Chances for Caltech

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>Hi folks, </p>

<p>Rising senior planning on applying early to Caltech this fall. White male from Michigan (Eastern European immigrant.)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 unweighted (school doesn't weigh or rank.)
Courseload: Mostly AP/honor courses with additional required classes.
APs: Soph. yr. - USH (5) and Chem (5). Jr. yr. Physics C, Bio, Calc BC, English Language. Senior yr. - planning on World History, Gov, French, English Lit, Econ.</p>

<p>SAT: 740v/800m/800w (2340 composite.)
PSAT: 232 soph yr, 233 jr., so hopefully NMS.
ACT: taken in june. will know soon.
SAT iis - will take in october.</p>

<p>ECs: Math Club/Team President (formerly vp). Competitions:
- AMC 12: scores of: 132.5, 121.5, 114.5, 105. 2x School Winner, so I have the cute little bronze medal. Scores of 132.5 and 121.5 on national honor roll.
- AMC 10: 132.0, 104.5. Score of 132.0 on honor roll.
- AIME: 10,6,6. (Missed USAMO qualification by 0.5 index pts. this year.)
- Statewide MMPC contest: 2nd place (Gold Medalist, scholarship), 13th place (Bronze Medalist, scholarship)
- USAMTS: Silver Medalist, Bronze Medalist
- MathLeague contests: Top 25 in state.
- Attended Mathcamp '04. Wrote a research paper, published online at <a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.artofproblemsolving.com&lt;/a> (articles section.) Took classes at <a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.artofproblemsolving.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Quiz Bowl - President/Team Captain. Team ranked as well as 4th place nationally on KMO contest. At NAQT nationals, 13th place, tied for best finish for a Michigan team. Winners, Finalists, Semifinalists at various tournaments. (3 yrs).</p>

<p>Debate - Secretary of team. Novice and Varsity debate, various speaker awards, represented school at novice state finals, 8th place finish. (2yrs)</p>

<p>Future Problem Solvers (a creative writing competition) - Regional Winner, State Qualifier. (2yrs.)</p>

<p>Science Olympiad - Medalist at State and Regional competitions. Team finished 4/11/6th at states.</p>

<p>NHS member, approx. 100 hours of community service, including coaching a local middle school's mathcounts team.</p>

<p>Summer program in bio-engineering this summer.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading the book. My passion is math. Also this summer, I'll either be doing BU's PROMYS program or research and classes at a local university. What should I focus on in my app to maximize my chances for Caltech?</p>

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<p>AMC and AIME scores great. Too bad about making the USAMO but don't worry -- 132.5/10 is still pretty impressive even in our pool. USAMTS good, Mathcamp good. AOPS good. PROMYS great.</p>

<p>This is probably pedagogically bad or something (teachers are told not to make examples of students) but tetrahedr0n embodies the advice I try so hard to get into people's heads:</p>

<p>** Make your application not a haphazard arrangements of "various things I did in high school" but focus them around a passion to paint a coherent and compelling picture of yourself.**</p>

<p>It's almost funny that tetrahedr0n says at the end "My passion is math." We didn't need him to say that, you see. It's clear from his activities, and I'm sure will be a focus of his essays.</p>

<p>The point is, unless you screw something up (teacher says you stab squirrels, etc.), an application like this is very powerful. It makes it clear what you're about and shows that you're actually good at it. We'd have to see something seriously wrong not to want to admit you.</p>

<p>So, the advice, not that you need much, is to list your math activities together, supporting each other. They come across as a very powerful package. The other stuff (quiz bowl, debate, etc.) can go below that to show your broadness. Unless it's not actually that big of a deal for you, discuss your passion for math in your essays, working in some concrete examples of how the activities you've done have helped you develop that passion and what you plan to do with it in your future, if that fits in well.</p>

<p>So, not to rave too much, but this is exactly the right idea, and what people who want to get into Caltech (or any other elite school) should be roughly trying to emulate -- focusing yourself on something hard and important, and showing you excel and like it. There's no better way to have a very high success rate in applying to colleges.</p>

<p>Not to be too subtle: even at Harvard, Princeton, etc. -- places traditionally offering more "broad" educations -- the nonsense ideal of "well-roundedness" emphasized by some misguided or uninformed high scool teachers/counselors is now much more of a liability than an asset. Why would any of the top schools want someone who's decent at a range of things when we can have the very best in each individual field? All the better if those people are also impressive outside of their main focus (as tetrahedr0n clearly is), but that only sweetens the deal. You can see how no "well-rounded" applicant who has tried to do nearly everything but hasn't been really very impressive at anything could ever compete with this sort of resume.</p>