors, independent studies in AP Gov and AP Spanish Literature, AP English Lit, Honors Art, Multivariable Calc, AP Physics (Mechanics), AP Bio
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): some lightweight AMC stuff (no USAMO), Avogadro, IPPF (debate), NMF, Presidential Scholar candidate (although I don’t think they knew about that)[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Rock music (played at Lollapalooza), cross country (3 year letter), women’s leadership club (founder and 3 year president), Mu Alpha Theta, etc.
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring (math, science, ACT, SAT)
[] Volunteer/Community service: a program where I visit a neighborhood house for disenfranchised youth and educate them about physical activity and nutrition[/ul]
Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[] Essays (Include Subjects): honor code one was very personal, about a girl who got bullied on the cross country team and how I intervened. 8/10. Quirky fun was about how I make ragtime piano pieces out of pop tunes, very innovative. 9/10. Diversity one was about how I like the humanities, i was running on empty by that point so I’d rate it 6/10. The Caltech one was decent; 7/10.[list]
[li] Common App Main: About how I loved basketball and played even though I was terrible. 9/10.[/li][] What drew you to STEM: This was unusual, I talked about how mathematics pursued me rather than the other way around–hating it in primary school, getting inspired, scoring well on the AMC, becoming a tutor.
[] Other:[/ul]
[li] Teacher Recommendation #1: History teacher–I’ve taken 1 regular course, 2 independent studies and 2 summer courses with him. Didn’t read it obviously but I’d wager 9/10.[/li][] Teacher Recommendation #2: My math teacher who has been inspirational to me; probably a very good letter. 9/10
[] Counselor Rec: I’m assuming it was good but really I have no idea.
[] Additional Rec: Music one, but Caltech doesn’t review those.
[] Interview: Did not have one.[/list]
Other[ul]
[] Date Submitted App: January 3rd, the last possible day. I tend to overanalyze.
[] State (if domestic applicant): O-H-I-O
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Private small all-girls’
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: Did not apply for aid.
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): The possession of two X chromosomes.[/ul]
Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: My “voice” shined through my application.
[] Weaknesses: SAT II scores.
[] Why you think you were accepted: My application was reviewed on a sunny day? Honestly I think it’s all utterly subjective.
[li] What would you have done differently?: Nothing![/ul][/li]Other Factors: none
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc: This is my fourth acceptance in three days and I am in rapture. HUGE change of pace from the entire first three quarters of this year, when I was miserable after getting deferred from Princeton. I guess the moral of the story is the old feel-good adage about ending up where you belong. It’s definitely an honor to be admitted to Caltech.
what percentage of applicants get waitlisted???
x, where x is a number between two numbers xD
My brother was accepted. Here are his stats:
Decision: Accepted
Objective
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit
ACT (breakdown): 36 (Breakdown 35/36/36/36/8)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 790 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Eight 5’s: Chem, Computer Science, Euro, Bio, USH, Macro, Micro, Calc BC
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Psych, AP Phys C (Mech + E&M), AP Stats (and 2 other honors classes)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel STS Semifinalist, Siemens Semifinalist, JSHS National 1st Place ($13500 scholarship), USABO semifinalist, Regional science fair awards
Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Research, PF Debate Captain, Electrical Engineering
Job/Work Experience: Research at Stanford
Volunteer/Community service: None
Summer Activities: Chemistry, Biology, Research at Stanford
Essays: Personal statement was top-notch, supplements were pretty op too
Teacher Recommendation: Guessing they were high quality
Counselor Rec: lol
Additional Rec: Research mentor, amazing.
Supplements: Research paper was high quality, there might’ve been some other supplements
Interview: none
Other
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small private
Ethnicity: Didn’t submit, but Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: high, no financial aid for sure
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nah
Reflection
Strengths: intel and siemens
Weaknesses: no traditional ECs, no real volunteer stuff
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: achievements carried, essays were really solid too
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: UC Berkeley (Regents candidate), U Mich
Waitlisted: WUSTL
Deferred: Yale SCEA
General Comments:
Yay! Hopefully he gets into MIT, too.
Decision: Denied
Objective:
SAT I: (Didn’t take)
ACT: Eng-35 Math-35 Reading-36 Science-35
SAT II: 780 Math 2, 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/180
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4), AP Chem (without class) (3), AP Eng Lang (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Calc BC, AP US Government and Politics, Analytical/Organic Chemistry, AP Physics 1+2, Japanese 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, VFW Voice of Democracy
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Track and Field, National Honor Society, Cross Country, Chess Club, Science Olympiad (restarted team senior year)
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: ~90 hours through NHS
Summer Activities: Cross Country, Self-studied Calc AB
Essays: In terms of quality 9/10, but a couple were risky, perhaps too risky
Teacher Recommendation: English, Chemistry (8/10)
Counselor Rec: Meh (6/10)
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none
Other:
State (if domestic applicant): Michigan
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $80k-$100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Sometimes considered first-gen (depending on the school’s definition)
Reflection:
Strengths: I had a great ACT score and GPA. My SAT subjects were decent, though not stellar. I spent a lot of time on my essays.
Weaknesses: Not many extracurriculars or APs until senior year. Few STEM extracurriculars or achievements. Little evidence of interest in STEM.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Caltech is one of the best schools in the world for STEM majors, but all the students there carry that passion for science that gives Caltech its notoriety. I noticed I lacked this passion early on, but hoped that the amount of passion I projected in my essays was enough for an acceptance.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: University of Michigan, MIT
General Comments: I’m disappointed that I was rejected from my dream school, but considering the other places I was accepted, it could be worse. I’m not curled up in a pit of despair, as many people may be after receiving a similar message, instead, I am glad that the uncertainty has come to an end and that I wasn’t faced with the challenge of choosing between MIT and Caltech. Also, since I’m still uncertain about my major (choosing between Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or English Language and Literature), it is best that I go to a school that has better humanities departments on campus or across the river. Anyhow, enough of my bragging and reflection. Congrats to those who received that glorious acceptance. To those who were rejected, as I was, your career doesn’t stop here, it merely takes a different course than expected. The college you attend does not make you the person that you are, your intelligence, your passions, your quirks, and your character make you the person that you are.
I was deferred during early action and rejected outright today.
Son is waitlisted, does anyone know Caltech’s waitlist stats?
Congrats to all accepted!
Accepted
Stats:[ul]
[]SAT: 2360
[]SAT II: 800 Math, 800 Physics, 770 Chemistry
[]ACT: N/A
[]GPA: 4.2 Weighted, 3.89 Unweighted
[]Rank: Top 10% (Decile ranking)
[]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 12 97.5, AP Calc BC 5 (with AB subscore of 5), AP Physics B 5, AP Physics C Mechanics 4, AP Chemistry 4, AP Lang and Comp 3
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[]Essays: Decent? I’d rate my essays 8.75/10
[]Teacher Recs: Great! My teachers are all great writers. I’d rate them 9.2/10
[]Counselor Rec: Also great! I have a good relationship with my counselor and she is also a great writer. 9.7/10
[]Supplementary Material: None.
[]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[]Location: California
[]High School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[]Extracurriculars: Over 500 hours to helping individuals with disabilities, Robotics (Co-Founder and Vice President), many math competitions (like the HMMT, NIMO, OMO, Log1 Contest), other small things such as tutoring.
[]Awards: Small awards, My Math Club (I am president) placed two teams in the top 100 for the Internet Math Open Contest, Gold President’s Award for Volunteer Service, Motivate Award in FIRST Tech Robotics, Mu Alpha Theta Log 1 Contest: 10th place in Alpha division and 25th place in Theta division, 87th place in HMMT on our first year there
[]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I don’t know where this was supposed to go, but I work around 3-4 hours a day since freshman year at my parents’ store to try to get through tough times. This has limited my amount of free time, and after work, I have a 1 hour round trip commute back home, meaning that I can start homework at around 8 PM. I finish homework at around 1 AM every day and then sleep for 5-6 hours before getting ready for 0 period. Throughout all of this, I have also been diagnosed with a heart condition which led me to surgery. My grades dropped and I was unable to really do “school” well for a long while. However, I persevered and managed to keep my grades high enough. [/ul]
I told myself I wouldn’t torture myself by reading the thread but…
Anyway congrats to all accepted, I was deferred then rejected 
I was admitted!!
Congrats to everybody who got in! Make sure to come to PFW 
And feel free to message me if you have any questions…
Hello
And Congragulations to everyone.
I was rejected
Waitlisted. If anyone’s wondering, stats aren’t good for people on the waitlist. Last year they didn’t admit a single person from it and they seem to average less than 5%. It’s still possible though which is something.
Waitlisted. Congratulations to all those who are accepted. Waiting for MIT now!! :-S
Student from my son’s school is actually attending Caltech in his first or second year, he was waitlisted… I will confirm when he was accepted.
DS waitlisted. Coach was optimistic about chances for wait listed students when we spoke last month
Deferred then rejected.
Deferred EA, Rejected RD. 2370 SAT 4.17 GPA submitted extra .PDF with documentation on a project I built.
Accepted
Stats:
SAT: NA
SAT II: 740 Math, 770 Biology, 730 Spanish
ACT: 35
GPA: 3.9 Unweighted
Rank: Top 7% (although my school doesn’t officially rank)
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Biology 5, AP Spanish Language and Composition 4, AP English Language and Composition 4 (at my school most students take APs only junior and senior year. Senior year I’m taking AP Chemistry, BC Calculus, and AP Spanish Literature)
Subjective
Essays: Great! Personal statement was very unique.
Teacher Recs: Good (I think)
Counselor Rec: I don’t know
Supplementary Material: None.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): recruited athlete.
Personal
Location: Texas
High School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Other
Extracurriculars: President of Global Action Club, tennis player for school and ranked nationally outside of school, Women in STEM Club, Public Forum/Policy Debate, tutored at elementary school my junior year, math team, some work experience
Awards: Cum Laude (top 10% of class), Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors Society, Biology Book Award (went to 3 students in my grade), National Spanish Exam Gold Metal, High Honor Roll
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: At the end of senior year I’m getting some experience in a research lab. Also, my family has a lot of problems which I touched on in my personal statement