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

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
21

<p>Accepted
Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2160 but didn’t report
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math 2, 770 Physics, 770 US History
[<em>]ACT: 35 Composite, 33 English, 34 Math, 35 Reading, 36 Science, 8 Writing, 30 English/Writing
[</em>]GPA: 4.0/~4.5
[<em>]Rank: 3/175
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP: Calc BC 5, APUSH 5, Language 5, Physics B 5, Microeconomics 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Thought they were pretty good, especially the quirky and diversity ones
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Great, both voluntarily emailed me theirs without my asking.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Don’t know probably good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Letter of Recommendation from employer at Caltech facility
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Nothing specific, I launch weather balloons and worked for Caltech over the summer.
/list]Personal[list]
[</em>]Location: Eastern California
[<em>]High School Type: Small Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Flying balloons, lighting, cross-country, mathletes
[li]Awards: AP Scholar w/ distinction, some local awards[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Glad to get in. Applied at the same time as MIT which is my first choice, but at least I have a great second option.</p>

22

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2330 (one sitting)
[</em>]SAT II: 800 math, 800 physics, 790 chem
[<em>]ACT: 35 (one sitting)
[</em>]GPA: 4.39 weighted
[<em>]Rank: no idea, towards the top
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 10 AP’s (9 5’s, 1 4 on APUSH) AMC10/12 were okay, 5x AIME
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: okay but not super great
[</em>]Teacher Recs: probably pretty good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: probably really good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: N/A
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): none
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Texas
[<em>]High School Type: Private
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: iPhone app development
[<em>]Awards: USAJMO Honorable Mention, 3x USAJMO, USAPhO Semifinalist, USACO Gold
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: don’t give up if you didn’t get the news you wanted [/ul]</p>

23

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: N/A
[</em>]SAT II: Math 2c - 800, Chem - 790
[<em>]ACT: 35
[</em>]GPA: 4.0345 Weighted
[<em>]Rank: N/A - Top 15%
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Japanese, Calc BC, Chem (self-studied), Physics C, Stats, Bio, Computer Science A
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Common App was very generic - talked about overcoming an injury and moving on with my life. I loved my supp - I think all of them were very unique, and especially the last supp about why Caltech.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: The science rec was very good. She had my for multiple teachers. The English rec was probably very generic. I was in regular paced english and had to ask a humanities teacher.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Not very close with her. Probably just copied over the questionnaire.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Research paper
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Mentor recommendation (very strong one), athletic recruit, in contact with professors at Caltech
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: NJ
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Research (over 1000 hours), volunteer, ranked track runner, national qualifier for swimming, varsity soccer, weekend Japanese school, physics club president, math club, etc…
[<em>]Awards: Silver award at international competition aimed toward college students, ranked top 5 within the state for various school entered science and math competitions, presidential service award - gold, etc…
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] So happy!!!</p>

24

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:

  • [<em>]SAT: 2400
    [</em>]SAT II: 800 MII, 770 Chem, 770 Lit, 680 French
    [<em>]ACT: N/A
    [</em>]GPA: 4.7W, 3.9UW
    [<em>]Rank: top ~4% out of 600~
    [</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP USH (5), Chem (5), Lang (5), Euro (4); IB Business SL (7)

Subjective

  • [<em>]Essays: Common App was about riding public transportation; it was pretty killer. My supps were okay, they weren’t amazing or anything.
    [</em>]Teacher Recs: One was amazing, one was good, and I also had a supp one from a Caltech researcher that I had interned with over the summer (although the internship itself was not performed at Caltech).
    [<em>]Counselor Rec: Probably not that good; it was from my IB counselor who doesn’t really like me LOL
    [</em>]Supplementary Material: none submitted!
    [<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): full IB? but probably not really a hook

Personal

  • [</em>]Location: CA
    [<em>]High School Type: public magnet, must test to get in
    [</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
    [<em>]Gender: F

Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Best Buddies, NJROTC, Muscular Dystrophy Association, FBLA, internship at Cedars-Sinai (research hospital in DTLA), COSMOS
[<em>]Awards: nothing, other than the standard honor roll
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I was shocked to see that I had gotten in, especially because I had completely messed up on the Common App and forgot to fill in the questions regarding my intended major and my top science and math ECs LOL. Nevertheless, I’m ecstatic and I hope to get to know a lot of you! :slight_smile:
[/ul]</p>

25

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2220 superscored (CR: 730, Math: 790, W: 700)
SAT II: 800 (Math Level 2), 730 (Physics)
ACT: did not take
GPA: 4.55/5.00 (two B’s)
Rank: 4/599
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 12; AIME Qualifier twice; AP - 5’s on Calculus BC, 4’s on Eng Lang/Comp, Physics B, U.S. History, World History</p>

<p>Subjective
Essays: I told myself that the essays were my chance to really show my passion for math and science, so I did that in my Common App essay and all of my supplements; talked about my summer research; I like my “unusual way to have fun” essay, “diversity” essay, and “opportunities and resources” essay; I also did some intense research on the school and included what I loved about it and what I want to do there in my “diversity” and “opportunities and resources” essays
Teacher Recs: I imagine these were pretty well written, probably just not very specific
Counselor Rec: My counselor knows me pretty well, so I imagine it was written well
Supplementary Material: Really good research mentor recommendation, research abstract
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Girl in STEM, Summer research at Caltech’s Seismological Laboratory</p>

<p>Personal
Location: Southern California
High School Type: Public (>2000 students)
Ethnicity: Asian (Taiwanese)
Gender: Female</p>

<p>Other
Extracurriculars: Math Team Captain, Science Olympiad, Computer Engineering Club Co-President, National Honor Society Vice President, Women in Science and Engineering Club Co-Founder/President, Puzzle Club Co-Founder/President, CSF, Church
Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended Student, Science Olympiad, Mu Alpha Theta Log Contest, AIME Qualifier twice, submitted research project to Siemens Competition</p>

<p>Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I can’t believe this. I prayed before logging in to the portal and prayed again when I saw the letter to make sure what I saw was really what I saw. I am so honored to be selected EA to Caltech Class of 2018! To be honest, my GPA and scores were not as good as the majority of the applicant pool, but I think I got in because the admissions officers saw my passion for math and science in my essays, involvement in extracurriculars, and my summer research. I would say my summer research really made me stand out, at least in my school. So I just might be a Techer! It’s one of my top choices. Really happy for everybody else who got in! And to those who were deferred or rejected, know that there will be a college that suits you; don’t give up! Keep doing what you love, and bring that passion into your essays. Good luck to everyone still waiting!</p>

26

<p>Feels like Caltech wants to change male/female ratio this year.</p>

<p>My son was deferred. He has 4/4 (4.9/5 weighted) GPA in a competitive large public school, 2350+ SAT (4 800 SAT II), all in one sitting. He has all 5s in his 11 AP test. </p>

<p>His school has non ranking. But he was one of two students nominated by his school for a top summer program based on GPA. His school is pretty large, has 20+ students goes to ivy type of schools every year. </p>

<p>For awards, he was semifinalist in two of the three major science Olympiads this year, on honor roll (top 150?) for chemistry. He was the only junior in his school who made the semifinalist for each test last year. A few state #1s in some science competitions last 3 years. Made into a prestigious (free) science research summer camp this summer. 3 times AIME.
Captain/president for two school clubs. In club sports.</p>

<p>He is a great writer, so his essays shouldn’t be too bad. Very disappointed he was deferred. He is Asian male, so pretty bad luck for this year.</p>

27

<p>Accepted. Completely surprised and thrilled – was expecting my first acceptance to be on Friday from a safety, so this early and positive news was amazing! You can PM me for details, but here are some quickies: Asian female, 2350+ SAT, 4/4 GPA, no national awards but some regional, decent but not stellar main recs, two meaningful supplementary recs, and nearly all essays including common app focused on science and lab experience. I did work very hard on perfecting the essays, since I read that they really care about those. I didn’t want to have any regrets. </p>

<p>This is making me not want to apply to any of my regular decision schools! Essay writing is such draining work. Congrats to everyone!</p>

28

<p>Deferred.</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT:2310
SAT II:Math II 800 Bio 740
ACT: n/a
GPA: 3.72/4.00 (so bad I know.) W ~4.40
Rank: n/a
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AMC 10, AMC 12, AP Calc BC 5, AP Bio 4
Essays: meh.
Teacher Recs: My teachers love me :slight_smile:
Counselor Rec: She likes me!!
Supplementary Material: research paper I did with Georgetown U’s International Health Department.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): nope
Location: China
High School Type: private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Other
Extracurriculars: MUN, National English Honor Society founder, Writing Center, Mu Alpha Theta, Editor for magazine, Math Tutor. Interned with many bio-related places.
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:
I honestly did this as a sort of joke. I am happy I was deferred :slight_smile: Thought I’d be rejected outright.</p>

29

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ list]
[ *]SAT: 2290
[ *]SAT II: 800/800 Math II/Physics
[ *]ACT:
[ *]GPA:3.56/4.1
[ *]Rank: Nobody Knows, but pretty bad looking at my GPA
[ *]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB):
[/list]Subjective[ul]
[ *]Essays: Tried polishing them alot, talked about chess, math, my childhood struggles, and particularly not making MOP 2x
[ *]Teacher Recs: Math: Known me personally very well, English: Knows me from 9th grade and Academic Decathlon.
[ *]Counselor Rec: Not sure
[ *]Supplementary Material: Research Paper/Mentor’s LOR
[ *]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
[/ul][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: San Diego
[ *]High School Type: 2800+ Public
[ ]Ethnicity: Chinese
[ ]Gender: Male
[/list][ b]Other[ul]
[ *]Extracurriculars: Math/Research/Academic Deca/Badminton/Tutoring
[ *]Awards: USAJMO Honorable Mention/USAMO, submitted to Intel STS
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I’m an extremely particular case, given I’ve had 70 absences from school just in junior year, and had to deal with a ton of child abuse charges/depression (I live with single father). Not making red 10/blue 11 MOP in a way was what set off the bomb, personally. Although, I did just break my school’s record for lowest gpa to have been deferred to Caltech…Seeing other acceptances/deferrals/rejections, it seems that Caltech is more focused on grades than MIT, which is focused on passion. I’m really reliant on MIT EA now, because that will be the thing that allows me to escape from all of this. As a dude who’s also been racking up on math olympiads (but failing extremely hard under pressure and circumstances) while completely DGAFing in school, etc due to my position, I think the most important thing to do (emphasis maybe for Asian males) is to take a risk, and go all-in with what you like; don’t play so safely or else you won’t gain as many experiences/skills as you should. [/ul]</p>

30

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2210
[</em>]SAT II:800 chem, 790 math 2, 780 bio, 730 us history, 680 lit
[<em>]ACT: 34 composite (36 math, 35 science, 33 reading, 32 writing)
[</em>]GPA: 3.95 unweighted, 4.24 weighted
[<em>]Rank: 2 / 250
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP Bio 5, AP world history 5, AP Chem 5, AP English Language 3, AP US history 4, AP Calculus 5
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: I thought they were pretty good, I had someone at my school from a uc read and edit it. Wrote about my passion for astronomy and how caltech can help me achieve my dream job.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Both my teachers loved me. Saw one of the recs and it was great.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: No idea but she requested a bunch of info so Im guessing good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): None
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Los Angeles
[<em>]High School Type: All magnet highly competitive
[</em>]Ethnicity: Armenian
[<em>]Gender Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Science Bowl for 4 years, work experience, volunteer work during summers, math club
[<em>]Awards:AP scholar with distinction, High school leadership conference, casps award for high gpa, California scholarship federation award for service
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul]
Anyone know what I was missing? I mean, I wasnt even deferred, just outright rejected and I have no idea why. Thanks to everyone who can input</p>

31

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: did not submit
[</em>]SAT II: 800 math II, 780 Physics, 760 US History
[<em>]ACT: 34 composite (36 math, 36 science, 32 reading, 32 English, 10 essay, best scores)
[</em>]GPA: 3.91 UW/ 5.13W (AP classes are 6.0, honors are 5.0)
[<em>]Rank: 1/~460
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 on all of these APs: Calc BC/AB, Psych, Stat, Physics B, US History
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Lots of editing was done, above decent but not perfect, I focused on my passion for learning and how Caltech would help me reach my full potential, mentioned some about disabled father and how I have had to live with him for most of my life (parents separated 2 years ago)
[</em>]Teacher Recs: most likely very thoughtful and positive, 2/3 of them most likely written well
[<em>]Counselor Rec: most likely generic but still highly positive
[</em>]Supplementary Material: none
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): physically/mentally disabled father?
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: North Carolina, suburb of large city
[<em>]High School Type: Public, ~2000
[</em>]Ethnicity: White (European, Armenian) and Portuguese
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: After school clubs, emphasis on Math club outside of school and math competitions, electric guitar, volunteer tutoring, volunteer work at local park, TIP program at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (did small research project), SVSM summer program
[<em>]Awards: regional Science Olympiad 4th place event, two 1st place team awards interstate math competition, senior of the month award for local area
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[/ul] I have know idea how I made it in. I am surely a lucky person. I wish the best for people differed or rejected. Now I will not be as sad if I don’t make it into MIT. If I do get in, then I will have the hardest decision in my life to make. Any thoughts on MIT versus Caltech?</p>

32

<p>Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: >2300
[</em>]SAT II: 800 on Math2, Phys2
[<em>]GPA: UW > 3.9
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5 on AP Calc, Phys Mech+EM, Chem, CS; 4 on APLang, 14 AIME
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Terrible, did not get any feedback on any of the essays.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Very strong (from multiple college professors)
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Nothing special
[</em>]Supplementary Material: RSI research paper
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Math?
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: CA
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Math
[<em>]Awards: Multiple JMO/USAMO qualifier
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: lol[/ul] </p>

<p>Sorry for being splotchy with the details, including more information would probably uniquely determine my identity.</p>

33

<p>Deferred</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: > 2300, 2x 800 Math + Physics
[</em>]GPA: UW 4.0
[<em>]Rank: top 10%
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): Calc BC, Stats, Physics C, US History, all 5
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Okay
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Good
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Math/CS
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: CA
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: M
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Math
[<em>]Awards: multiple USAMO, USACO gold, USAPhO semis
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Huh.
[/ul]</p>

34

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2120 (800/660/660) single sitting
[</em>] SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
[<em>] ACT (breakdown): Did not send
[</em>] ACT superscore (breakdown):
[<em>] SAT II (subject, score): Math Level 2 730; Physics 760
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.98 / 5.00
[<em>] Weighted GPA: N/A
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/529
[<em>] IB (score): 45 / 45
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: HL Math, HL Physics, HL Chem, HL English B, SL ESS, SL **<em>ish A1 Lit. + 10 stupid mandatory curriculum courses
[</em>] Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National Science Fair: Nomination for the Research Science Institute 2013
[</em>] Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):[/ul] School Honor Roll, National Merit Qualifier </p>

<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: Programming (windows phone app developer), TEDx Event Head Organizer, School Physics Olympiad Team, Founder and Leader of School Community Service Club, Website Administration
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Electrical Eng. Internship at a prestigious company of the country; Research Internship at MIT’s RSI
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service: I lead my school’s community service club (did fun stuff like painting schools lol)
[</em>] Summer Experience:[/ul] RSI! Harvard Summer School and BU Summer Term. </p>

<p>Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):[ul]
[<em>] Essays:[list]
[li] Unusual Fun: 10! This was very funny lol [/li][</em>] Why Caltech?: 5; I talked too much about MIT here hahaha
[<em>] Honor Code: The event I talked about was prestigious but the content was trite.<br>
[</em>] Diversity: 8
[<em>] Common App: 7
[</em>] Additional Essay/QB Essays: 10. I included my RSI research project’s abstract.
[<em>] Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):[/ul]
[li] Teacher Recommendation #1: I even cried at my recs. [/li][</em>] Teacher Recommendation #2:
[<em>] Counselor Rec:
[</em>] Additional Info/Rec:
[li] Art Supplement:[/list] Nope. </p>[/li]
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] Date Submitted App: Sent common app a week before, supplements 1 day before.
[</em>] U.S. State/Territory or Country: Living in an Intl. country (but applied as US citizen)
[<em>] School Type: IB school.
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket Range: -
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):[/ul] RSI maybe, but they could anticipate that I GOT INTO MIT!!! </p>[/li]
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: RSI and National Science Fair haha
[</em>] Weaknesses: Did not have any :wink:
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I am pretty sure Caltech kinda thought I would choose MIT regarding the fact that they deferred many Rickoids this year.
[</em>] What would you have done differently?:[/ul]
Nothing! Because I already got into MIT. </p>

<p>Other Factors:
My awesomeness ;)</p>

<p>General Comments & Advice:</p>

<p>Regarding Caltech’s tiny yield rate (30%ish), I believe what Caltech looks for is that you must SHOW you will attend Caltech if admitted. I mentioned too much about MIT and RSI and they hated me hahahahahaha. Whatever, I got into my dream school. Hasta la vista Caltech</p>

35

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800/800/790
[</em>]SAT II: 800 Math2/Physics
[<em>]ACT: 36
[</em>]GPA: 4.5 or so weighted
[<em>]Rank: ?
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 5’s on 15 (I think) AP exams, AIME: 10
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Fairly good (ethical dilemma and joke essays were a bit unsatisfactory, but w/e)
[</em>]Teacher Recs: ?
[<em>]Counselor Rec: ?
[</em>]Supplementary Material: Research paper (really terrible to be honest)
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: US
[<em>]High School Type: public
[</em>]Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>]Gender: Male
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>]Extracurriculars: Math/science clubs/competitions, teaching various stuff, music, lots of research experience
[<em>]Awards: USAMO/AIME/USABO/other stuff
[</em>]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Slightly surprised since my awards are relatively bad (probably why I didn’t get into MIT); I guess they liked my character wrt math/science and generally overall (I like myself too!). [/ul]</p>