<p>i think people have already given you a good idea of your chances (Hriundeli, phlogiston, SilvaRua)</p>
<p>Wow this talk about his test scores doing him in is really starting to scare me. I mean I got a 2100 SAT (800 math though). I got plenty of 5s on math/science on APs and 800 on SATIIs. Are those poor scores on reading and writing really going to kill me as much as being implied? I mean, I'm not even going to try to pretend I'm good at english, but I dind't think Caltech would sit there and go "he won't be able to graudate in 4 years because he only got a 660 on CR." That's kind of scary to think about, but w/e app is submitted so whatever happens happens. I guess I can live with it, but it is dpressing to think that after all the math/sciene stuff I've done I could be denied becuase of a stupid standardized test score.</p>
<p>Hey hey hey!!! GleasSpty!!
HIGHFIVE!!! I ALSO have 2100 and 5s on all math science APs and 800 on SAT2s</p>
<p>but i got 780 on math TWICE!!! ZOMG i hate myself for that. and only 650 for CR ( Yes my English sucks.... If i am not an international student, but not citizen either. does that hurt my chances a lot?)
but i know they accepted someone from my school that had 1900s on her SAT1 . International though,challenged herself a lot in rigorous APs ( even ap english!!) however no major major awards.
yeah.</p>
<p>totally agree with GleasSpty!! my app is submitted already, so no point of worrying now there is nothing I can do except to maybe make the USAMO once i get waitlisted ( they waitlisted a lot from my school last year. like 3 got in, 1 got rejected, the rest were all waitlisted for some reason)</p>
<p>To GleasSpty:
I don't know why this topic about low scores killing anyone was even started. Granted, OP's SAT II's are somewhat below average, but he will not be rejected right away merely because of his scores (If this makes you feel better, I (not applying as an international) took SAT I twice and got CR 580 both times (with 750 M)(I went from EA -> RD -> Waitlist, however)). What will most likely kill him is the lack of shown interest towards math/science/CS/you name it. </p>
<p>Which brings me to Castel's latest post:
Nobody was screaming at you - they were telling you why you are likely to be rejected. Do you think us saying "You have as good a shot as any" or "Looks good to me. I hope you get in. Good luck!" will change AdCom's decision?</p>
<p>Although it's just plain speculation, this is how people reading your application might reason:
-so he didn't make it to AIME - it's ok, maybe he is more of a science person and, besides, not all applicants take AMC anyways. He was the president of math club for 4 years, though. I wonder what the hell they were doing there if not math competitions, but whatever, let's see what he's got science-wise.
-5 on AP Chem...Well, that's certainly good, buuuut... there were almost 100,000 who took the exam in 2007 and about 15,000 got a 5 on it (link...so">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/chemistry/dist.html?chem))...so</a> we can't take him just because of that. Is there anything he did besides studying for the test? Any research project? Anything that could possibly separate him from the rest of that 15000-people horde? No? It's a pity... But maybe he is good with computers? He did teach himself Basic and Python. But what did he do with this knowledge? Did he create some cool program? No? Hmm..... What on earth does he do with his free time?..
So his scores are below average, all those clubs and positions look suspiciously suck-up'ish, and he doesn't do anything interesting with his knowledge and his free time. Do we want him? Will he contribute something to Caltech? It doesn't look so from his application... I might be wrong - he could really flourish here, but why risk it?...</p>
<p>I wasn't president of math club, haha. I understand where you're coming from though, thank you.</p>