International Student Interested in Caltech... (I hope Ben replies!)

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>Ok, this might turn out to be a pretty long post!
Well guys, I'm an international student from Trinidad & Tobago and I've just finished CSEC (O'Levels... they are about grade 10 level work). We have an international school here and I got a scholarship (based on my grades) to go there for two years. So instead of doing the CAPE exams (equivilant to A'Levels), I will be attempting the SATs for the first time this October and will be starting AP's. I'm going into grade 11 from September BTW.
In grade 11 I would be doing these APs</p>

<p>Physics B
Calc AB
Chem
Stats
and in 2nd year</p>

<p>Biology
Physics C
Calc BC
and i can do whatever i want here (I might do something like world history or economics)</p>

<p>I'm interested in a field called nanotechnology and I just blindly assumed that Caltech did Engineering Physics but I'm browsing the website and I'm not seeing it... T_T. Can anyone here clarify if they do nanotechnology or not? Thanks!</p>

<p>The reason why i want to go to the international school is because in our schools here we dont really get the opportunity to do much EC's since they are disorganized (our administration sucks). So as a result, my current EC's are not from school O_O. ( i go to a semi-public school now).
Well thus far my EC's are</p>

<p>Music: Guitar
Harmonium (indian instrument)
Steel Pan ( trinidadian instrument also known as steel drum)
Swimming (its recreational so i highly doubt it counts at all)
Archery (i just started this)
I also started latin dance classes (rofl!)</p>

<p>When I start the international school I'd be able to do </p>

<p>Steel Pan in the school band
I always wanted to play violin so i might try that
Science club
Math olympiad
Golf
Community service in an orphanaga</p>

<p>So guys, say i do all these EC's and get say 2100+ on SAT's and triple 750+ in SAT 2's and all 5's on AP's ... how do my chances look. I still have two years so im thinking i have time to "pull up my socks" with respect to my EC's. (assuming i do the math olympiad well) Oh, also I have gotten awards each year in HS for academics (thats one thing i love about my school!)</p>

<p>EDIT: Oh, another thing... this summer i wanted to teach myself programming.. do you guys know of any good books/tutorials? Should i do this or not? im having quite a hard time with sats right now (the CR section TT_TT) so should i use this summer and really focus on sats alot or what?</p>

<p>THANKS FOR ALL REPLIES!</p>

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<p>I'm not quite sure what you mean specifically by nanotechnology, but I do know that there are several labs on campus working at the nano-scale length. There's people working on microfluidics, nano-fabrication, MEMS, and things of that nature. Two groups that come to mind are Atwater's group (<a href="http://daedalus.caltech.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://daedalus.caltech.edu/&lt;/a&gt;) and Tai's MEMS Lab (<a href="http://mems.caltech.edu/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://mems.caltech.edu/)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

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<p>University of Waterloo in canada has a major "Nanotechnology Engineering". anywa, so what major would i have to do to work with nanotechnology? Material science?
Also, what do you think my chances will be?</p>

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<p>From the University of Waterloo: "Nanotechnology engineering is a multi-disciplinary engineering field which simultaneously draws from and benefits areas such as materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology."</p>

<p>So depending on what you specifically want to work on in relation to nanotechnology, you coudl be in a variety of departments. I think the one's that do the most nano-scale work are applied physics and electrical engineering. Depending on your specific interests, you could end up in any of a number of fields, including material science, mechanical engineering, physics, or chemistry.</p>

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<p>ahhh ok thanks, i still have a lot of time to choose majors etc;, im more concerned about actually getting in (i think they have an extremely low no. of international students gaining admission?)</p>

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<p>hi vin --</p>

<p>i would focus on the olympiad stuff. other extracurriculars, especially less sciency ones, are not so important. so just try to do as well as you possibly can on the olympiads. especially coming from a small country, you really have a chance to go to the international level, so i would definitely devote as much free time as possible to that kind of thing.</p>

<p>if you do that, i'd say your chances would be pretty strong (though keep in mind that the competition in the international pool is crazy)</p>

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<p>Ok thanks alot ben!</p>

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<p>also, how would you guys say my chances at mit would be? i would be applying to mit as well.</p>

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<p>international pool is roughly equally crazy at the two schools, but probably more people are applying to MIT just because, so I'd say the competition may be even a little more fierce there.</p>

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<p>Is IB welcomed by Cal Tech?????
7s for HL Maths, Bio and Chem helpful?
no Further Maths though</p>

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<p>Yes, Caltech likes IB :)</p>

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<p>Do they hate A levels?..
I'll have four.. Which is the norm.. But if i take a gap year and study another 3 A levels on my own.. Would that help at all?</p>

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<p>No A levels are fine too. Basically, from what I understand about international admissions, as long as you take the standard curriculum for smart students available in your country and do well (whether that be A levels, IB, or other tests that are the norm in various countries) you will be fine.</p>

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<p>Axel's lab also does a lot of nanotech stuff.</p>

<p>nanofab.caltech.edu</p>

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<p>But if i were to take one gap year for whatever reasons.. Would the extra 3 A levels in addition to the 4 help me?</p>

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<p>Would the 3 A levels count as its not taken in my 4 high school years?</p>

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<p>Well i applied with only 4 A-levels and was accepted so I would assume that your 4 A-levels would be sufficient - in particular as i dont have particularly good extra-curriculars (especially compared to some people in this forum :o ). I cant see why they would mind whether you did the 3 extra A levels in the year after high school but wouldnt that make it harder to get references?</p>

<p>Also i know some universities regard a gap year as a disadvantage for subjects that are heavy in maths.</p>

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<p>Jaffa, what kind of ECs did you have? Are you on aid?</p>

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<p>Jaffa, what kind of ECs did you have? Are you on aid?</p>

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<p>I think for those who are planning to take a gap year, like myself, it is a good opportunity to demonstrate how self-motivated and also organized we can be. I am planning to take A-levels too; however, we have to do more than just taking a-level in order to show our abilities(academic) and interested.</p>

<p>For example, I am planning to
1) take a few online courses from University of Waterloo (just because I would like to learn more)
2) work in UBC, I will be a chemical researcher at one of the labs
3) talk to different professors - just explore yourself, and dont be shy, I have talked to ''weird people'' like mathematical psychologist (to search for research that you interested in, I believe, if you are interested in doing research, they are interested in you as well - don't ask for paid)
4) learn whatever you like (I order a caltech freshmen math text book to learn more about Calculus... kind of silly) and buy a few physics book(high energy and particle stuff)...
5) coaching the IPO team at my high school
6) A-AS level (cambridge international examination)</p>

<p>so much more... can't tell</p>

<p>but keep in mind, standard test can only show your academic ability... there are much more you can do.</p>