<p>So if one was deferred in EA, would one assume that an Axline is unlikely -- or could first semester grades in very tough courses and/or Intel SF or finalist compensate when one gets to the RD round? This assumes that research, test scores, lots of post-AP coursework and a finalist for couple of big national awards are already in place and are in the range of previous Axline winners.</p>
<p>I can't think immediately of a case where a deferral was followed by an Axline, so my feeling is that it would be quite unlikely, but it is certainly possible with a very strong showing (probably better than semi) in Intel or Siemens or something commensurate.</p>
<p>@ Ben,
First of all, I really enjoy your many posts. They are very thoughtful and extremely well written. I know of Caltech for long time since some friends went there for graduate school. I learned a lot about real Caltech from your posts and posts from other Caltech students.
I understand that you won Axline when you were admitted to Caltech. I believe with your talent you must have many other choices then (I am talking about 4/5 years ago). Did Axline help you to choose Caltech over other schools? </p>
<p>@ CountingDown,
Congrats that your DS has been accepted by couple of great schools through EAs. If your DS is offered Axline, will he come to Caltech and not MIT?</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words. I was lucky to have some choices when I applied. The scholarship did make a difference, of course. Maybe without the scholarship, I would have gone somewhere else, even. But it was a good choice in many ways and I am happy with it in hindsight :)</p>
<p>Does anyone know when the decision on scholarship will be made ?</p>
<p>They are already made. RD kids should get them w/ their admissions letters. EA kids will get a package in the mail if they are getting one. I'm not sure if they notify EA kids if they don't get one. (I doubt it)</p>
<p>I would think that they would only notify you if you had won one.</p>
<p>(...I'm not sure if I got the grammar right in that sentence lol)</p>
<p>Wow...and I got into Caltech how?</p>
<p>Two students I knew received the scholarship package last Friday. One received the full ride and the other received partial.</p>
<p>ya I think scholarships are mailed at the time of the decision letter</p>
<p>Even if you don't get a scholarship as you're admitted, you can do well here and get Upper Class Merit Scholarships, which are very nice to have as well and pay fairly well.</p>
<p>It turns out that the upper class merit awards vary in their impact depending on how much financial aid you're getting. If you're not getting any financial aid, then the merit awards have a big effect. If you're getting a lot of financial aid, the scholarships count as an "additional financial resource" and reduce the amount of grants that you receive. The end result of this is that it's completely possible (and has happened to several people I know) that after receiving an upper class merit award, you still pay every bit as much as you did prior to that.</p>