<p>So, as i read through the stats of 2013 EAers, and i start thinking about next year when ill be applying, theres one thing ive noticed. At my school (like an hour south of pasadena), weve done pretty good at getting people into caltech. with one EA acceptance on thursday, we now have gotten 5 people in in the last two years (with only 1 having gone and this latest one planning to go). But compared to some of the rejects ive seen, the accepted at my school are nothing spectacular. of the three i know, none of them have gotten 800s on science subject tests, none of them have competed in math or sci competitions, and none of them have done any research, and each has their own share of extracurricular accomplishment (nothing that is sci/math related, however). conversely, we havent gotten anyone into any other top 10 school for awhile.</p>
<p>now, i think our acceptances can be attributed to our environment. the students i know are ridiculously talented, but we live in a poor area that doesnt necessarily cater to minds like those youd find at caltech. thus, i would normally think that many of our students would be able to get into similar caliber schools like HYPMS, but that simply isnt the case.</p>
<p>the only noticeable difference between insane rejects and our caltech acceptances is background/community. so i ask the question, how much emphasis does caltech place on background?</p>
<p>They use it to help paint a picture of where you come from.</p>
<p>Obviously if your school does not offer AP classes (for example), they will not reject you because you failed to take Bio AP. That being said, the typical Caltech admit will find other outlets for their scientific interest.</p>
<p>The people that got admitted from your school most likely had several things going for them, between fantastic teacher recommendations and a passionate pursuit of science outside of test scores and competitions. I do not know why everyone thinks that you have to be this avid competitor/tester to be a successful Caltech applicant- or to even be successful at Caltech.</p>
<p>You need to have strong test scores and to demonstrate a unilateral passion for math/science. And this will show through your activities, your teacher recs, and your personal essays. Nowhere on this list does it say that one needs to be a USAMO champion, or an IPO, IChO Champion, etc. (Though it certainly helps). </p>
<p>Anyways, I hope I answered your question somewhat. Look around your environment, and the successful Caltech applicant usually has found some way to channel their environment to have fun and enjoy math/science.</p>
<p>My son was admitted from a very poor, rural, midwestern community, but I wonder if the difference you see in Caltech and other schools regarding whom is admitted from your school is maybe more of an ethnicity issue. I don't think Caltech takes that into account, so it may be that if talented white or Asian males are getting into Caltech from your school but not the Ivies, MIT, etc., it may have less to do with your community and more to do with whether the schools select applicants based upon race/gender.</p>