<p>hi i'm a junior girl from new jersey</p>
<p>should i ED cornell (CALS) or caltech? i have strong ECs and a 4.6 GPA/3.8ish UW and i'm top 10% but my SAT is baaaaaaaad (690 CR/660 M/670 W) </p>
<p>SATII: 670 bio</p>
<p>i guess i just dont test well =(</p>
<p>i really want caltech, it has EVERYTHING i want. its my perfect school.
and cornell is well...cornell.</p>
<p>You shouldn't ED at a school with which you're not absolutely enamored.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, unless you ECs are truly amazing, your scores make Caltech a huge reach. </p>
<p>Also, Caltech has EA, which isn't binding and lets you apply to other schools early.</p>
<p>snag, you and I are in similar boats as far as SAT scores are concerned. I guess you just have to weigh your priorities; Caltech is important to me so I will do some decent prep and retake this fall. (740 CR, 640 M & 630 W last October)</p>
<p>When I took the SAT, it was just a "ah, whatever, gotta do this" kind of thing; I was hardly aware of the score range until I got my scores back! (Besides what I'd read in a book about Feynman, Caltech didn't exist in my world then.) I had spent a few nights briefly looking through a Kaplan CD for the old SAT and that was about all the preparation I had. I'm pretty confident that I will be able to at least bring my math score above 700 - still not great, but much better than 640. You should think about the possibility of re-taking the test.</p>
<p>I know that the CollegeBoard claims that the SAT math doesn't test actual facts but really I say it does. There is little enough time for the actual algebraic dirty work that it is necessary to understand the "reasoning" parts cold (as if they were facts to memorize) before walking in. For example, the sum of two odd numbers is an even number. Why? Because every odd number is (1+even #), so (odd+odd) is [(1+even)+(1+even)]=(2+even)=even. Knowing things like this very well BEFORE entering the test (so you don't need to figure them out with valuable testing time) will help; in fact, this basically my plan for prepping for the next time I take the test.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, did you take Biology E or Biology M?</p>
<p>I don't know, your test scores will probably kill you at both Cornell and Caltech. For your reference, on SAT I, i got a 800 on Math, 720 on Verbal, and 730 on Writing. For SAT II, I got 800 on Math 2C and 750 on Physics. Still I am waitlisted at Caltech.</p>
<p>I don't want to discourage both of you. But it really is tough to get into Caltech, as I have experienced. I had like 4.6 GPA, the above test scores, and a good amount of EC's but I am on waitlist. But you can bring your test scores up and perhaps get accepted. Good luck.</p>
<p>perplex,</p>
<p>i'm glad to know we're in the same boat. i'm also retaking in Oct. and MUST score higher! =)</p>
<p>i took bio M</p>
<p>hope we're both in caltech sept 2007!</p>
<p>snag,
U'll have a tough time getting in both places.
I had SAT II: Physics:800, Chem:800, Math II: 800
And 800, 720, 710 in SAT 1.
I did Cornell ED and trust me, almost everyone had similar stats.
Both a very competitive schools to get into.
Also, the ED/EA pool is usually more competitive than the RD pool.</p>
<p>what about harvey mudd? is it just as hard?</p>
<p>let me quote a friend of mine who is at caltech in response to my workload at hmc (direct copy/paste):</p>
<p>"Jeez dude, so many classes. You're probably working harder than me."</p>
<p>I don't know if # of classes translates directly into difficulty but it sure adds to it.</p>
<p>"(Besides what I'd read in a book about Feynman, Caltech didn't exist in my world then.)"</p>
<p>SAME! After reading Feynman's books back in 7th grade, Caltech seemed like the perfect fit! And my visit a few years ago confirmed this :).. Caltech should send out free copies of Feynman's books to recruit students, hehe :).</p>
<p>First off the big thing you need to up is the Math score. If you are a bad test taker show in other ways your math and science ability. I self studies AP BC calc my junior year. I took the national Chem Olympiad (which is a test but a much more specific one than SATs). Also do well on Math 2C as there is a really nice curve so Tech doesn't like to see much below 800 (or at lease I am guessing). Also never give up, apply EA even if you know you have no chance EA. if you get differed to RD write a letter get in contact with your admissions councilor, if you plan on visiting (which I highly suggest) go talk to your admissions councilor. I know they say they don't do interviews but just go talk to them show your passion. Then if you are put on waitlist do the exact same thing as you did after EA call show interest write a letter. The big thing here is show passion for science in everything you do for Caltech. Don't do this artificially if you don't have a HUGE and I mean HUGE passions for science Caltech is probably not the place for you.</p>
<p>As for the question about HMC. I applied ED there and was flat out rejected but was taken off the waitlist at Caltech. I am convinced there were two things working here my low verbal SAT (HMC seems to want to raise all their stats) and the fact that I am a white male (they want women and minorities). Caltech does not seem to care a whole lot about either of these. Overall though HMC is easier to get into. I am guessing I am just an odd case. Best of luck to both of you when you apply bring up those SATs and be passionate about what you love.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Jeez dude, so many classes. You're probably working harder than me."</p>
<p>I don't know if # of classes translates directly into difficulty but it sure adds to it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That depends on the major, EE and Physics students at Caltech often take 6, or sometimes 7 classes per quarter. Practically, it makes those majors at Caltech probably the most rigorous undergraduate program across the United States.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, cyprus.</p>
<p>"EE and Physics students at Caltech often take 6, or sometimes 7 classes per quarter"</p>
<p>That doesn't seem right. In physics, at least, I wouldn't say students often take 6 or 7 classes a term. In fact, a phys major was telling me how he took 4 classes junior year and still had a hard time because the classes took so much out of him.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That doesn't seem right. In physics, at least, I wouldn't say students often take 6 or 7 classes a term. In fact, a phys major was telling me how he took 4 classes junior year and still had a hard time because the classes took so much out of him.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At least in my year that's the tendency, anyway, when I said 6 classes, I didn't mean 6 Physics or ACM or EE classes.</p>
<p>As a sophomore physics major I took/take:</p>
<p>Fall (51 units):
1. Waves + Oscillations (ph 12a)
2. Anolog Electronics (ph 5)
3. Complex Analysis (acm 95a)
4. Intro to Poly Sci (ps 12)
5. C Language shop (cs 11)
6. Computational Physics lab (ph 20)</p>
<p>Winter (48 units):
1. Quantum Mechanics (ph 12b)
2. E+M physics lab (ph 6)
3. Advanced diff eq (acm 95b)
4. Comparative Politics (ps 139)
5. History on Film (h 131)</p>
<p>Spring (48 units):
1. Statistical Mechanics (ph 12c)
2. Nuclear physics lab (ph 7)
3. PDEs (acm 95c)
4. History of US Budgetary Politics (ps 141)
5. Eighteenth Century Art (art 55)</p>
<p>I feel I have a pretty average schedule, except that for having an extra hum or two because I took math 2 last year. Generally, the people I know take 5 full classes on average, and that's what my personal target is. Next year, I'll be dropping down to 45 academic units because of ramping course difficulty and a higher density of physics classes.</p>
<p>I must say cghen, that's an impressive load. I kinda envy you getting to take all those incredible math and physics classes...oh well, guess I'll have to wait till I'm a sophomore.</p>