chances at caltech please

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>(It's sort of long so thanks so much for your patience)</p>

<pre><code>I am a Chinese student who came to Canada about 4 years ago.Every single course I took in high school (except CALM and gym) is either honor or IB.I have 4 HL IB courses (math,chem,european history,english language arts) and 3 SL courses (physics,biology,and chinese).I have an overall weighted student average of 89(grade 10 and 11),however my average right now in grade 12 is 95(our school has a 2-semester system with 4 courses in each semester, i have ela, social, and chem right now,all higher level ib courses.),and i can raise it even higher as we have more tests.
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<p>I am taking the SATI next Saturday and expecting to get 2300+,and taking SATIIs in November and December,expecting 800 in math,chem,around 750-800 for physics and bio,and around 700-750 for literature.</p>

<p>I don't really have that much ec,i have 2 years of workout in school gym and half a year martial arts at Canuckles, but I was a junior pro fighter and if i had been there for 2 more months i would be fighting in "King of the Cage" tournaments.But i quit becasue well i thought now i have the fundemantals down and i should practice at home so i don't add an additional financial burden to my parents. Also i had a part-time job in july for 12 days straight and in august they invited me back for a part-time job for my exceptional perfermance there in july (it's really nothing big,just a building attendant).So starting from aug 26 and continuing i work 21 h a week practically every week.Also i have city level science olympiad right now,which requires building a project (in this case a launch machine to launch a golf ball to a certain height hitting a target).</p>

<p>These are my awards (all rankings are on the national level):</p>

<p>U of T Leonardo da Vinci Engineering Competition:89.5percentile
University of Waterloo Hypatia Mathematics Contest(grade 11 contest): 75th
University of Waterloo Chem 13 Exam: 20th</p>

<p>As you can see I totally slacked off for the 1st two years of high school and I know that practically ruined my chance at caltech.</p>

<p>But there is this thing about my chem contest result. I actually only had an 85 in grade 11 in chem 25IB while failing a few units,i didn't even get a rec for chem 35ib because my teacher has the impression that i hate chemistry,which i did.Before the final i studied the morning of the chem final(i studied from 10-12 and the final is at 1 in the afternoon) and got a 96.So i signed up for the chem olympiad and chem 13 contests expecting to do good with aptitude alone. Of course i failed the chem olympiad which comes before chem 13,and got a 46% or something because a bit more than half the things on there i've never seen before,i was shocked so i studied for the chem 13 which is one month later,i managed to learn (all these are in grade 12 IB curriculum)kinetics,equilibrium,periodicity,nuclear,organic,crystal structure,thermodynamics and all that in one month without any outside help and one month later got 20th in canada for the chem 13 contest.Chem 13 is easier than the olympiad however almost everyone who writes the olympiad writes the chem 13 thus the ranking is comparable.In the process i found out i love chemistry so right now i am learning college chem and taking the GRE chem test in December,right now i can get around 800/990,and that's because there are quite a few things that i haven't learned yet. I am sure i can score much higher in December.</p>

<p>So that's about it. I know my low average (i have some 80s and one 77 in bio,also i got 4 on bio ib exam,which i know is horrible) will probably ruin my chance but i really really want to get into caltech,becasue of its small student body,rigorous learning environment, and 4 : 1 student : prof ratio. So please rate my chances,and be as harsh as possible,thanks a lot.</p>

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<p>BTW i'm also applying financial aid.My two teacher recs should be very good to great.</p>

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<p>Caltech is really weary of low grades. You're not alone in this, I'm a B+/A student as well. However, it practically does kill your chances, especially because you have no extenuating reason other than you hated to learn chemistry. A contest is representative of a month or so of your life, whereas your grades are representative of four years, so you can see why they'd be reluctant to take you (and me).</p>

<p>If you have anything to your credit such as research or a job that takes up a significant amount of your time, mention it. Otherwise, I would definitely be looking at other schools. Caltech is looking for students that they know will love learning there, and love dedicating a significant amount of their time to science and technology.</p>

<p>There are international students applying who are international olympiad medalists with perfect GPAs. If you ask me, because you're an international student, and you clearly slacked off (admittedly), you have almost no chance of getting into Caltech.</p>

<p>Then again, I'm not Ben, however I've found he and I are in agreement quite often.</p>

<ul>
<li>Timur S.</li>
</ul>

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<p>Thanks a lot for your reply Olo.Yeah, i figured Caltech places a really heavy emphasis on grades so I never really expected i have much chance to get in, of course i deserve it for slacking off in such a critical time period.But i am doing everything i can to remedy that,like retaking diploma examinations in january to boost my grade 11 gpa and getting a high gpa now, and i do like chemistry a lot now and i am halfway thru finishing the 1st two or three years of college chemistry.Nevertheless it's probably too late and like you pointed out they need students to demonstrate hardwork throughout high school.i have an additional question,would i have more of a chance at university of chicago and cornell?Or what other universities would you suggest me to apply to?thanks again for your input:)</p>

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<p>Don't let me discourage you from applying. If you can justify it well enough in your essays, and repent for it so to speak, you might get in. Granted, keep in mind you're in the more competitive pool (by far).</p>

<p>As to other universities? U of Chicago and Cornell are both good schools, but Cornell is a bit more grade-focused. Regardless, I think you stand a chance at both. For pure science, your choices are fairly limited (compared to engineering). Do you want to do chem or chemE?</p>

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<p>In the end of the grade 11 year in june we had replacement exams and diploma exams which if i reviewed could easily boost my average to a 92 and above. However i did have a major problem for the last half of grade 11 that distracted me (a great deal,although i did not realize that at the start and sank ever deeper into the problem) from focusing on school stuff like i so urgently knew i was obliged to do.But i really don't want to talk about it ever again and go back to those memories so yea,i have no excuses</p>

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<p>general chemistry,and it's the degree that i am 100% sure i will pursue,here is my list of schools to apply to:
1. Harvard
2. MIT
3. Caltech
4. Princeton
5. Chichago
6. Cornell
7. Stanford
So could you tell me which universities are probably impossible for me and save me the trouble of filling out the paperwork?thanks so much once again.</p>

<p>Also i have canadian universities (ut,mcgill,uw and so on) as my safeties.believe it or not they are ridiculously easy to get into</p>

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<p>If I were you, I'd apply early decision to Cornell. It would give you the best chances of getting into one of those schools on your list. Caltech and Harvard are probably the two hardest to get into considering your grades, and as you haven't done much in the way of extra-curriculars, MIT, Stanford, and U of Chicago will be harder to get into. I honestly have no clue regarding Princeton admissions; I have friends with 1360 SATs and <15% class rank who got in, and friends with 1600s and 3rd or 4th in their class who got rejected. It seems like a big gamble to me. Your safest bet would probably be Cornell ED.</p>

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<p>yea i was thinking about cornell ed.but the thing is i linger on the probably unrealistic hope of somehow getting into one of the better uni on my list (caltech for one),so if i apply cornell ed,which is binding,i would probably think oh man if i applied i might got into caltech (despite the miniscule likelihood of it:) )But cornell ED will give me a better chance than regular right?</p>

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<p>Also how much will my SATI and SATII scores going to help me with my chances?Not that much right?</p>

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<p>one more thing,i have the highest chemistry contest ranking in the pool of canadian applicants,becasue of the way our courses are structured most of the important aspects of a chemistry contest are addressed in the grade 12 year,therefore very few grade 11 students write it.But i guess this doesn't matter that much becasue there are so many international science olympiad medal winners from other countries (and like Ben said even some of them are turned down,which is scary...)</p>

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<p>At schools of the calibur of Caltech, good SATs don't help you, they just don't hurt you. Most everyone who applies will have great SATs, it's everything else that determines whether you get in or not.</p>

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<p>Oh yea,regard to your "friends with 1360 SATs and <15% class rank" who got into princeton,do they have really stellar ecs or are they great writers?</p>

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<p>how will the 4 on my biology ib exam affect my chances at caltech?I am filling that on my app anyways because i don't really want to cover up the mistakes i have made in the past.However would i reduce some of that negative effect if i take the biology SATII in november and get a high score, or is the damage done to my wisp of a chance there irreversible?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
1. Harvard
2. MIT
3. Caltech
4. Princeton
5. Chichago
6. Cornell
7. Stanford

[/quote]

Ah, the classic Asian list (I'm an asian too, so dont take offence :]).</p>

<p>Anyways, you need to do more research on these universities. 3 of the colleges above don't even offer Canadian citizens need-blind admission and one of them doesn't offer finaid to internationals at all. </p>

<p>If you are a Canadian citizen, I'd say you might have a fighting chance at Cornell. Otherwise, your chances are slim to nil at all. </p>

<p>Also, please don't condescend Canadian universities by calling them "ridiculously easy to get into". Your grades are barely high enough for some of the majors at UofT and Waterloo.</p>

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<p>Honestly, that was a mistake, it's not friends, it's friend, singular. I do have another friend with a 1390 who got in, but he was in the top 5% of his class.</p>

<p>As to the friend with weaker scores, he neither did anything stellar, nor was he a minority, nor are his essay-writing skills exceptional, although I haven't read his essays so I can't tell you exactly what their quality was like. Princeton is just extremely unpredictable.</p>

<p>The biology SAT II is not really comparable to the IB or AP biology tests. They SAT II biology only expects you to have one year of basic high school biology, whereas IB/AP are theoretically college-level. SATs don't really help you, they just don't hurt you with these schools.</p>

<p>A 4 on an IB exam won't look good if it's in a science. I can see Caltech making exceptions for low scores on something like history, but a low score on a science will likely kill you.</p>

<p>Again, if I were you, I'd apply to Cornell ED, but also apply to Caltech. If you make it into both, Cornell's still a good school (although not nearly as proficient in the sciences and tecs as Caltech), but you probably want to maximize your chances at getting into any school on that list.</p>

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<p>No offence taken but i'm not going for the prestige of these universities but according to nrc rankings each of them has a very strong chemistry department, that is the reason i am applying.</p>

<p>I did research on all of them and i think all of them offer finaid to internationals.do you mean university of chicago does not offer finaid to internationals?If so please enlighten me.and yes i know only HYP offer need-blind admission.</p>

<p>lol,i am by no means trying to be condescending,i am simply speaking from experience.one of my friends have a 30 something percent in computer science and he got into u of alberta,u of waterloo,and u of toronto,all with scholarships.Another one of my friends took social 13(for people who got less than 60% in social 10) and got a 12% in it,you know where he went?university of toronto and he was also admitted to queens with a 7500 scholarship!!! and this guy has NOTHING whatsoever(80 average in grade 11 and 12),all he does is sit in an internet cafe and play cs or some other game.i know a lot more similar examples for each of the great canadian universities so...</p>

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<p>I am already registered to take the biology ib exam again next may,but that's too late to help me.that's why i am asking about SATII biology test.</p>

<p>How can i apply to cornell ed and caltech simultaneously?isn't cornell's ed binding,meaning i can't apply to another university at the same time?</p>

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<p>dooit i think you are overestimating the difficulty of getting into a top canadian university.Nobody (at least anybody with a decent mark in IB) in my school worries about getting in,everybody is more focused on how many scholarships one can get</p>

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<p>Also dooit could you please tell me why i have a slim to none chance at all those universities?Because i actually thought i have an ok chance at u of chicago,maybe i am being way too confident.Please be harsh and crush my dream:)I'd really appreciate it.</p>