**Official Caltech Class of 2018 EA Results Thread**

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
1

<p>Since the time is almost upon us I figure we should get this thread started.
Plus general countdown thread. </p>

<p>remove spaces and pick your result:
[ size=+1][ color=green][ b]Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ size=+1][ color=red][ b]Rejected[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ size=+1][ color=blue][ b]Deferred[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT:
[ *]SAT II:
[ *]ACT:
[ *]GPA:
[ *]Rank:
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays:
[ *]Teacher Recs:
[ *]Counselor Rec:
[ *]Supplementary Material:
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location:
[ *]High School Type:
[ *]Ethnicity:
[ *]Gender
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars:
[ *]Awards:
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>

2

<p>Accepted! HOLY COW ACCEPTED!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2330: 800R/770M/750W
[</em>]SAT II: 800M2/770Chem
[<em>]ACT: 356 (36R/35M/34S/33E)
[</em>]GPA: 3.999 / 4 UW
[<em>]Rank: 4 / ~150
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): None. Seriously.
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Good - bordering very, very good. I worked on these since August and completely rewrote most of them multiple times.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: One stellar, the other either stellar or openly hostile. Seriously not sure…
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Generic. Blech
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None! Yay!
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None, really!
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: MN
[<em>]High School Type: Small public (No APs offered!)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Native American
[<em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Tennis (varsity captain), Math league (varsity captain), speech (varsity captain), knowledge bowl (varsity captain). No major awards/accomplishments, though…
[<em>]Awards: None (!) (seriously!)
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: OOOOOOH YEAH! Googd luck to everyone else… spend a lot of time on your essays, and don’t let others edit your voice away.[/ul]</p>

3

<p>**Accepted!!! **</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2360 800CR/800M/760W (took it many many times… not that it matters)
[</em>]SAT II:Math II 800 Chem 800
[<em>]ACT: n/a
[</em>]GPA: 4.55/5
[<em>]Rank: n/a
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 10, AMC 12, AIME qualify x2; AP Stats, APUSH, Chem, Physics C Mechanics, BC Calc/AB subscore all 5’s (plus taking a bunch more later)</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[li]Essays: books- meh, honor system - heart-wrencher but I didn’t love it, way to have fun- very different I think (writing letters), diversity- well written but boring (a communicator), why caltech- well written but dull bc website is not easy to navigate and find specifics…</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Teacher Recs: math teacher- ??? he confuses me XD, english- incredible writer & I’m captain of team he coaches,rec from camp director</p>[/li]
<p>[<em>]Counselor Rec: good I guess…?
[</em>]Supplementary Material: research paper
[li]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): girl in stem?</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Personal [ul]
[<em>]Location: new england
[</em>]High School Type: public
[<em>]Ethnicity: asian
[</em>]Gender: female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: scioly, acadec (captain of both), tennis, keyboard instructor
[</em>]Awards: nats medal in acadec, bunch of state medals in stuff, siemens semis
[li]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul][/li]LITERALLY CRYING. refreshing the page cause I think they sent it to the wrong person XD. good luck guys!</p>

4

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2370: 800M, 800CR, 770W
[</em>]SAT II: 800MII, 800Ph
[<em>]GPA: N/A
[</em>]Rank: 7/~185
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Heh, not so good. :stuck_out_tongue:
[</em>]Teacher Recs: These would probably be very good, but I haven’t seen them.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: ^
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Sydney, AUS
[<em>]High School Type: Selective School
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Physics Olympiad, Tennis, Chess, Philosophy Club, Peer Support, Math and Science Comps.
[li]Awards: International Physics Olympiad medal, Asian Physics Olympiad medal, Australian Physics Olympiad medal, school scholarship, a few school-specific awards.[/li][/ul]</p>

5

<p>Accepted
Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2400 (one sitting)
[</em>]SAT II:800 math ii, 790 world, 780 bio, 760 chem (lol dat downward trend)
[<em>]ACT:36 (one sitting)
[</em>]GPA:4.0 uw
[<em>]Rank: n/a
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): highest AMC 10 score in my state, decent AMC 12, 5s on Calc BC, Stats, World, US, Lang, Psych, Bio, 4 on chem
[/ul]
Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: lil corny imo, but worked really hard on them
[</em>]Teacher Recs: they both really liked me, i think
[<em>]Counselor Rec: knew me REALLY well… out of a class of 500+
[</em>]Supplementary Material: siemens semifinalist abstract
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none?
[/ul]
Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: midwest
[<em>]High School Type: large public
[</em>]Ethnicity: asian
[<em>]Gender: female
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: 300+ hrs community service at veterans hospital
200+ hr internship at 2 labs
Leader of a service org. at our high school
Founder of codecademy (taught 5th graders html and java)
Science olympiad
President of math team
NHS, spanish honor society
Tennis jv/varsity
[li]Awards: siemens semi, aime 5 time qualifier (highest score was an 8)</p>[/li]
<p>[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:WHEW im so relieved and excited! Good luck to y’all![/ul]</p>

6

<p>Deferred
Holy Cow (tech) not rejected (or accepted)</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 800 MA/760 CR/730 WR
[</em>] SAT II: 800 M2/770 CH/740 PH
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: 3.89/4.00
[<em>] Rank: top 10% but not top 5%
[</em>] Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 102 AMC 12, 8 AIME, five 5s and one 4 on APs
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[li] Essays:[/li]Common App was … okay. It was about something I cared a lot about but due to not spending much time revising it (I replaced one that I hated). Ethical dilemma was not great, looking back. I’m not sure how to judge the fun one, besides that it brought some good memories. :wink: The other two were a lot better than the first two, including “Why Caltech” (a lot of specific opportunities that tied in with my specific math/science background), which I was kind of relying on to get me across. (though that attitude is NOT a good one for doing college apps in general)</p>

<p>[<em>] Teacher Recs: I didn’t see either. :stuck_out_tongue: I’m not sure how one of their recommendations are in general, so this *may</em> be a weak point.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Probably very good, but I haven’t seen it.
[</em>] Supplementary Material: None (no research)
[<em>] Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Nope nope. Nope. Nope.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>] Location: rural-ish Indiana
[<em>] High School Type: above average public (1600+) though I moved from a higher ranked school after 9th
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income: upper middle
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: Mostly programming competitions, math competitions, went to Canada/USA Mathcamp one year, independent projects, member of AoPS (lol), math-related volunteering
[</em>] Awards: made AIME thrice, minor math awards (USAMTS bronze, winning Indiana Math League)
[<em>] Strengths (added this in; feel free to leave or follow): “Why Caltech” essay; now looking back some of the things I felt were strengths weren’t particularly strong
[</em>] Weaknesses: Not spending enough time on essays (but man I tried pretty hard), passion not reflected in essays as much as I like, low verification potential of activities (see below), grades (somewhat low for Caltech) in approximately decreasing order of likelihood[/ul]</p>

<p>This applies to my MIT app as well, but a real reason (for me) to spend more time on writing essays (though I thought about what I would write for a long time) is just, the amount of time left to judge what you write. Something might sound good the first 10 times after you read it, but in a while there’s a fair chance you can look back on it and tell that it wasn’t as good as you liked.</p>

<p>As for “verifying activities”, this might not have been a factor but most of the activities I did were not school activities; in hindsight it might have been better if I provided links to the relevant websites or something where I put my competition results.</p>

<p>As for being deferred, I’m not completely sure what to do. What kinds of materials are fodder for “Supplemental Documents” (through the student portal)? And I would like to blame affirmative action for being deferred (as part of possibly the least interesting demographic group[s] ever) but it doesn’t apply as much to Caltech.</p>

7

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: Did not Send
[</em>]SAT II: What they saw: 720 Physics, 700 Math 2, 710 Chem; What I have now:770 Physics, 730 Math2</p>

<p>[<em>]ACT: Best sitting: 34 Comp (33E, 33M, 34R, 36S, 9E) Best Super scored (35E, 33M, 36R,36S, 10E)
[</em>]GPA: 4.0/4.0 on a 4.0 scaled, my school does some weird crap where I’m like 4.15/4.2
[<em>]Rank: 1/20
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 USH, 5Chem, 5European, 4psychology, 4Lit, Did not report terrible Calc AB scores.</p>

<p>[/ul][ b]Subjective**[ul]
[<em>]Essays:
Books: Liked my responses
Honor Code: Good but nothing special
Quirky: Very good; I used puns throughout to talk about my love of puns.
Diverse thought: wrote about being a student athlete, was probably good but not special
Opportunities: wrote about coming from a small school with no math/science activities or clubs and not being able to start any because lack of interest and how I was searching for somewhere where I could explore math/science activities and Caltech was that place. Probably Decent but I didn’t even get it proofed for grammar.
Common App Essay: Wrote about love of cooking, probably my best essay and definitely one that would impress them.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I almost cried at one, the other was very complimenting my science prowess. Very good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Above Average/ possible great! Did not See
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Recruited Athlete, but you and I both know this holds no weight at Caltech.
[/ul][ b]Personal**[ul]
[</em>]Location: GA
[<em>]High School Type: TINY Private
[</em>]Ethnicity: White as snow
[<em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Play on a top 40 nationally ranked soccer team, Academic team (small school competing against large schools, I focus on math and science), Fencing club founder, Chess club founder, Tennis.
[<em>]Awards: Nothing beyond school and regional awards.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Actually very surprised I was not straight up rejected!</p>

8

<p>ACCEPTED </p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: 2270 (710 CR, 790 Math, 770 WR)
[ *]SAT II: 800 Bio M, 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[ *]ACT: NA
[ *]GPA: 4.0/4.0 (unweighted), took 12 AP’s/Honors)
[ *]Rank: top 10%
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 on all APs (Language and Comp, Calc BC, Chem, APUSH)
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: I liked them
[ *]Teacher Recs: IDK but teacher knew me well
[ *]Counselor Rec: IDK but counselor knew me well
[ *]Supplementary Material: Research paper that won Siemens/submitted to Intel, Rec from research professor that I worked with for over 2 years
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): lots of research experience, Siemens Semifinalist, 2nd place at other regional Science Fairs, Chemistry Olympiad, etc
[ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: CA
[ *]High School Type: top 15 in the state, extremely large/competitive
[ *]Ethnicity: Indian
[ *]Gender: Female
[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Research, started a few clubs/organizations, volunteering
[ *]Awards: mentioned above
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list] Good luck to everyone else!</p>

9

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]<br>
[<em>]SAT: Math: 800, Reading: 720, Writing: 780, Composite: 2300
[</em>]SAT II: Math II: 800, Physics: 760, US History: 730
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 4.2
[<em>]Rank: ~ top 10% in a very competitive school.
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Biology 4, AP Computer Science A 5, AP Calculus AB 5, AP World History 5, AP Calculus BC 5, AP US History 5, AP Physics B: 5, AP Physics C: Mechanics 5, AP Stats 5… I am taking 5-6 more AP classes this year (and another 5-6 APs obviously)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I thought they were pretty good, but obviously I’m not the final judge.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Should be very solid, but probably not spectacular.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Very good (I go to a small private school, so my counselor got to know me well. She was also my personal advisor throughout high school.)
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Siemens Semifinalist Abstract
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Siemens Semifinalist?
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Ohio
[<em>]High School Type: Private
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Math Club President for 2 years, member for other 2 years. We always place in the top 5 in Ohio as a school. I’ve also made it to some statewide competitions and have done relatively well. Also a Siemens SF, did research at Ohio State over the past few summers.
[<em>]Awards: Siemens SF, National Merit SF, National AP Scholar
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I wasn’t expecting to get in…so yeah lol</p>

10

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2330: 800R/800M/730W (2nd time I took it, 1 sitting)
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Bio M, 800 Spanish (and also 790 Chem, but I didn’t send it at the time)
GPA: 4.619 / 4 UW
Rank: 7 / 352
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): IB Economics SL (7), IB Spanish SL (6), AP’s 5’s: Spanish, Macroeconomics, ES, Calculus BC, Calculus AB; 4 on Bio (meh).
Taking as many classes of the most difficult caliber this year (8 full time classes, 1 that’s required at my school for like 60 hours a year)</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays: pretty darn good (even though I had a major error on one)
Teacher Recs: both think I’m pretty weird 0_0 but I think they like me
Counselor Rec: Pretty good?
Research mentor: Rec was probably good, my mentor can write!
Supplementary Material: None!
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Family situation maybe?</p>

<p>Personal
Location: CA (best state ever)
High School Type: Magnet I think… it’s an IB school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: Research at local university, hospital volunteer, science bowl, dance (8 years- wrote common app on it), founded my own charity club and raised $2300, programming team, programming club vice pres. CASC Outreach Director, Varsity tennis (4 years), tutor in sciences, math, and programming </p>

<p>Awards: Won National Zero Robotics Tournament at MIT, National Biology Exam, Bio Olympiad Semifinalist, presented at Sigma Xi Research Conference, summer research program (lol materials science… i though i would get bio, but ended up loving it anyway), State FBLA finalist, State award in winning environmental grant and writing proposal and stuff, current PSAT Semifinalist, and random other stuff</p>

<p>Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Being a female boosted my chances, not gonna lie. But if you show show serious passion for science, Caltech will accept you. Make sure you convey this passion in your essays. I know a 2-time USABO, national Science Bowl, national Science Olympiad guy that was rejected because he blew off the essays. Also make sure to research specifics about Caltech and why you want to go there over any other university. I mentioned a specific professor’s research I was interested in and whose classes I wanted to take, for example.</p>

<p>Last year, I was literally like, I’m gonna get rejected from every college. So I threw myself into a lot of AP’s, IB’s, research, etc. And now I am literally yelling my head off.</p>

<p>If you were rejected, know that you are still amazing. Many other colleges are dying to take you. (Plus if you’re Asian male… you’re just out of luck)</p>

11

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800 CR 760 M 800 W 12 essay (2 sittings)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 M 800 Chem 800 USH 750 Span w/ listening
[<em>]ACT: 36, 8 essay
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 uw w/ hardest schedule possible
[<em>]Rank: School does not rank but counselor claims to have mentioned it (1st)
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Poopy on AMC 12 but great on Chem Olympiad
AP Art History: 4
AP Chem: 5
AP Eng. Lang: 5
AP USH: 5
AP Stat (self-studied): 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I thought they were good. Might make some changes
[</em>]Teacher Recs: No idea, but one was probably better than the other
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Probably as good as anybody else’s
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Research Paper I wrote for Intel STS
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Perhaps geographic diversity? Obviously not a big enough hook.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location:KY
[<em>]High School Type:Parochial
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: I don’t want to list them all in great detail. Boy Scouts and Academic Team with some significant accomplishments, started a few things up at my school, started researching at lab this past year, bunch of service organizations
[<em>]Awards: USNCO, relatively common ones (NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, in-school awards), Hopefully Intel Semifinalist!
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] Welp, guess I better send my regional coordinator an email or two, send in a letter from my research mentor, and show some interest. I also sent in some stuff late, so perhaps they deferred me on principal. Congrats to everybody that got in.</p>

12

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2370 (M: 770, W:800, CR 800) One sitting
[</em>]SAT II: Math 2:800, Physics:800, Chemistry:770
[<em>]ACT: 36 (E: 36, M:34, R:36, S:36, Combined E/W:35)
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
[<em>]Rank: N/A
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Score of 5 on: AP US Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics B, AP English Literature, AP Psychology, AP European History, AP Calculus AB, AP US History, AP Physics C Mech, AP Physics C E&M, AP English Language, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC. Score of 4 on AP Chinese Language and Culture (not of Chinese descent)
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I thought these were very good. I worked harder on them than anything I’ve worked on in my life. I guess they weren’t good enough, though.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I think that both of these were very strong.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: I don’t know. Probably nothing special.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Recommendation from a research mentor who I’ve done work with for 5 years.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Tucson, Arizona
[<em>]High School Type: Charter
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian/White. Put White.
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: President+founder of school’s Math Club and Physics Club, National Honors Society, Astronomy Research, played piano/church organ for 12 years including volunteer activity at nursing homes in the local community, fishing world record holder, daily tutoring at school.
[li]Awards: Third place at a local math competition, National AP Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist, Physics/Calculus student of the year at school, one of 3 students in my year to maintain 4.0 GPA throughout all 4 years of highschool (thus far, fingers crossed.)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>I’m extremely depressed about this. Ever since 5th grade Caltech has been where I want to go, and I made that clear in my “Why Caltech” essay. Almost everything I’ve done in the past 7 years has been done with that goal in mind, and it’s very disappointing to be “gently rejected” (5% chance of getting in from deferred pool? Statistically insignificant). I don’t even know if it’s worth going into the RD pool. If I do I might send in an arts supplement as I’m doing a recorded performance of a decently advanced piano piece, and I might actually be able to upload the paper that resulted from my research, as it wasn’t published by the EA deadline. Maybe rework a couple of essays and let them know how much I really want it. But I have a sinking feeling I’d just be wasting the admission office’s time, and probably my own. I’m really, really bummed out right now.</p>

13

<p>I’m a white male and I got rejected.</p>

<p>I don’t have the energy to do the full thing, but I thought I had a fairly strong app. I’ve taken college classes since sophomore year. This year I’m taking all of my classes at college. I’ve also done research, and I got a phenomenal rec from my advisor.</p>

<p>Oh well. So it goes. Hopefully I’ll get in somewhere.</p>

14

<p>Accepted, Yay!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: didn’t take
[</em>]SAT II: MATH II: 800; Physics: 800 USH: 760
[<em>]ACT: 35/36/36/36/11 composite: 36
[</em>]GPA: 3.95 non-weighted (B in eng); 4.49 (weighted 9-12)
[<em>]Rank: 4/380
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC school winner thrice (our school sucks though, barely qualified both times) AIME: twice. AP (5): Calc BC, Physics B, Physic C mech, CS, World Hist, Chemistry; 4: USH, Eng Lang
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: My english teacher asked me to consider becoming an english major after reading it, so I guess it was decent. Focused on my ability to self-study subjects, using my placement into AP Japanese after a summer of self-study from scratch as an example (I’m not japanese btw)
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Science teacher loved me, also coached our NAQT team of which I am vice-captain. Math teacher (college professor) also loved me. Japanese teacher asked me for a draft (which she changed a bit) since her english was bad.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Not sure, apparently good enough
[</em>]Supplementary Material: iOS application commissioned by Cal State Univ Long Beach.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: California
[<em>]High School Type: Large public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Martial Art black belt, top 100 in chess, president of 4 clubs (amnesty international, AP lunch, math club, chess club), vp of 1 (NAQT), board of 1 (sci oli).
[<em>]Awards: national AP scholar, couple regional and national math/chess competitions.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Good luck everyone, don’t slack off and get rescinded. (I suddenly feel very lazy now)
[/ul]</p>

15

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2240. 640 on reading T_T
[</em>]SAT II: 800 on math 2 and chem
[<em>]ACT: didn’t take
[</em>]GPA: private school grades very hard and doesn’t calculate. but mostly A/A-s with a few B+s
[<em>]Rank: private school doesn’t rank
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5s and 4s on APs, AMC 12A 90-
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: decent. very specific why caltech since I visited the campus and wrote about my experience there. definitely helped.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: should be good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: should be good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: submitted a supp rec from the director of my math camp
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: upstate NY
[<em>]High School Type: private boarding all girls T_T
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: F
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: yearbook, math circle, volunteering coordinator for philanthropy club, school blog photographer and editor, technical theater and cast, went to a semester away school during junior year
[<em>]Awards: nun
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I initially was NOT going to post my stats for a few reasons. Then I realized people on CC worry about Bs and SAT scores. Truth is, most stats posted on CC are biased. I post mine here just to tell you that I don’t have amazing stats, I’m normal, and I still got in. So, be yourself, live your life, write interesting essays, and good luck! :)</p>

<p>In addition, as caltech is such a small school, indicating interest might be helpful. I went to their campus tour and info session over summer. (You can go up to the AO after the session and ask questions personally, which is great) I seriously think I got in because I wrote about my specific experience there on why Caltech. PM me if there’s any questions! :)</p>

16

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 740/800/700 = 2240 comp
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 750 Physics
[<em>]ACT: 35/35/33/36 and 34/34/36/36 = 35 comp, 36 superscore
[</em>]GPA: 4.0 UW
[<em>]Rank: 2/250
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5s on APs, not sent. Full IB diploma student.</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Common app was pretty good. The supplements ranged from alright to very good, I think.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Probably excellent.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Probably excellent.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Colorado (not Denver)
[<em>]High School Type: Medium-sized public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: FRC team co-founder and co-captain, FLL team mentor, Knowledge Bowl team captain, building guitars, bassist for my church, etc…
[<em>]Awards: NMSF and other typical stuff, nothing huge.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] It’s only a deferral, so there’s still a chance… I’m still feeling pretty dejected now, because Caltech was my dream school. I have a feeling that the weak points of my application (i.e. lowish physics score, lack of good science classes at my school, lack of research) really brought me down. I guess I’ll have to see how MIT admissions goes next week.</p>

<p>I’ve noticed that no one has been rejected so far. Is Caltech doing no/very few rejections this year?</p>

<p>Congratulations to all who got in.</p>

17

<p>ACCEPTED!!!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2400 superscored
[</em>]SAT II: 780 bio, 800 math II
[<em>]ACT: n/a
[</em>]GPA: 3.9
[<em>]Rank: 4/350
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5, 5, 5, 5, 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I think these were what got me in
[</em>]Teacher Recs: didnt see
[<em>]Counselor Rec: didnt see, my counselor’s kinda a slacker though so it prolly wasn’t all that amazing
[</em>]Supplementary Material: published research paper
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): if only
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Maryland
[<em>]High School Type: public, relatively competitive
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: research internship, volunteering, student government, hospital internship… nothing special
[<em>]Awards: some minor science fair awards, Ben Carson scholar, if that counts.
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]
YAY i’m so happy! Caltech was the first to give me any decision and i’m so glad i got in!</p>

18

<p>Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2260 (CR: 730, Math: 770, W: 760)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 (Math Level 2), 740 (Physics)
[<em>]ACT: did not take
[</em>]GPA: 4.63/5.00 (all A’s)
[<em>]Rank: 3/599
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 10 - 108, AMC 12 - 87, AP - 5’s on Calculus BC, Eng Lang/Comp, Physics B; 4 on U.S. History
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I liked my Common App essay, unusual way you have fun essay, and the why Caltech essay. I put a lot of effort into my essays and wrote many drafts, so I think these got me in.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: not very specific, but decent
[<em>]Counselor Rec: my counselor likes me, so I guess it was pretty good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): I really don’t know. I didn’t win any awards like INTEL or Siemens and I never qualified for AIME. Maybe it’s just that I showed my passion for math.
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Southern California
[<em>]High School Type: Public (>2000 students)
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian (Taiwanese)
[<em>]Gender: Female
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Math Team Captain, Science Olympiad, Computer Engineering Club Co-President, Mu Alpha Theta President, Women in Science and Engineering Club Co-Founder/President, Puzzle Club Co-Founder/President, CSF, NHS, Church
[<em>]Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Mu Alpha Theta Log Contest
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I’m really surprised that I got into Caltech. It was just a college I applied to just to see if I could get in (and my mom made me). To be honest, I think I got in because of my extracurriculars and the honesty in my essays. My essays weren’t written to impress the admissions officers. I just wrote about what I wanted to write. Caltech is not one of my top choice schools, but at least I know I have some where to go for college. Congrats to the others who got in! And to those who didn’t, good job for trying, and I’m sure you’ll end up going somewhere awesome![/ul]</p>

19

<p>Asian male, accepted. Unfortunately, I’m too lazy to post my stats (nothing special - good scores, grades, some research sans awards, moderate success in math/science competitions).</p>

<p>Caltech is somewhat low on my personal college preference ranking, but it’s nice to have a safety in case I won’t be going to Cambridge, MA next year!</p>

20

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2400, first sitting
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics
[<em>]ACT: Not taken
[</em>]GPA: 3.85 UW/4.70 W
[<em>]Rank: Unranked
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Physics C E&M and Mechanics, Language and Composition, World History, Chemistry, US Government, Computer Science, BC Calculus, US History … nine 5s
AIME 3, 4, AMC 12 102, AMC 10 122
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Okay I guess; not sure, but I’ve always been self-deprecating
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Pretty good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Nothing special; just some generic mass produced BS
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Don’t think so
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Washington DC Area
[<em>]High School Type: Top 100 in nation
[</em>]Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Internship at NIST Junior Summer, Robotics Team, Math Team, Ski Club, and out of school Rock Climbing team, volunteering at elementary schools and soup kitchens downtown
[<em>]Awards: Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, Bronze Medal
Certificate of Meritorious Service (Community service award)
That one thing that you get for eight 5s on AP
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:
Kinda sucks. Could be worse. Bodes ill for my other incoming applications.
Wonder if Jerry sees this.[/ul]</p>