Chances at Caltech EA; how to craft the application

Colleges & Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>(I cross-posted this in the MIT forum. Here I'm asking the same question, but also if I should craft my application differently or present things differently than I would when applying to MIT. Thanks!)</p>

<p>I'm planning to apply to Caltech early action. What do you think my chances are, given the following:</p>

<p>Numbers:
- Unweighted GPA: 3.98/4.00
- Weighted GPA: 8.0/8.3 (8.3 is an A+ in an honors/AP class and an 8.0 is an A in an honors/AP class)
- Class rank: 1/~300 by both weighted and unweighted GPA
- SAT I: M:780, CR: 800, W:730, Total: 2310
- SAT II: Math 2: 800, US History: 740, Physics: 720
- PSAT as sophomore: M:80, V:67, W:74, Total:221
- PSAT as junior: M:73, V:65, W:72, Total:210</p>

<p>AP Classes:
- AP US History this year (5 on practice test, waiting for results)
- AP Physics, AP Statistics, and AP Calculus AB next year
(My school only offers eight AP classes, and it's basically impossible to fit more than I have)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Math team - publicity director, captain next year
- School newspaper - news editor, editor-in-chief next year
- Student Council - elected sophomore class president, student body vice president
- School Webmaster and member of technology steering committee
- Amnesty International - publicity director
- National Honor Society - member</p>

<p>Awards:
- Winner of 2001 ArsDigita Prize
- Second highest scoring freshman, highest scoring sophomore, and third highest scoring junior in Tri-State Math League
- National Latin Exam - summa cum laude
- New Hampshire Union Leader High School Journalism Awards - News story honorable mention, Editorial story honorable mention
- National Merit Commended Scholar (to-be)
- Third place in DuPont Challenge Science Essay Awards Program 2003
- Honorable mention in Macromedia Student Web Design Contest
- Life Scout</p>

<p>Work:
- Freshman summer - paid internship at local communications firm, developed script to generate results of a survey for a large insurance company
- Sophomore summer - worked with high school computer department
- Junior summer - High School Summer Honors Program at Boston University
- Freelance - have accepted five freelance Web site clients over past four years</p>

<p>Community service:
- 250+ hours of community service in band, various fundraising activities, and technical crew for five school plays</p>

<p>Alone, one may or may not see dedication or passion in this list. In my essay, I intend to demonstrate my passion in Web development and student journalism, since those have been my two primary dedications in high school.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your consideration.</p>

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<p>EA? You'd have to be pretty lucky to make it in as a regular admit, kid. Where's the research? Heck, where are the math courses? It's cool that you're passionate about web design and journalism, but we don't care. We do science and math here. A trained monkey can do web design. And I don't think you can count band or theater as community service unless you've discovered some way to fight poverty by playing the tuba at it. If you're really serious about applying to Caltech, do it regular decision, and I would recommend discovering a passion for something useful very quickly. Work on that math angle.</p>

<p>Have you considered UC Berkeley? According to a friend I have there, they have an excellent journalism program.</p>

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<p>Hey, thanks for the response. I'm not a run of the mill Web designer, though. I think of myself as a talented Web programmer and I have the ArsDigita Prize to prove it. That's my number one passion (as for journalism - if Caltech doesn't care about it, I won't make it prominent). </p>

<p>For math and science, doesn't consistently being in the top three of the Tri-State Math Leage count for anything? What about the DuPont challenge? For math courses, my transcript will show A+s in the standard algebra through calculus path, plus discrete math, and probability and statistics. Besides the regular science courses, it'll also show computational science and engineering with Java and computer science II (my school doesn't offer any real computer science, so I had to take those in other places).</p>

<p>(The community service I do might seem silly, but it will actually be on my transcript as community service... my school must have different standards?)</p>

<p>I have considered UC Berkeley, but for computer science not journalism. I like journalism and will probably join a campus publication in college, but it's definitely not something I would major in.</p>

<p>Thanks, SteelPangolin. :)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
You'd have to be pretty lucky to make it in as a regular admit, kid... It's cool that you're passionate about web design and journalism, but we don't care.

[/quote]
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that "we," as in the Admissions Comittee, don't care about SteelPangolin's opinion regarding the relevance of your accomplishments. I would usually put it less harshly, but the needless hostility and putdowns make Caltech look bad, so I assure you that the tone of SteelPangolin's response is not the norm here.</p>

<p>What I can say is that we've admitted, enthusiastically, students whose main accomplishments have been in web consulting and the like. Often, learning a new skill and starting your own business can show more initiative than getting involved in cutting edge research, if the latter happens at a school where it's pretty much expected for the top n% of the class (e.g., Stuy). Context is a big deal.</p>

<p>It's probably true that really amazing accomplishments at Math Olympiads trump a great web design portfolio, no matter what; but it would be a big mistake to play down your major passion and to play up only moderate math achievements. You should consider whether you want to eventually do web design as a career. If so, Caltech may be too much the theoretical side for you. On the other hand, if you view your work so far as a sort of introduction to a wider range of engineering possibilities, then it goes a long way toward showing you're self-motivated and eager to achieve.</p>

<p>In general, many of my colleagues in admissions and I share a belief that what exact activities you do in high school is less important than how you do them. Of course, if a candidate doesn't show serious interest in the quantitative or the automated, we will reject him or her. However, it is often a matter of dumb luck how you get to express a passion for those things -- often, it depends on how pushy parents were, and how many professors they badgered for test-tube washing opportunities.</p>

<p>It is true that your resume is a little light on the math courses. Many of our applicants have had Calculus BC and gotten a 5 by the time they apply. So it will be important for you to get a great first-quarter grade in math (I'm thinking A+), if your school sends such a thing, to have much hope of getting in early. Otherwise, you will almost certainly be deferred --- not because there's any problem with you, but because we'd want to see how you do in math your first semester (an A would pretty much be required, barring extraordinary circumstances).</p>

<p>As for the meaty, "personal" part of the application, think about your goals. Would you prefer a place where you'd soon concentrate on courses in the nitty-gritty details of server-side architecture, or whatever? Or would you enjoy almost two years of required physics, including difficult quantum mechanics, along with challenging proof-based math --- and the knowledge that everyone around you will have the same strong background? If the former is true, you'd love MIT. If the latter is true, Caltech is for you.</p>

<p>If Caltech is for you, then put your fairly impressive evidence of initiative in web design in the context of a wider interest in engineering, science, math, or a combination. For instance, if you've had ideas about next-generation developments/improvements that you would be able to pursue as an undergraduate research fellow, talk about them. Talk about how your achievements have prepared you to innovate and succeed here. And include a well-designed portfolio of your best successes; not too much writing, but a mostly show and (slightly) tell account of what you've done. Everybody likes really pretty pictures.</p>

<p>Don't forget to mention your nice math achievements, but don't hide your passion. Just make it clear how your experiences demonstrate an interest and aptitude for the things that you'd end up doing here at Caltech.</p>

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<p>I can't thank you enough for your thoughtful response, Ben Golub. That's the kind of advice I was looking for. :)</p>

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<p>And that, Ben Golub, is one awesome post. Hope you're having a great summer.</p>

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<p>xaq, do you konw what you're interested in majoring in? If it's computer science, spend a lot of time considering the courses offered. Caltech's CS Department is excellent, but is also restrictive. There's a limited number of courses offered (not all those listed in the catalog are still offered) and a limited number of research areas available. From your stats alone, I'm not sure if you'd be happy here with the course offerings. Of course, it's also possible that Caltech is the right school for you in spite of the lack of course offerings in the fields you're interested in. This was the case for me. If you want me to go into more detail about the CS department, just ask.</p>

<p>For CS, another school I considered was Carnegie Mellon.</p>

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<p>Thank you, Ben. Good to hear from you. My summer is great -- staying at Caltech to do some research. I hope you're doing well too : )</p>

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<p>Both Ben's
I got a letter from K lowry of RSI. I asked her that I was an international student and that I wanted to take part in RSI but that I was a senior. However, I also told her that I would graduate high school in late june 2006. She said that I would be elligible to apply in her mail.
Should I still apply to colleges for fall 2006 or leave it for 2007,assuming I were to apply to RSI.
Although i do feel that I'm ready to take on college as I would graduate in june 2006.
Just thought I'd get the opinion of adcomms of my top prority schools.</p>

<p>P.S. I am an Indian student living in India.</p>

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<p>If you'll be able to put in your application that you've gotten into RSI at the time you apply to CIT/MIT then that would help your applications, but waiting an extra year would give you the extra benefit of your RSI research results, so would be even better.</p>

<p>To be safe, prepare your college applications anyway and send them. If you get into RSI right before/right after the deadline for applications, send a letter informing the schools of that. Alternatively, you could decide at that point that your RSI summer will improve your chances thanks to the strength of your research (it probably will), and withdraw your applications to resubmit next year. If you don't get into RSI, your applications will still be under consideration.</p>

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<p>From what I've seen (I haven't seen much though, beyond Prefrosh Weekend), Caltech's CS program isn't quite as strong as its others, say Physics. It could be that it's a newer department, or it could be that people who go there tend to be more interested in other subjects. Then again, Caltech always gets a seat on ACM, so...</p>

<p>I would recommend applying to Harvey Mudd as well to keep your options open. Their CS program is pretty good...</p>

<p>(It may be a little weird that I recommend Harvey Mudd when I'm actually going to attend Stanford...but that was a family decision...I think I still like Harvey Mudd better :p)</p>

<p>BTW, consider going through USACO, which will be a great supplement to your web-design-centric ECs</p>

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<p>Alleya: If you wouldn't mind, I would like you to tell me more about computer science at Caltech. It is what I am interested in, but I'd like to know what Caltech has to offer in the field. Thank you for responding!</p>

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<p>Ben Golub--
Can u tell me of any science(primarily maths and computers) related research/internship program available for International high school students. I am from India as known from my last post.</p>

<p>Also I'll be giving the IOI this year but look the team will be selected in like March so is it worth it to send my result if I do qualify to Caltech as the decisions will be posted by then.</p>

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<p>Good results from the preliminary stages of the selection will look good, so send those if you do well.</p>

<p>It is a bit late now to apply for big competetive internships if next year is your senior year. Try to find an internship (i.e. work for free) for some local corporation and work hard to learn and do as much as you can. That will look good.</p>

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<p>First of all, it's worth noting that the Caltech CS major is exactly 2 years. However, the department (and most of the classes) has been around a lot longer. The major is meant to be extremely flexible. You're required to take CS 1, CS 2, Ma 6a (discrete math), CS 21 (computability and complexity), CS 24 (computing systems), and CS 38 (introduction to algorithms). These courses bring you through the end of sophomore year. During your junior and senior years, you simply have to take a certain number of CS, Math, and Engineering units, and one major three term CS class. Take a look at the course catalog to see what's available. If there's anything that catches your eye, if you ask me about it I can let you know if it's still taught. The noteworthy courses are a set of graphics courses, a few VLSI and computer architecture courses, a couple operating systems and computer languages courses, a year-long networking course (only one!), and a ton of courses teaching various topics relevant to DARPA (such as computer vision). Off the top of my head, research is available in graphics, architecture, operating systems, compilers, computer learning (usually through CNS), networking (even though there's only one course there's a networking lab), and anything possibly DARPA related.</p>

<p>Even though the course offerings are limited, there are a few pros (that induced me to stay). First of all, the major is incredibly flexible. I'm trying to get a broad taste of a ton of different subjects. I can specialize later in grad school. Secondly, the courses all encourage collaboration. At most schools, CS majors tend to squirrel themselves away in their rooms and work alone, which is horrible preparation for the real world. Here you actually work with people, either collaborating, helping each other, or in some classes even work together on major group projects. (In fact, the option requires a three term sequence with a project for the last term, which is usually a group project). Thirdly, the department's small so there's lots of personal contact. Classes are almost never more than 20 people, and often less. You know most of your profs and call them by their first names, and you get more personal attention. Lastly, even though I can't find the research I need on campus, there are tons of opportunities nearby. JPL always needs CS majors, profs on campus often want people with CS experience, and there are a ton of software companies nearby or up north in Silicon Valley that you can work with. I literally went from sending in my resume to first day of work in 2 weeks for this summer.</p>

<p>Anyways, the reason I was worried about your profiles is that you seemed to be most interested in networking and journalism. There's no journalism whatsoever here, and while there are networking opportunities, you'll have to take the initiative to meet up with the profs necessary and ask to get involved in their work.</p>