Official Caltech Class of 2015 EA/RD Decisions Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
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<p>Congrats on everyone who got accepted! I think that in general college admissions just gets harder and harder each year. You should be proud of where ever you get in, because at the end of the day things will work out the way they should :)</p>

<p>Caltech is a really special school, but it is definitely not for everyone (more so than perhaps other top schools). Please understand that I am referring to the fact that Caltech is extremely focused on STEM and is very small school. Kids here and required to take many very hard classes in a school where many people in the surrounding area have not really even heard of. So if you are looking for reputation and brag rights, probably better off going to Harvard or MIT.</p>

142

<p>**Accepted (Deferred EA) /b]</p>

<p>Stats:[ list]
[<em>]SAT: 2350
[</em>]SAT II: MII: 800 Biology: 760 Chem and Phys: 750
[<em>]ACT: N/A
[</em>]GPA: ~4.6 weighted
[<em>]Rank: top percent of my class of ~680
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): qualified for the AIME twice
[/list]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: okay
[</em>]Teacher Recs: decent!
[<em>]Counselor Rec: glowing
[</em>]Supplementary Material: recommendation from gov school counselor
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): not much, i was really involved in/passionate about physics
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: PA
[<em>]High School Type: largish nonfeeder public…we usually have about one caltech acceptance each year
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese/Asian
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[list]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: lots of generic stuff, co-founder/pres of odyssey of the mind, pres of math league, scioly and academic team, varsity tennis
[<em>]Awards: not much
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list] good luck to everyone!</p>

143

<p>Accepted
Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2300 (Math 770, Critical Reading 780, Writing 750) I don’t like standardized testing.
[</em>]SAT II: MathII, Chemistry, U.S. History: 800; Biology(freshman year):790
[<em>]ACT:n/a
[</em>]GPA:n/a (Unless you just want the score, then it is 97.8.)
[<em>]Rank:n/a
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): n/a (First time I took the AMC was this year and I got probably only 11 questions right.)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Personally, I think they could’ve been better, but that is probably because I’m a perfectionist when it comes to writing. My teacher would agree.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: One from my English teacher-probably awesome (I love her lots and I hope the feelings are reciprocated, and not in a weird way.) One from my Precalc teacher- mediocre? (We weren’t that close, but I was consistently at the top of that class.)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: No idea, probably very objective.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: NY
[<em>]High School Type: highly competitive public school (3000+ students)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: National Honors Society (Vice President), Columbia’s Science Honors Program, variety of clubs, school’s choir
[<em>]Awards: None that are noteworthy…I won a writing competition once.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]
Umm…I’m sort of afraid and I don’t know if I should apply. My parents aren’t happy with the idea that I’ll be going off to California. They won’t let me visit during PreFrosh weekend. (Can someone send me a t-shirt?) I always considered myself a well rounded individual (I mean, my favorite classes right now are organic chemistry and English), so I’m not sure how I will adjust to the dominantly math and science vibe of the school. I do love the sciences, but I feel mediocre in math.</p>

144

<p>Ooh, this is going to sound weird, especially on this thread, but where can you buy a t-shirt if you are not on campus. My school has a college apparel spirit day and I really need something.</p>

145

<p>[Welcome</a> | The Caltech Bookstore](<a href=“http://caltechstore.caltech.edu/CALTECH/DEFAULT.ASP]Welcome”>http://caltechstore.caltech.edu/CALTECH/DEFAULT.ASP)</p>

146

<p>My friend’s stats:</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2090 Math(790), CR(670), W(630)
[</em>]SAT II: MathII(800), Physics(770), US History(670)
[<em>]ACT: 33
[</em>]GPA:Unweighted/Weighted 3.96/5.20
[<em>]Rank:8/968
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 2011 99, AIME 2011 N/A, 5s on Physics C Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism, Calc AB/BC, US History, Statistics, and 4s on English Language and Composition and European History
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I liked my essays, jan 3rd at 11pm started them and finished at 11:53pm :smiley:
[</em>]Teacher Recs: 1page Physics decent, half page history good, statistics never saw it
[<em>]Counselor Rec: decent, seemed like fill in blank(rewrote resume)
[</em>]Supplementary Material: to lazy to have any
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Florida
[<em>]High School Type: large public high school around 5k individuals
[</em>]Ethnicity: HISPANIC :smiley:
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: MAO, Science Olympiad, Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, SECME.
[*]Awards: Lots from MAO, 1 from soccer, 2 science olympiad, 1 from SECME. [/ul]</p>

147

<p>Thanks Batllo!</p>

148

<p>For my son:</p>

<p>SAT: 2400
SAT II Math 2: 800
SAT II Physics: 800
SAT II Molecular Biology: 800
ACT: 36
AP Calc AB: 5
AP Calc BC: 5
AP Calc BC Subscore: 5
AP Stat: 5
AP Lang and Lit: 4
AP Lang and Comp: 4
(All tests taken only once.)
GPA: Unweighted 4.0, mostly heavily weighted courses though, including AP, IB and some college sophomore and junior courses. </p>

<p>Essays: I can’t remember what he wrote but when he reminds me I’m always impressed with the unique perspective and analysis that went into it. Obscure references that were nonetheless accessible.
Counselor Rec and Teacher Recs: Superb (Feel very fortunate), Includes College Prof and Ivy League TA proclaiming his intense passion for knowledge and freakish intelligence.
Supplementary Material: Research Project Letter from Summer Science Program, Some Unique Awards, An Extra Rec
Hook: Homeschooled; unique sport, academic and music interests; jobs kind of precocious; early focus on longterm goals. Lots of leadership positions in QB, cello, etc. and lots of home responsibility due to personal circumstances.</p>

<p>Location: Texas
High School Type: Homeschool (had some public school for a few years till ran out of the good stuff and had to take college classes)
Ethnicity: Hispanic, White
Gender: Male</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Quiz Bowl 1st, 2nd, 3rd in state, 3 Orchestras including college, started community service chamber group, tutored college students in math for years, a series of semi-heroic deeds which will go unmentioned here, other work that is unusual for a teen to have, hard to get into summer programs, sponsored by an elite national college advising program for high potential underrepresented youth, ridiculous amount of stuff but we kept good records which is half the battle.</p>

149

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>Im currently doing research at the University of Arizona in regards to the decision making for higher education–and whether or not Online Education is a good option, especially for students looking to attain credit prior to getting CIT.</p>

<p>[Survey</a> | Qualtrics Survey Software](<a href=“http://eller.us.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/SE/?SID=SV_br5mLiMrpdAggjG]Survey”>http://eller.us.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/SE/?SID=SV_br5mLiMrpdAggjG)</p>

<p>If any of you would take the time to do this survey (2-3min TOPS), it would be GREATLY appreciated and go towards helping higher education for everyone. :)</p>

150

<p>I was accepted early for the class of 2015, currently at Caltech, but never posted in this thread. So since a lot of people are applying now or about to apply, I’d like to point out that I was accepted with a 3.6 GPA and 2170 SAT, and I’m doing alright here so far. Whether you get accepted is more about whether you care about math, science, or engineering, and show it. So good luck to everyone applying this year.</p>

<p>Also to respond to the post immediately before mine, online education will probably never become part of Caltech. There is no way to earn credit for classes without taking them. The best you can do is skip prerequisites by taking placement tests.</p>

151

<p>Also about shwayzeee’s post… it’s a scam for Phoenix University, has nothing to do with Univ of AZ or Duke or any of the other places this post was placed.</p>

152

<p>picked MIT over Caltech and Princeton. Lovin it.</p>

153

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>soooo happy!</p>

154

<p>Accepted as an exchange student from Edinburgh if that counts.</p>

155

<p>congrats to everyone who got in!</p>

156

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2390 CR:800 Math:800 Writing:790 (one test)
[</em>]SAT II: Math II:800 Chemistry: 800 Biology:760 World History: 750
[<em>]ACT: 35, but did not submit
[</em>]GPA: 3.93/4 unweighted 4.79/5 weighted
[<em>]Rank: school does not rank
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP World History: 4, AP Calc BC: 5, AP Chemistry: 5, AP Psychology: 4, AP Music Theory: 4, AP Spanish: 4, AP Chinese: 4, AP Biology: 4, IB Philosophy SL: 6 IB Mandarin SL: 7 (future IB diploma candidate)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Pretty well-written, mostly focused on my interest in medicine and biotechnology and a specific experience that helped me develop character. Also submitted an essay in the additional info section about the effect of my three parents (stepdad, mom, and dad) on who I am today.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I got two from my AP Biology teacher and my IB English teacher. AP Biology teacher likely gave me a pretty good rec, but I’m not sure about my english teacher. We have a love-hate relationship (hopefully mostly love though)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Our school is small, so my counselor knew me pretty well. I don’t know how good of a rec he wrote though.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: 2 research papers
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): N/A
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Orange County, CA
[<em>]High School Type: Private School
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Piano, a lot of volunteer hours at places like senior centers, a lot of shadowing at hospitals, worked in a university lab as a research assistant for past few summers, National Honor Society (Secretary/Treasurer), California Scholarship Federation, Varsity Tennis for 4 years (co-captain for senior year)
[<em>]Awards: National AP Scholar, Semi-Finalist for the National Merit Scholarship, California Certificate of Merit level 10 for Piano (I’ve actually never competed in any math or science competition)
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]
I honestly applied to Caltech early not out of a strong desire to attend but because I could and I wanted to “try my luck” so to speak. I was very surprised that I was accepted, but I’m not entirely sure I will attend as Brown was my top choice (got deferred). However, I’m still extremely happy and proud! Hopefully I’ll see some of you guys there next year!</p>

157

Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Superscore 2380 (790R 790M 800W), single sitting 2350 (790R 760M 800W)
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 BioM, 800 World Hist, 790 Math2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/1194
AP (place score in parenthesis): 4 4’s, 7 5’s
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Band, Debate, AP CS, AP English Lit, AP Music theory, AP Stat, AP Physics C
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISEF Finalist, 4th place state science fair, 1st place state (extemp), 6th place state (oratory), Welch Summer Scholar, journal publication, Area Jazz band 4th chair sax, National AP Scholar, National Merit semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate team (captain), research, jazz band, track (varsity captain), physics club (president)
Summer Activities: research, Welch program
Essays: good
Recs: good

Other:

School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None?

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, grades, well-rounded, research and speech/debate awards
Weaknesses: over-represented ethnicity, gender, state
Where else I am applying: UChicago (Accepted!), MIT (deferred), CalTech (deferred), Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, UMich, UCB, USC, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB