<p>well. it is stupid generalization. but i gotta ask this. (since caltech seems to be small and very focus on research)</p>
<p>basically does top 3-4% student from a large public high school (not much challenging classes) with no research experience(but alot of work experience and activities including leaderships) have "not-too-much-lower" chances than students with research experience???</p>
<p>i just didnt have such a chance to do so. i am looking to do some intership work or conduct research this school year, but i think it will be way after admission (moreover significant result wouldnt really come out soon enough)</p>
<p>any one has 2 cents on this issue??
do majority students in caltech already have research experience or intership before they start caltech?? like they already know "something real"??
what would be chance for well-rounded students(as i explain above)??</p>
<p>30-40% of incoming Caltech freshmen have research experience. It is a significant positive on an application, but an application is certainly not torpedoed by not having reserach experience. </p>
<p>Having come from a decently sized public high school myself (~1200) with no research opportunities that were immediately evident, I can sympathize. What I ended up doing was finding a program that offered high school students the chance to go and do research at a state school... 150 miles away. So I moved away for the summer and worked up there, and had a blast. We like to see that style of initiative, looking for things even if they weren't immediately evident. </p>
<p>But clearly not everyone does that, and we do need 215 freshmen, so go ahead and apply. It is the case that a <em>lot</em> of applications you look at them and you say "Huh, this person did really well in high school, and would do fine at Caltech. But they don't stand out." Find a way to stand out, that's the ticket in my opinion (though I'm not on admissions committee this year, I was a couple years ago).</p>
<p>If your academic record is already strong, then you can go on fine without research. But if it is weak, research experience can really bolster your application.</p>
<p>I have almost no ECs and a lackadaisical freshman year so if I am to get accepted to Caltech, I'll almost certainly have to conduct research.</p>
<p>What do you mean by lackadaisical frosh year? Did you just not care, not try, or didn't understand the material? I think most ppl here pretty much rocked at their high schools, so I think this is the first prerequisite, unless you're at TJ, Stuy, etc.</p>
<p>As for ECs, I can't get into MUN because of conflict with math team; and there are no other academic clubs. I detest sports, I don't like arts/music, I don't like anything outside of academia. I am going into math/science contests however.</p>
<p>Well, I failed a placement test to the Honors program at my school so I didn't get into Honors English and Honors Social Studies. 89th percentile. (and my SATs reflect more highly on me; I'm 94th percentile verbal amongst college-bound 12th graders, 89th percentile verbal amongst all 8th graders). Go figure...</p>
<p>Also, I have an A- in math in freshman year 'cuz I was so bored of it I didn't do my homework (the curriculum sucked; but now I'm in a much more academically satisfying calculus class).</p>
<p>DOes this freshman year suck?</p>
<p>French 100: A/A
Pre-IB Advanced Algebra/Trig: A/A- (btw, ostensibly it's Pre-IB, but it's crappy Core-PLus curriculum)
Library TA: P/P (no other choice; junior high sucks)
Physical Science (no choice, junior high sucks) A/A
PE: A/A (Heh...)
ENglish: A/A
Washington State Pac-Rim (damn graduation requirements: A/.A</p>
<p>English Elective: P (CTY course)
Geometry: A (CTY course)</p>
<p>Summer: PreCalculus: A</p>
<p>How about this sophomore year?</p>
<p>Honors English
IB Math Methods II (Calculus)
Pre-IB World History
Pre-IB Chemistry
French 200 (I think I'll receive an A- here)
C++
COmputer Graphics</p>
<p>Your frosh year sounds like mine. I had like a 3.6 freshman year - because I just didn't care. Sophomore year I got more involved in high school, and started doing swarms of clubs (I was president of seven clubs and the interclub council my senior year), competitions, APs, so on and so forth. I did research, and still was waitlisted. I did, however, get accepted off the waitlist. So such things are possible.</p>
<p>Oh great, so my frosh year isn't so bad. Though my extra-curriculars won't look so good - especially considering a conflict between MUN and math team, so math team is the way I went. Hmm... TO be waitlisted is one thing, to be accepted another since waitlisters must be really lucky if they are to be accepted. Based on my stats, I'd say that I have a good chance of being at least waitlisted alone - getting past Calc BC is fairly impressive as long as I maintain my grades.</p>
<p>By the way... I'm seriously considering doing a self-study for AP Physics C. However, I don't plan on taking a distance course - I'll do it right out of the book, considering that distance courses really don't do much more other than give you tests that you can find online. Does a high AP exam grade that colleges can see have the same weight as taking an AP course and scoring the same?</p>