<p>As helpful as Ben is, having been on the admissions committee recently, I'm very glad that I didn't come to a site such as this before applying to Caltech. If I had, given my stats amongst everything else, I'm sure I would have been told to give up and try for a state school. I'll grant you, that I'm nowhere near the top student in my class here. As a rising Caltech senior, I'm working nonstop to simply not be kicked out of my major. I was at the bottom of the sophomore level physics class that our dear Ben here aced as a freshman. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite never getting a 5 on an AP test and never having done research, I got in to Caltech and I'm glad that I did, and that I came. </p>
<p>What Ben is giving right now is a reality check that anyone that comes here is going to receive. Right now, you all think that you're awesome - the best of the best in what you enjoy, and to an extent you probably are just that. But EVERYONE ELSE here is as well. No matter how great you are in the outside world, around here you're going to be average, or even mediocre like me. Caltech isn't for everybody. There's something to be said for not just struggling to survive, or for going to a school that offers something besides math and science, ever. Even our humanities classes involve math. </p>
<p>If you think this is really a place that you want to go, then go for it. If you really know right now that you want to dedicate your life to math and science, then go out and do something related to math and science. Join clubs, or get a job, or do research, or tutor little kids. If you actually like it, then you should do things in it. </p>
<p>You may notice, reading back through the conversation, no one has a guaranteed "in" to Caltech, and I'm pretty sure that I'd prefer someone that doesn't to someone that does. It's nice to go to school with people that actually leave their rooms and interact with someone other than labmates and professors.</p>
<p>I guess the moral to this long shpiel is that you should apply if you want to apply, but don't be too heartbroken if you don't get in. This isn't necessarily the best school in the world, and chances are pretty good that no matter where you end up, you'll adjust to that place and fit in just as you would have here. Even if you are just a "mediocre" student like me - struggling to survive - give it a try, if that's what you want. It's an awesome place, where you can learn a lot, and meet up with a crazy and amazing set of people.</p>