<p>I think it's assumed most students entering Caltech have taken most of the math and science AP courses, or the IB equivalent. </p>
<p>AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, etc.</p>
<p>Is this sufficient? Will a student coming out of these high school courses be well-prepared enough to enter the Caltech core? Or is some other form of preparation necessary?</p>
<p>Depends how serious those classes were, and how much your reasoning ability has developed. I think the prerequisite is more maturity than knowledge.</p>
<p>If your calculus class involved little more than calculating some basic derivatives and integrals, you need to seriously reconsider your preparation.</p>
<p>The best way to tell is to check out some of the textbooks they’re using and see if your preparation is considerable enough.</p>
<p>The first 2 terms at Caltech are pass/fail for precisely this reason. I came into Caltech with the standard set of all AP classes, and it was fine (fine as in, I was challenged, but not overwhelmed). Adjusting to the workload is not so much about knowing things beforehand, but about learning how to learn efficiently. This is why I advise prefrosh to not prepare at all the summer before coming to Tech. Pass/fail is your time to learn how to learn without the risk of getting bad grades if/when you screw up.</p>
<p>You should enjoy your last free summer :)</p>
<p>Almost every has taken AP Calc BC. I’d say most people have taken at least two out of physics B, C, chem, and bio. I don’t know many people who took physics C, chem, and bio- a lot of people simply don’t have time to take all of these classes in HS, and it’s not a big deal if you haven’t taken all of them.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much. You will struggle. You will pass. You will learn something about yourself and how much you can handle and it will make you a better person (or at least that’s how it worked for me.)</p>