elementman322

Okay,

Class Rank 19/274 7%
Test scores: 28 ACT
WGPA: 3.96

WASP

Midwest

pretty decent public school...

Course load: Most difficult at my school..

Freshman
Adv. English
Phy ed
Adv Physical Science
Adv Math
Spanish 1
American Studies
Choir

Sophomore
Adv. English
Adv Biology
Adv Math
US History
Spanish 2
Debate
Accounting

Junior
AP Chemistry
AP Language + Composition
Adv Math
Spanish 3
Physics
American Literature
Phy ed
Global Geography

Senior
AP Physics
Spanish 4
Public Speaking
AP Government
AP Art History
College Pre-calc
College Microeconomics

Recommendations are legit..

EC:
Captain of the Debate team. State Participant in Debate. Three Time letter winner
Cross Country Captain. Four Time letter winner.
Golf Two time letter winner. Member of Jr. PGA
Peer tutoring
NHS
School ambassador
Political club
Key club
club basketball
Volunteer work
etc

Job
I work at the Holiday Inn 10 hours per week.

Thanks!

btarlinian

Individual grades and AP test scores would be useful.
This may be due to limitations in your school's offerings, but you haven't taken any AP math classes and will have taken a total of two AP science classes by the time you graduate. That combined with your lack of science/math/engineering extracurriculars indicate that you aren't really interested in science or math. If that's true, you probably shouldn't apply to Caltech, you'd end up being miserable if you got in.

Dauntless9

Generally, someone applying to Caltech should be interested in math and science. Frankly, you've done nothing that suggests a passion for math and science. Did your school not offer an AP math or any math/science activities? That would be your only saving grace, in which case, if you should be seeking outside opportunities to show your prowess in those areas. Instead, you've done well in debate and do some sports stuff. There's nothing wrong with that, but you're not focusing on math science at all, and an adcom would wonder why you even want to go Caltech.

I'm usually not such a harsh judge, but a 3.96 weighted GPA and 28 ACT are also very worrisome. And what about your SAT II's? If you don't have an explanation for what I've mentioned above, I'd say you have no chance. However, I am not on admissions, so what do I know.

Why do you want to go to Caltech?

crazy mom

My son went to a very small public high school where the only AP opportunities were online, and AP Calc BC was not even an option with that, so I have some sympathy. My biggest concern would be that since you are in precalc now, you must not have had any Calculus, which I think would make Caltech very difficult even if you were accepted. I'm pretty sure the ACT would probably need to go up as well. My son did not have too many math/science opportunities at his school, so he made his own, going to math contests on his own without a coach and similar things, so again, I have a lot of sympathy for people who do not necessarily have the same opportunities as others. I'm not sure why the AP courses are such a big deal to people. Caltech does not accept AP credit, and my son learned nothing from AP Chem that he didn't already learn from a very good high school teacher and course. I'm guessing you have a science interest from what you have there, but unless there is more math than I can detect, it would be very difficult.

lizzardfire

You wouldn't want to come here without calculus. It would hurt. It would hurt a lot.