<p>I heard Caltech accepted 30% of its early action applicants as opposed to 10% of its regular round applicants last year. I also heard that the acceptance rate for male is 10%, whereas the acceptance for female is 25%. I understand the second difference, but why the heck would early applicants have way higher acceptance than the regular applicants? Does that mean get into Caltech in the early round is significantly easier?</p>
<p>Just wondering–where did you hear 30%/10%? I wouldn’t have guessed the difference was that extreme…</p>
<p>I’d like to see the data too. I have tried searching but I can’t find Caltech’s EA admit rate.</p>
<p>“I heard” Thats the key word.
But still, Jst look at the EA thread, the applicant stats this year is pretty insane.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there is some sort of quota practice going on in the EA round? Every year for the past three years [when my school started keeping records], only two students maximum have been accepted early action. The same has held true for another nearby school.</p>
<p>There was a discussion on the subject on the number of female admits and if that was due to AA in the Caltech student newspaper earlier this year</p>
<p><a href=“http://tech.caltech.edu/archive/05_03_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://tech.caltech.edu/archive/05_03_2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can read the article and it gives you some reasons why the higher proportion of female admits without Affirmative Action. CalTech does not practice AA.</p>
<p>Here is the stated CalTech Admission Policy regarding multiple students from the same school applying. They do not have quotas.</p>
<p>[Frequently</a> Asked Questions - Caltech Caltech Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/faqs#policy]Frequently”>http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/faqs#policy)</p>
<p>Admissions Policy</p>
<p>Is it harder for me to get in if there are a lot of applicants from my high school?
No. We neither read nor evaluate applications in any sort of grouping. Each application is considered individually against the entire pool. Our goal is to admit the best possible class; therefore, we may admit all, some, or none of the students from any particular high school.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve read the statement on quotas, but it doesn’t specify anything regarding EA. A student, who I thought had a really high chance of getting in as a Siemens regional finalist and with great numbers, wasn’t rejected-- just deferred, while exactly two other students from his school were accepted EA. For all I know, he could have been accepted, and may be in line for acceptance via RD (thus rendering the Caltech statement still valid), but maybe didn’t make EA because there was a limit at some point…?</p>
<p>If I remember correctly… the EA acceptance rate is not that much higher than RD.
RD is about 15%… so I think EA is about 20-23%? But expect that each year gets worse because Tech had to move to a new Admissions Building because the old one was just not large enough last year.</p>
<p>Two Things to consider too…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There is absolutely no quota ever. In my year three people were accepted to Tech just from MY high school. Also I know three current freshmen students from Florida who went to the SAME high school. </p></li>
<li><p>Awards and numbers are important, blah blah blah. But please don’t think that they are the ONLY factor. The most important factor is showing your LOVE of science/math/engineering. Because if you don’t love it, you will not belong to Caltech. Seriously, as a freshmen here, all of my friends have higher SAT scores than I did (higher as in 2300+), but we all have the same level of excitement about pursuing STEM. Also I had a friend this year with a perfect 2400 get deferred EA for class for 2015. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>So yea, a 2400 is better than a 2300. A Siemens award is better than no award. And yea, having so and so experience, it better than just sitting at home and watching TV.
But at the end of the day, all of this won’t matter unless you just show your passion in your essays. And that is about all you CAN do.</p>
<p>EA and RD acceptance rates are relatively the same each year: I confirmed this with a Caltech admission counselor</p>
<p>Dear Boom,</p>
<p>Thank you for your inquiry . Generally speaking, Caltech admits approximately 14% of our Early Action applicants (we had over 1,000 EA applicants last year). We also admitted 14% of our Regular Action application last year. For more information about Caltech’s application process, please visit our webiste at admissions.caltech.edu. Thank you for your interest in Caltech!</p>
<p>Warm regards,
O. C. Wolf</p>