<p>I didn’t do any research or do any state or national competitions. To be honest, I don’t even know how i got in.</p>
<p>What’s your school like? Are there a lot of math/science activities available? Do many people go to top colleges (or to four-year programs at all)? Caltech takes your background into account when evaluating you. If you’ve made the most of your opportunities, they will look upon you favorably.</p>
<p>My son’s doing research but didn’t send anything in. He was recently admitted.</p>
<p>@LHC I posted my stats and other stuff on both of the official rd threads. And no, my school doesn’t send people off to prestigious universities that often. The top people in the senior class usually go to UCLA or Berkeley. So I’m quite surprised.</p>
<p>cerritoskid, </p>
<p>Our neighborhood high school (my son is homeschooled and not at this high school) has an average SAT score (all three sections) of 1275-1300. I know exactly one kid in our circle of acquaintances in our area that went to UCLA (he didn’t go to the local high school, though); the rest go to the local state school, community college, or no college. Sounds somewhat similar to your school.</p>