Chances at Caltech?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’ve recently been wondering greatly if I would even be considered for Caltech, since it is my dream school to attend and I feel like it would be a great fit. Mind you when reading my chances stuff, I’m still a sophomore in hs, so there isn’t much. I’ll include my prospective courses for junior/senior year, as well (levels of courses are still unknown).

I plan on attaching my past, present, and future research papers to my application.

Freshman year courses: Hon. English 9, Social Studies, Hon. Alg. 2, Hon. French 2, Intro to Physics, and band elective.
Sophomore year courses: Hon. English 10, World History 2, Acc. Pre-Calculus, Hon. French 3, AP Biology, and band elective.
Junior year courses: AP British Literature, AP US History, Calc AB, Hon. French 4, AP (?) Chemistry, band elective, Intro to Astronomy.
Senior year courses: AP Literature, AP World History, Calc BC, AP French, AP (?) Physics, band elective, personal finance elective.

GPA, etc.:
Class rank at end of freshman year: 58/268 (top 20%)
GPA: 3.75 weighted, 3.25 not (I’m doing a LOT better this year//grades are mainly A’s with one or two B’s)

Standardized tests:
PSATs: take them Oct. 14
SATs: NA at this point

Math/Science related:
Math team (rank 27th for freshman in my region of my state)
Science Bowl team
3rd place in Earth Science, Physics, and Astronomy category at State Science Fair freshman year (technically top Astro. project. Hope to get 1st place this year on my new project)

EC’s:
Class Council and Student Council (running for VP in June, Pres June of junior year)
Debate Team
150+ volunteer hours
Principal flutist of local youth symphony, 2 year in a row
Auditioning for the All-State Band again (hopefully will be accepted)
School band (lead flute)
School jazz band
I plan on applying for NHS
MASSIVE passion for astronomy

I know that Caltech probably is a very large reach for a college, but I wish to pursue astrophysics there (and study music somewhere else at some point). I feel as though Caltech would be a great fit for me, with there great astronomy/astrophysics program and all.

PS: Other college I’m considering are Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, McGill, New England Conservatory of Music (dual-ed program with Harvard), Princeton, Swarthmore, University of British Columbia, University of California: Berkeley, UCLA, University of Southern California, and University of Toronto. (I know a lot of them are reaches. Some of them on the list I probably won’t apply to.)

2

I also realize that my chances are slim, since admitted students to the aforementioned school are in the top decile of their class and have GPA’s above 3.75 when unweighted (I’ve done research). I just am hoping for all of your opinions and advice for the future.

Another thing to mention is that there are more aspects to who I am than what I put here. This only scratches the surface of who I am. :slight_smile:

3

Also a reach, but you can keep up your passion for music at the same time if you go to Harvey Mudd. But no one can chance you for Caltech without test scores. In the current SAT, the 25-75% ranges are 730-800 CR, 770-800 M, and 730-790 WR. I am sure they are also getting 800 Math II subject tests, and they require one other science subject test. They also want one of your references from a humanities teachers, so keep that in mind.

4

Thank you for the advice! I already am prepping for the SATs (not often but still am). I’ve seen Harvey Mudd on lists and will consider it.

5

If I’m really reading this right and your GPA is 3.25 UW, you will be rejected with probability one from most of the schools on your list. (If anyone wants to debate this google admissions stats and the mathematical definition of “almost surely” in a measure probability space.)

Regardless, CalTech fetishizes its admissions stats more than any other school on earth, and they won’t be willing to drop their bell curve with a 3.25 outlier, it’s just a fact of life unfortunately.

Harvard has a few low GPA’s per year, but this doesn’t matter unless your last name is something along the lines of Kennedy :wink: (Disclaimer: Kennedy is at Harvard right now with me and he did NOT have a 3.25, but you get the point.)

6

Thanks for the input. That was my GPA at the end of the last school year. I did not do well last year. Right now my unweighted GPA is around 3.7. I think that changes my chances.

7

@frazzledazzle

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/GPA-SAT-ACT-Graphs/ss/caltech-admission-gpa-sat-act.htm

Unfortunately a 3.7 is still at the very very bottom of the bell curve. Though, a 3.8 would probably help…albeit not too much in all honesty without something else extraordinary.

8

Don’t study for the SAT exam now. The new exam comes out in the spring so studying now is a waste of time.

9

I understand your desire and your feeling for going to an elit school. But remember that you are not going somewhere in isolation! You are with the rest of a student body who happen to be extremely competitive … and you have to compete with them for the few A’s and B’s and even C’s which are given to them in each class! Do you really think you are up to it and can grab few of those A’s, B’s and C’s from them? If not…even if you are admitted, you will have a hell of time there with foreseeable result: complete failure! You can perhaps collect only D’s and F’s! May be few C’s. Is that what you are looking for for as a good fit?
If you could not compete well with average kids in your local high school, how do you think you can compete with a class of all geniuses?

10

Falcon1: I’ve only studied once (for math). I’m too busy to study now with school and extracurriculars.

HarvardMaths: I haven’t checked my GPA recently, so it might have increased to 3.75+.

uclaparent9: I am a very competitive student, and have been taking highest level courses since the 4th grade. I’ve experienced failure before, so I don’t mind that. I’m not looking at strictly academics when considering Caltech. I’m looking out past college, and how I would fit with other aspects of the college (location, ecs, etc.) At my school, I am considered to be an above average student. I was a member of the very strict STEM Program my freshman year (I would be in it, but I have other classes to take, too). Sure, there are 1 or 2 geniuses in my grade, along with about 50 or so who care about their grades, but most people don’t care about that sort of thing at all. I’ve been competing with very smart people for a while. I can handle it.

11

bump

12

A top school for astrophysics is UC Santa Cruz. Probably more of a match for you and they also have music

13

You need to be realistic and not live in a fantasy world! A school like UCSC, as suggested above, suits you better.

14

You can’t have an OVERALL unweighted GPA of 3.75 uw after last year; if you are getting all As and a couple of Bs, then that 3.7 is just for this year alone. Unfortunately, the calculation doesn’t work that way for college admissions. So you are not on track for an overall 3.7 uw GPA, but something lower.

15

If you tell us that your initial (freshmen?) UW GPA is 3.25, I am not sure how you can say that your latest UW GPA is now 3.75+…??? That means you have an UW GPA this year (so far of 4.25 ++), which is nearly impossible, if not outright impossible.

Bottom-line, it is true that colleges do look at your application as a whole. And that there is more to the application than numbers. However, for uber-selective schools like CalTech, there is an unspoken minimum GPA that most (if not all) applicants must at least meet…and we promise you, it is not 3.25 or even 3.5 or probably not even 3.7. Of course none of us can say that for sure, but given that they are rejecting 4.0 students, you must have something really special up your sleeve for them to overlook your GPA and class rank…

So, there is no harm in trying and sending an application, but you really need to be realistic and expect that you are likely not going to get in. Have more target and safety schools. And unless you have very high SAT scores, Harvey Mudd might still be a reach for you (although likely a low reach)…

16

Since you are a sophomore, just do your best and don’t start worrying about schools. Spring break this year and next visit a range of schools. Come up with a list of schools to apply to at the end of your junior year. Now is too early.

17

My weighted GPA at the end of last year was 3.75.

18

They don’t care about your weighted GPA. Realistically, most of the students accepted will have a 3.8 unweighted GPA or higher.

19

I’m working on that. I’m doing a lot better than last year.

20

I think as a sophomore, you’re still limited in terms of maturity and vision. Caltech students are statistically the highest scoring people in the world. They either are geniuses or work extremely hard. When you say you can handle it, I think you just haven’t really seen the true competition yet. It’s a huge world out there.