Accepted! I was extremely surprised and confused, but I think I got in because of my essays.
PFE is cancelled per their email to EA-admitted students sent Friday night.
Congratulations to all those admitted!!! Even though only a few have publicly announced their cancellations, all colleges are likely to cancel their admitted student events this year. These events are fun but the risks are real. Colleges’ foremost responsibility is to protect their students and staff. Besides, you shouldn’t take the risk of infection by attending a large gathering of people from all over the country (or even all over the world).
Thanks @yucca10!! Our daughter is looking at Caltech for Electrical Engineering. Do you have any impressions (positive and negative) you can share from your experiences? She absolutely loves the research and location. Wondering about how much fun students have? How is the intensity? She’s hoping to gather as much information as possible to decide.
My son got waitlist, we are at East Coast. Do you know how many East Coast kids they usually take each year? Is that more difficult for East Coast kids to get in? Because maybe Caltech look at top East Coast kids are more likely to choose an East Coast university? Actually, a little sad and disappointed…
My DS has been admitted. Long travel from Midwest, but everyone very excited. Only second from the rural HS to ever get an admit from CalTech.
Son got waitlisted and we’re in east coast, too.
Rejected totally anticipated though ?
Hi, maybe Caltech prefers to wait then see if we still prefer Caltech after all RD colleges announced decisions?
@firstbklyn, Hi, maybe Caltech prefers to wait then see if we still prefer Caltech after all RD colleges announced decisions?
@ParentInColorado Yes, it’s very intense. Good work ethics and planning skills help a lot. Most people do homework in groups, collaboration is very much encouraged. They have parties once in a while, go out and generally have some fun (and there is some drinking going on), but it seems to be more subdued than in other schools. It’s not a school for those who seek traditional campus experience with lots of socializing. The socializing is mostly within houses. However, most parents I talked to during the recent parents’ weekend said that their kids are doing fine and enjoying the experience. I haven’t really heard anything negative from my son except that some professors are not as good as others (true everywhere) and the food is OK but not great.
Research is heavily emphasized, and engineering in Caltech is more research-oriented than in MIT from what I heard . Most students do either research or internships every summer. PM me if you want more specific details about my son’s experience, but he’s not an engineering major.
My son was accepted from the east coast. Texas also has many acceptances.
@bookworm Congraduations to you and your son! Do you mind advise if your son visited Caltech before?
No, and we went after accepted students day. We only made CMU’s ( computer science) weekend. He met students that had just been to caltech’s special days . They sat around comparing schools.
When we got to Caltech, son met with Admissions, then attended classes. They hooked me up with an architectural tour group.
Caltech is such a small school that my son and his friends were able to have “leadership” positions. The housing situation was so good
DECISION:
Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500 (790 Math, 710 English)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 730 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Weighted GPA: Doesn’t do this
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2
AP (place score in parenthesis): EngLang (3), CSP (5), SpanLang (5), Phys 1 (4), Chem (4), EnvSci (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra, AP Calc BC, AP CS - A, AP Phys 2, Chem 3 (orgo), English, Spanish, Latin American Studies.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Environmental Club founder and president created an app that measures water and carbon footprint of products at the supermarket by scanning them, Research Assistant for a Mathematical Education Masters Thesis, Global Issues Network Service Project and Conference participant also organized a local conference, NHS, German Classes, Tennis Player (non-competitive), small 3week internship with a material scientist.
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: In Extracurriculars
Summer Activities: Summer At Brown, JHU Innovation Engineering, SIP Internship Online (wrote a paper and sent it as a portfolio).
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Wrote about how I made paper at home, about lost in translation of idioms b/c I speak 3 languages now fluently, a letter to my roommate about my sustainable shopping habits, etc.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): All good, my philosophy teacher, chem teacher, and bio/engineering teacher
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 9 (he is famous in my school for writing great letters
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8 (let me read it… pretty good)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 9
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 8 (my research mentor, he liked me)
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 8… IDK?
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Colombia
School Type: American School in Colombia (they teach half in English and half in Spanish)
Ethnicity: Latino
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A
Reflections:
Strengths: research paper, app portfolio, good unique extracurriculars, decent essays.
Weaknesses: Ap scores, subj test score (chem), no major awards, could have had a more tied up story.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: good strategy
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: MIT, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, Harvey Mudd, Georgia Tech, Jacobs, Lynn
Waitlisted: Yale, Olin
Rejected: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, CalTech
Withdrew: Duke, CMU, Yale-NUS b/c I had already gotten into my dream school and some friends were applying here.
General Comments (if any): I am pretty Happy 
IDK if being an international Latina in stem helped