<p>I go to a nice NE prep school. My college counselor has been working with college admissions for ~30 years and has been a cc at my school for ~25. She tells me that she expects me to get into Caltech (actually, she says she thought I would get in early).</p>
<p>Now, I REALLY want to believe her, but considering: 1) I didn't get in early, 2) I'd hate to think I'm getting in only to get rejected, and 3) It's Caltech; how confident should I be in her?</p>
<p>Given no information about your profile, it's hard to say. You should probably take anything high school teachers/counselors say with a grain of salt -- they see a relatively small fraction of cases and can't always judge reliably what the pool as a whole looks like. I wouldn't lose hope, but if you can send in anything to make your application stronger or update it, I would do that if I were you.</p>
<p>My teachers and guidance counselors were convinced I'd get in everywhere I applied. I didn't ;-)</p>
<p>Information about profile.... what exactly do you want? 2270 SAT, 800 Chem, Physics, IIC, Top 10%, rigorous math/science course load, biology research, ~120s AMC, 6 AIME, a few varsity letters, a bunch of math and science awards .... anything else?</p>
<p>Well, if I remember correctly lizzardfire, you got into Caltech, which was your first choice, right? Worked out all right for you. Frankly, I wouldn't care if every college except my first choice rejected me, except for the fact that I don't have a clear-cut first choice (don't worry, it's just between Caltech and maybe one or two other schools because of $$$ and family stuff)</p>
<p>Your profile is pretty strong -- its about the median for the people we accept, maybe a little better. (Obviously I'm making a judgment on a very small amount of information.) However, getting deferred is not such a good signal, so it might help you to call the admissions office and ask you if there was anything that was an issue with your application, and maybe you could improve your chances in some way.</p>
<p>Mathwiz- Caltech was my first choice, but it wasn't at the time I applied for colleges (I visited in March, that's what really set it for me). I applied to eight schools and got into five--only one of my reaches.</p>
<p>Specifically, I was denied admission from MIT, Princeton, and Stanford. It's also worth noting that although I did get into Caltech, I got in on the waitlist... </p>
<p>The point is not that I'm not happy (I am... I love Caltech) but that my guidance counselors thought I was a safe bet to get into all of those places... and I wasn't.</p>
<p>Last year my nephew had similar stats and was also waitlisted. I'm not sure how hard he tried to get off it though.</p>
<p>Ben- I did call the Admissions Office back in December, but they didn't tell me anything. They basically said that the reason I was deferred was a combination of: a) Colleges are conservative in early admissions and b) I was strong enough to not be rejected. I asked them if they could tell me anything specific about my application, and they didn't. What does this mean?</p>
<p>It probably means there wasn't some overt concern like "bites people". It is true that Caltech especially is very tight on the early round, because every spot we give away early is one we'll never get back, even if the regular pool is incredibly strong.</p>
<p>So the only thing we can surmise is that your application wasn't quite strong enough to make the admit cut on the early round... the regular cut might be a bit lower, but I'd send in anything extra and good that's happened since then to help your application. Anything helps, really -- if you have a nice essay you wrote that says something interesting about you, or new awards. Every bit of material should be meaningful, but it certainly doesn't hurt to send a little something -- even if it's just a short update note about what you've been doing since you applied.</p>
<p>Thank you Ben. </p>
<p>Getting back to my counselor, should I or should I not trust her? (she knows much more about me than I'm willing to post in this forum)</p>
<p>If she thought you'd get in early and was wrong, that's a strike against. She's probably a better than average guide in general, but I wouldn't let her certainty that you'll get in during the regular round prevent you from sending in things that might strengthen your application.</p>
<p>A counselor knowing a lot about you in no way implies that she knows anything about Caltech.</p>
<p>What's your school's track record with Caltech been in the past? So few kids from our school have applied, I don't think our GC could make any realistic predictions.</p>