<p>Congratulations everyone who got into Caltech! Welcome to our prefrosh weekend!!!
Here you will be experiencing the most incredible undergraduate life you can ever imagine: world class faculty, cutting-edge science and technology, numerous research/job opportunities and awards in all the areas you can imagine (you can even be paid thousands of dollars for playing frisbee). Come enjoy!!</p>
<p>For those who didn’t get in: life needs to go on! You still have many other schools waiting for you! They may be the ones that makes you really happy!!! Don’t feel bad about it. If Caltech happens to be your dream school, you can still come as a transfer or graduate student.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2340. Math: 790 Reading: 750 Writing: 800 (Essay 9) (This is super score, my single best is 2260 (720 writing))
[</em>]SAT II: Math II: 800 Bio M: 780 Physics: 790
[<em>]GPA: 4.0 UW. 4.92 W
[</em>]Rank: 3 out of 548 (Top .54%)
[li]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): [/li]Physics B: 5
Environmental Sci: 5
World History: 5
Biology: 5
Calculus BC: 5 (AB Sub-Score 5)
Macro/Micro Economics: 5 and 5
English Language: 5</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Supplementary Material: Two supplementary letters of rec from internship mentors (one from engineering, the other was an economics professor).
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Nope… just another ORM</p>
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Santa Barbara, California
[</em>]High School Type: Public, but best in district
[<em>]Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese). Permanent resident (Yea… being male Asian sucks, but I turned out ok)
[</em>]Gender: MALE</p>
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars:
*Science Bowl (vice president 2 years),
*Economics Team (2 years),
*FIRST Robotics team (Team 1717, Head of Team Finance, Pneumatics, and Electronics)
*Boys Tennis Team (4 years),
*Piano (4+ Years),
*Sustainability club (founder/president),
*Internship in UCSB Economics (summer),
*Internship in EE at UCSB (summer),
*Ping Pong Club
*245 hours of community service at Hospital
Etc.
[</em>]Awards:<br>
Westmont College High School Math Competition Team Winner 2008 and 2009
Capital Markets Contest 2009<em>:: (state) 1st place
California State Economics Challenge Championship 2009</em>:: (State) 1st in California,<br>
National Council on Economic Education- Economics Challenge West Regional 2009<em>:: (Regional/Semi-national) 2nd out of 8 states
Regional Science Bowl 2009 and 2010</em>:: (Regional) 1st place both years
National Science Bowl 2009 and 2010<em>:: (National) Nationals Qualifier for two consecutive years
*FIRST Robotics 2010: (Regional) San Diego Regional Finalist and Motorola Quality Award
National Merit Finalist 2009-2010
Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation: Towbes Foundation Scholar ($7500 merit scholarship)
National AP Scholar 2009
Music Teachers’ Association of California:: Certificate of Merit for Piano 2006, 2007, 2008: (State: for levels 4,7,9)
American College of Musicians: National Piano Playing Auditions 2008:: Intermediate C (State) state winner
Most Improved Player on HS Tennis Team 2007 and 2008
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I got deferred from MIT and Caltech from Early Action, which hurt A LOT, especially considering that I saw two fellow female classmates get in. It felt unfair cause my stats were better, I felt, in every way. But now I am happy cause I got into college, so don’t sweat it if you are competitive and get deferred!!!
[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 680CR, 800M, 800W
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math2, 800 Phy, 800 Chem
[<em>]ACT: -
[</em>]GPA: 4.0, I think, my school doesn’t use GPA
[<em>]Rank: 2/~200
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): -
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Excellent
[</em>]Teacher Recs: One generic+excellent, one generic+average
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Excellent, she supported me so much that she later wrote another letter to support my app.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Additional rec from my IMO trainers
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): IMO, Potential IMO 2010 and IPhO 2010 team member
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Hong Kong (International)
[<em>]High School Type: Private, top tier
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: IMO, Joint-School Math Soc. President, PhO, A little bit of sports
[<em>]Awards: IMO Silver x 1
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Well… It is difficult for them to reject an IMO medalist, isn’t it?[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2400 single sitting
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Chem, Physics, Math II, 780 US Hist
[<em>]ACT: 36 single sitting
[</em>]GPA: ~4.21 W, ~3.88 UW
[<em>]Rank: 24/521
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 126 AMC12, 8 AIME; 5 on AP USH, Euro, Stats, Macroecon, Microecon, Phys C EM, Phys C Mech, Chem, BC Calc, CS AB
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: 6/10
[</em>]Teacher Recs: 9/10
[<em>]Counselor Rec: 6/10
[</em>]Supplementary Material: N/A
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: OH
[<em>]High School Type: competitive public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian Indian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: captain of Quizbowl team, science bowl team, president of math club, member of various other clubs with minor leadership positions in some
[<em>]Awards: various state-level recognitions for mathematics, Siemens AP award winner, some other niggling things.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I’m not too surprised. I wasn’t <em>that</em> keen on Caltech, in any case.
[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2260 (800 CR, 730 W, 730 M)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Bio M, 750 Lit, 730 Chem
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: 4.47 W, 4.00 UW
[<em>]Rank: School no longer reveals rankings, but I know top 1-2% of 605
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5’s on all AP tests, except 4 on AP Euro
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I think I had some really entertaining essays that really showed my passions (: even if they were written the day before the deadline
[</em>]Teacher Recs: My teachers like me, so I hope they were good ones
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Same as teachers.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: nope.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): maybe good essays? I’m really not sure
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: California
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: F
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Academic League (VP), Science Olympiad (Secretary), Surf club, Chess club (Treasurer), Double-dutch club (Secretary), Link Crew, other random ones. Volunteered around 200 hours. Nothing very impressive or remarkable.
[<em>]Awards: San Diego Junior Miss Scholastic Award, an assortment of random acronyms
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today. --William Allen White
(: Good job everybody who applied. I think you guys are awesome for just trying!
[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800 CR, 800 M, 740 W, 9 essay (2340 total)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 2, 790 Chem, 790 Bio
[<em>]ACT: 35 cumulative, 8 essay, all the section scores were around 35, best was 36 science
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 unweighted (not anymore hahaaa), 4.8 weighted
[<em>]Rank: 16/450ish? (I think the rank on the midyear report was a little higher)
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP’s, Chemistry (5) Calc BC (5) Latin Lit (4). I only took three, but this is somewhat normal at my school, and I’m taking 5 this year.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I’m not sure… I’m not usually the best essay writer (as you can tell from my test scores haha), but I liked these. I was worried that I might’ve sounded too nerdy on my essays (Caltech was the only school where I was honest about my geekiness ahaha), since I though maybe Caltech didn’t want any more nerds, but I guess it all turned out alright.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Didn’t see them, I’m guessing they were good but nothing special.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Same; good but nothing special. My counselor really liked me, she just didn’t know me very well.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: one recommendation letter from a summer research mentor. I think it should’ve been pretty good. At least proof that I’m adequate in a lab.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Nope.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: North Carolina
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Debate (class captain), Science Club <a href=“president”>all the science competitions the school participates in, grouped in one club</a>, Science Olympiad (varsity captain), Science Days service club (founder+president), SkillsUSA (vice president), Octagon service club (President, Vice for the past 2 years), National Honor Society, Peer Tutoring. 250+ service hours, if that counts for anything… it actually is probably a whole lot been more than that; I stopped filing the service learning forms after a while.
[<em>]Awards: Uhm, a fair number, for science competitions, debate, Latin. Nothing too prestigious though, they were on the state/regional level, with the exception of a few national circuit debate awards.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: AHHHH this is the first college I’ve gotten into, it’s just such a relief to know that I’ll have somewhere to go next year. Although I honestly have no clue how I got in hahaha; I’m afraid people are going to think I’m ■■■■■■■■, actually.
As for those who didn’t get in, you’re probably too good for Caltech anyway
I bet a lot of you applied to MIT too, so good luck with that tomorrow![/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2230 superscored. 2090 first time; 2190 second (was not submitted to Caltech)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II/ 790 Chem/ 790 Biolo
[<em>]ACT: 34
[</em>]GPA: 3.95 UW, 4.3ish W
[<em>]Rank: top 2% 7/600ish at the time of mid-year reports
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5s in AP Bio, APUSH, AP Calc AB & BC, AP euro, AP psych, AP chem. 4s in lang and gov. Semifinalist in USABO
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Commonapp essay was crap. Was re-reading it the other day. I sound like a freaking middle schooler having some sort of stupid revelation.
The describe me short answer was different. HAd this little paragraph that was freaking awesome.
integrity essay was cliche.
Humor essay was about puns. Rather…interesting to say the least.
Long essay was okay. Talked about my research and how much I loved it.
short answer showed more of my enthusiasm and love for science though.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: #1: Could have been bad or good. He liked me, but he’s a very honest teacher and stuff. I think it was good though</p>
<h1>2: probably raved about my artsy/creative skills. Also good. I’m sure she liked me. Struggled a bit in her class (I’m no good at foreign languages), but managed to get As, so should have said something about effort and the like.</h1>
<p>[<em>]Counselor Rec: barely knew me. Probably did a decent job because of the packet the counselors make us do.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Sent a letter of rec from my mentor during mid-year (I was deferred EA)
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Research, I guess?
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: OR
[<em>]High School Type: mid-sized public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Science bowl, MUN
[<em>]Awards: third place in regional Sci bowl, national merit finalist
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Don’t worry if you’re deferred EA. It’s possible to still get in (I didn’t believe this myself, but LOOK AT ME) You can still get in without big awards and stuff, just show your enthusiasm for science and math.[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 660 CR, 670 Writing, 800 Math
[</em>]SAT II:800 Math II, 760 Physics
[<em>]ACT: 32, 35 Math, 34 Science
[</em>]GPA:3.9ish, I don’t really care about it, B’s are in English.
[<em>]Rank:6/435
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Sucked at the AMC, and I don’t have an excuse. APs: World History 5, U.S. History 5, Micro/Macro 4/4, Environmental 5, English Lang 5.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Good, not great.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Probably on par with everyone else.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: She thinks I’m brilliant, probably awesome.
[</em>]Supplementary Material:Very little.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):Spoke with both Track and basketball coaches, I will probably be running Track if I go.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location:Winston-Salem NC
[<em>]High School Type: Large Public, very diverse. Ranked nationally though.
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Cross country, Track, Piano, Eagle Scout.
[<em>]Awards:Nothing math or science related. I got like 10th in the state in math.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Just be yourself when you apply. I’m good, but there many, many brighter people than me. Be honest and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 790 M 700 Wr 730 CR
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 800 Physics 800 Chemistry
[<em>]GPA: 3.97/4.00
[</em>]Rank: Not ranked
[<em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 4 AIME, 102 AMC12, 5’s on AP Physics B, Computer Science AB, Calculus BC
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[</em>]Essays: wrote it a year in advance… good
[<em>]Teacher Recs: never saw them
[</em>]Counselor Rec: never saw it
[<em>]Supplementary Material: website
[</em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: N. California
[</em>]High School Type: Public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Website, CSF, Physics and Astronomy Club, Math and Science Club, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica
[</em>]Awards: none really
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2210 (680C, 730W, 800M)
[</em>]SAT II:Math II - 740, Physics - 750, Bio M - 760
[<em>]ACT: Did not take
[</em>]GPA: Not Available
[<em>]Rank:School does not rank, but top decile grade wise…
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):None
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays:Not very good
[</em>]Teacher Recs:1 very good, 1 good
[<em>]Counselor Rec:very good
[</em>]Supplementary Material:Self Research Work
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):None
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location:India
[<em>]High School Type:Private
[</em>]Ethnicity:Indian
[<em>]Gender Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extra-curriculars: Leadership, Research, Soccer
[<em>]Awards: nothing significant
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Internationals are not given need-blind admission process. I think it was a significant disadvantage to apply for aid. Also, my Caltech essays were the worst among the lot, I just reused the essays I wrote for other colleges.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2160 Combined - 770 M 710 CR 680 W
[</em>]SAT II: 780 M2 770 PHY 630 PHY <- lol first time taking it.
[<em>]ACT: 33 - 35 math 34 english, 29 science; don’t remember rest
[</em>]GPA: 4.81/5 Weighted
[<em>]Rank: On transcript: 2, dropped to 3 this semester lolx
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): World History AP: 4. Nothing else; I go to a charter school where I take dual credit courses, so all of my classes are at a community college.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Good-ish…
[</em>]Teacher Recs: One was great, other one I didn’t see
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Didn’t see, but I assume was great.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): The only thing I can name is taking Differential Equations/Linear Algebra/Multivariable Calc. No science or USAMI/AMDoodle/whatever else awards as I never took them.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Texas - Dallas area
[<em>]High School Type: First two years: Large Public (class of ~1000), Second two Years: Small Charter (~class of ~150)
[</em>]Ethnicity: White/Hispanic (Algerian/Mexican)
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: uh… Robotics team, 11th and 12th grades (no awards), Engineering club 10th grade, and uh… practically nothing else.
[<em>]Awards: lol, nothing.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I guess my essays pulled through. I was deferred EA and was kind of disappointed that I didn’t apply RD and use the extra time to refine my writing, but I guess I didn’t need to. I hope everyone rejected doesn’t think this is the end of the world – a great school is only a tool; ultimately, the student decides how to use its resources to their advantage. You can become a great leader anywhere, if you are willing to apply yourself.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone that was accepted! I was sent a rejection letter, although I was told months ago that my application was not going to be considered because I hadn’t taken Math II. But I would still like to know if I had a chance at being accepted. Should I give them a call? Will they tell me which parts of my application were good/bad?</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2060 (Super scored 2110)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II; 760 Chem
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: UW: 94/100
[<em>]Rank: I think I’m in top 5%. School doesn’t rank
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc AB: 5</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: They were alright
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Pretty good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Decent
[</em>]Supplementary Material: N/A
[li]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): N/A</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: International
[</em>]High School Type: Public
[li]Ethnicity: ORM :(</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Chess, volunteering, etc. Nothing too spectacular
[</em>]Awards: Math & Physics contests awards
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Whatever. I expected a rejection.</p>[/li]
<p>International + Financial Aid = Rejection for me :(</p>
<p>Good job to everyone who made it! You all deserve this moment of joy!</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2120(700 M, 700 WR, 720 CR
[ *]SAT II: 740 M2, 660 Bio-M, 630 Physics(I explained these)
[ *]ACT: 31(did not submit)
[ *]GPA: 4.2
[ *]Rank:2
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc AB - 5, Spanish Language - 5, English Language - 4, US History - 4, World History - 4
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: I guess pretty good
[ *]Teacher Recs: pretty good as well
[ *]Counselor Rec: I read it, absolutely stellar
[ *]Supplementary Material: MITES Evaluations(decent
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): URM, First generation, MITES
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: California
[ *]High School Type: Public
[ *]Ethnicity: Hispanic
[ *]Gender: Male
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: MESA President, NHS Vice President, lots of math science tutoring, about 4 Math/science summer programs, including MITES
[ *]Awards: a few medals for MESA, National Hispanic Scholar, Ap Scholar w/Distinction
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list] I still can’t believe it, but I’ll take it. Congrats to everyone! And to those who didn’t, you’re all great anyway, don’t worry too much.</p>
<p>I guess I wasn’t good enough. I enjoyed talking to you smart Caltech people
Although I’m disappointed, my girlfriend won’t let me mope around. So it’s cool. I’ll survive.</p>
