<p>I'm applying RD to Caltech, and I was wondering who else was. The Caltech forum is quiet and we need some liveliness! We can't let another forum... like MIT... beat us out. ;)</p>
<p>I'm applying RD. My GPA's not great, and I wanted a letter of recommendation from my Math Prof. Also, extra time to work on essays is never a bad thing...</p>
<p>It's just those darned SAT scores that I have to worry about... :)</p>
<p>hey i'm applying RD :)
my GPA's not that great either.</p>
<p>What really makes me sad is the grade inflation at my school. We use an unweighted GPA, and the top 10 percent is something like a 3.96. It's really ridiculuous.</p>
<p>I'm trying to think back to my high school GPA - I think we had something fairly similar. I don't recall exactly what I had, but I'm going to guess that it was 3.9 or a bit better (I remember I did fairly poorly freshman year (~3.6?), but had nearly a 4.0 the next three years), which would put me around 3.9ish, and I was just shy of top 5%. </p>
<p>Grade inflation, and just more people who are pushed really hard by themselves and/or their families have made it more and more difficult to get that top GPA. That said, if you're 'not so great' gpa is a 3.8 or 3.9, it's not going to scuttle your chances, you'll just have to stand out a bit more in other areas. We do understand that highschool is terribly boring, and some classes just make you want to stab yourself to make them end, so you might not get an A in those classes. Then again, if you have a 3.5 or worse... you really don't want to come to Caltech. It would most likely beat the stuffing out of you, as you either lack the knowledge or motivation to deal with the industrial sized workload. </p>
<p>galen</p>
<p>Yeah, my GPA is 3.75ish. I dunno. Most of my B's come from easy classes. I just have problems with pointless worksheets. But whatever.</p>
<p>For those of you applying RD and using the online application, have you guys tried using the image upload thing for the third "essay" question? Everytime I upload a pic.. I see it in the image upload page, but when I click on the link to return to the application, I never see anything in the box nor any indication that I uploaded something.</p>
<p>I'm applying RD and I can't think of anything creative to go in that box :) so I haven't tried to upload anything.</p>
<p>I'll see how it goes but Columbia's really my first choice. And it's no surprise MIT boards would be hotter, it's about 5 times larger right? Undergrad-wise anyway.</p>
<p>About that upload thing, don't worry I think it still sends with your application.</p>
<p>Yeah, MIT is several times larger than Caltech, and just a few more regular posters makes the difference because an active board is sometimes more inviting (although it can also appear "dominated" by the frequent posters) than a quiet one. </p>
<p>To all you applying RD, I wish you the best of luck!</p>
<p>As a side note, to anyone who's applying from a school that doesn't send many students to "top caliber private institutions" (i. e. the Ivy League, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and whatnot), don't despair. I go to a great school in southern orange county in a relative affluent area, and many go to really good public schools, but I don't think anyone's ever gone to MIT in our school's history (20 years), and there has only been one Caltech admit before this year (and I think several did apply every year, could be wrong). Nevertheless, both myself and my friend were admitted to Caltech this year, so you never know.</p>
<p>Thanks sherwin... will keep your advice in mind. :)</p>
<p>Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement. Im also applying RD to Caltech. That Box stuff is almost killing me. But i'm trying hard. By the way, can you send the rest of the applcation via internet and the box via mail?</p>
<p>My GPA s terrible. I heard if you don't have a 3.8GPA and above, you can'y enter!</p>
<p>Though my SATs are quite nice. Any advice for me? Good luck and God bless.</p>
<p>Hi rockyNo1. There is no problem sending the box and the electronic app separately. Plenty of people do it that way. Just make sure the snail mail component is clearly marked with your name so it can be placed in your file.</p>
<p>The GPA stuff is nonsense. We've admitted people already -- in the more competitive early round, too -- with plenty of B's. It depends on where they're from and what the reason is. Don't let your GPA discourage you.</p>
<p>Good luck with the rest, more questions are welcome.</p>
<p>Im applying RD....I'm just dissapointed that those dang stardadized tests might do me in, in the end. Hopefully they'll see that I have a lot of good ECs and like science. eh....</p>
<p>Good luck ya'll</p>
<p>Hey everyone! I'm applying RD. 'Tis true that it is quiet in here.</p>
<p>Hello all. Due to my mediocre standardized test scores, Caltech is a reach school for me, but I'm applying for the heck of it. After all, I have everything else. . .I'm also hoping that they might want someone who is desparate to travel all the way from New York to study there.</p>
<p>lol welcome RD-ers!! :)</p>
<p>Hehe..yeah. So who has their RD application done yet? I'm still working on essays, although it's mostly just editing at this point. Still haven't finalized what I'm going to put in the box. I can't really think of any interesting picture to put in or something, so I'm prolly going to try writing something funny. I don't know if it will work. </p>
<p>Good luck, all!</p>
<p>I'm applying RD, and I'm almost done. :)</p>