<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: N/A
[</em>]SAT II: Math II - 800, Chem - 780
[<em>]ACT: 32: 36 M, 34 S, 30 E, 29 R
[</em>]GPA: 4.00 UW, school doesn’t weight
[<em>]Rank: 1/82
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Bio 5, Calc BC 5, Macro 5, Micro 5, Envi Sci 5
[<em>]Essays: Had excellent revisions to help me
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Got to read them and I thought they were pretty solid
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Read it, kinda weak I though
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Recruited Athlete
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: A small farm town in Wisconsin
[<em>]High School Type: Public but only 300 kids
[</em>]Ethnicity: caucasian
[<em>]Gender: male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Big ones are captain of bball team, founded and captain of math team, and president of chess club along with a project i’m working on
[<em>]Awards: nothing international but lots of local and state and ap scholar with distinction for national i guess
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Nah, this is sweet though![/ul]</p>
<p>@Klebian: I personally think you deserve more than a rejection, at least a deferred letter. I feel really sorry for you man since I know you’re a really good mathlete(well, I saw your nick a lot of times on AOPS). Apparently, Caltech doesn’t weight your “MOP” star as much as it should, which I’m surprised. But don’t worry dude since no matter where you end up with, you will be greatly successful if you keep your dedication at the same level as it is now. MIT is next door though, and I think you will get in with your MOP stats(when did you make it?), simply because it is MIT.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all Caltech accepttees! And to people who get rejected- don’t worry since you guys are all talented and will get into other top colleges around this nation. I just want to point out one more thing: you guys seem to lack of hooks severely, maybe that’s the only flaw of your applications. The matter is not about quantity, but about QUALITY! Be concentrated and stick to something as tight as possible, especially things you love to. I can see in this year, the trends of Caltech have changed. It seems to me that it weights research(publications on journal, research contests) and true passion more than olympiad contests or anything else.It’s surprising but this is why it’s Caltech!</p>
<p>this has got to be the best day of my life! i think my passion for research really showed. It has been a humbling experience for me. The journey has never ever been easy, especially since i’m an international. </p>
<p>Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2130 - 800 math, 670 w, 660 cr
[</em>]SAT II: 800 math, 800 physics, 780 chemistry
[<em>]ACT: -
[</em>]GPA: A levels - straight As
[<em>]Rank: my school does not rank
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): -
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: i think they were good! showed my passion in research and science
[</em>]Teacher Recs: not sure, didn’t read it
[<em>]Counselor Rec: not sure, didn’t read it
[</em>]Supplementary Material: research paper
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none (or maybe, is research considered a hook?)
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Singapore
[<em>]High School Type: Independent, top in the country
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: mostly revolving around research, community work and table tennis
[<em>]Awards: same as ECs, but most of them are research awards, national and international
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]
Don’t worry if your SAT score is not high enough. As long as you can show the committee your passion in science through your essays and Common Application, you will stand a chance. If you asked me which part of the application i felt was the most important, it definitely had to be the essays! Well, enough said, i can’t wait to join you guys at caltech!!! It’s a dream to be at such a great place! Wow i still can’t believe i got in. When i saw the line “It is an honor to inform you of the Admissions Committee’s decision to offer you a place in the California Institute of Technology Class of 2014”, i literally broke down. Really have to thank all those who have helped me in my application, but most importantly, God. :)</p>
<p>@kwaldner:Can you explicitly tell me about the type of research awards that you achieve? I know it must be pretty big since you mention it at national and international level(awesome!). Big congratulations for you! Essays can be biased you know!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 740CR/750M/680W
[</em>]SAT II: 780 Math 2, 800 Physics
[<em>]ACT: 33
[</em>]GPA: 3.8+ uw/4
[li]Rank: uw rank top 10%</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: OK, not strong point but personal
[</em>]Teacher Recs: should have been good. Didn’t see
[<em>]Counselor Rec: probably generic.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): recruited athlete but doubt counted for much
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Mtn west where cattle outnumber humans 4:1
[<em>]High School Type: Large public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Nationally competitive in a niche sport. No math/science stuff
[<em>]Awards: NM commended. No math/science stuff
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Considering the wide blank spaces in the Math/Science activities/awards section, probably did good being deferred. (posted by mom, he doesn’t do CC)</p>
<p>@ghjk: competitions like science engineering fairs, talent search, global challenge award etc. plus i got my research published and i did 4 research internships in my high school, so i think my passion for research was quite evident. :)</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2340 (M: 800, W: 800, CR:740
[ *]SAT II: 800 Math2, 800 Chem
[ *]ACT: N/A
[ *]GPA: 4.0
[ *]Rank: N/A
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 6 APs - 4 5’s and 2 4’s
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: ehhh not really meshing with CalTech culture as much as they could have.
[ *]Teacher Recs: definitely not the reason i was rejected outright
[ *]Counselor Rec: repeat above
[ *]Supplementary Material: research paper
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): N/A
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: MI
[ *]High School Type: decent Public
[ *]Ethnicity: Asian
[ *]Gender: Female
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Science Olympiad, Violin, Math competitions, Tennis
[ *]Awards: a couple regional things, etc.
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I don’t think CalTech is the right school for me anyway, so not devastated, although slightly disappointed.[ /list]</p>
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Founder of three clubs, Science Olympiad, Math Club, Mock Trial, Service Club, etc…
[</em>]Awards: Tons of Science Olympiad medals at Regional/State level, AP Scholar with Distinction, NMSF, “Student of the year” in four departments…mostly school stuff
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: If you are applying to Caltech, DO SCIENCE FAIR, INTEL, AND SIEMENS!!! Part of the reason I didn’t get in IMO[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 800 CR, 780 M, 720 W
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 790 Biology M
ACT: n/a
GPA: weighted: 5.0
Rank: school doesn’t rank
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):AP Calc BC (5), Chemistry (5), Biology (5)
Subjective
Essays: I thought they were pretty good, but who knows?
Teacher Recs: Dunno, I couldn’t read them, could I?
Counselor Rec: No idea
Supplementary Material: Poster from summer research internship at Duke University
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
Personal
Location: Durham NC
High School Type: NCSSM (public, but residential and selective)
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Other
Extracurriculars: Captain of my school’s Science Bowl team, Varsity XC and track, Ultimate frisbee
Awards: National Merit finalist
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Caltech wasn’t particularly high on my list, so I’m ok with being deferred</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2350 (800 CR, 750 M, 800 W)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Bio M, 800 US History
[<em>]ACT: 36
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 UW
[<em>]Rank: 1/180
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5s on Biology, Calc AB, English Lang, US Gov, US History. Currently taking Macro, Lit, Psych, and dual enrolling calculus/physics. </p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I like my own essays I was the only person to see my short answers, but the longer ones were lightly peer reviewed.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Didn’t see.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Didn’t see. But I’m pretty sure she likes me.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: OD report from the Summer Science Program.
[li]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Wisconsin. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Wisconsin.
[</em>]High School Type: Rural public.
[<em>]Ethnicity: White
[</em>]Gender: Female </p>
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Summer Science Program, Girl Scouts (lots of awards), Academic Decathlon (lots of ribbons), a lot of various music activities (choir, band, orchestra, etc)
[</em>]Awards: National Merit Semi, Gold/Silver/Bronze Awards, AP Scholar w/Distinction
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I loved Caltech when I visited this summer – no snow is a definite plus. And me getting accepted is (scientifically unsound) proof that you can get in with a 750 SAT M My advice is to be yourself in your essays. I think that’s what got me in – my personality was really in those essays.</p>
<p>would anyone find it useful to post a pdf of the application? any juniors curious? I know last year these threads were very useful for me and wondering anyone wants to view an accepted app. just shoot me an email.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: R680/M800/W650
[</em>]SAT II: Math 2 780, US History 790, Physics 750
[<em>]ACT: 30
[</em>]GPA: 3.9
[<em>]Rank: 8/620
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5s on Calc AB&BC, Physics Mech, Psych, US History, 4s on Enviro, World History, Biology, Chemistry, Eng Lang, Physics E&M
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I don’t remember my supplemental essays. commonapp essay was alright. Kind of forced to use it because I submitted my app to another school beforehand and I didn’t know I couldn’t change the main essay after that…
[</em>]Teacher Recs: solid (physics c teacher really liked me, us history teacher mentioned something I did that showed good integrity).
[<em>]Counselor Rec: she likes me
[</em>]Supplementary Material:
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): yo espero
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: south florida
[<em>]High School Type: public, stem magnet
[</em>]Ethnicity: pretty much white as can be
[<em>]Gender: male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: mu alpha theta pres, shs (treasurer, but I don’t think i told them…), nhs, key club, science olympiad, dual enrollment in diffy q and programming in c, university of miami summer program in ECE & biomedical engineering.
[<em>]Awards: ap national scholar, top5%, outstanding achievement in physics c, pathfinder in computer science (received after application), sunshine state scholar nominee
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: wish I could? I guess at least I’m not rejected [/ul]</p>
<p>I’m in the 2014 class and I am not applying to Caltech, but I just wanted to say all you guys who applied are absolutely amazing- both who got in and who didn’t. I hope you guys are proud of yourselves, because you have a lot to be proud of! : )</p>
I was the only person to see my short answers, but the longer ones were lightly peer reviewed.