<p>Well I had a really good teacher, so I can’t imagine how badly I would have done without adequate preparation; I don’t think “excuses” are illegitimate. But you can understand why excuses on the application would sound bad. If you do it very delicately, you can send in the “supplemental remarks” that your teachers for the AP classes were not teaching to the AP curriculum due to inexperience. If you say it very factually and note that you wish you had studied harder independently, it may mitigate the effect of those scores.</p>
<p>thehobbit,</p>
<p>There are a ton of Texas people here, so you’ll feel right at home. My current roommate and my freshman/sophomore/senior year roommate are both Ay majors, so if you have any questions, PM me and I’ll hook you up with them. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p><em>sorry about an off-topic question</em>
(but i cant help asking it)</p>
<p>why is there about twice as many guys than girls in Caltech?
is it some sort of Caltech’s policy?
or is it b/c less girls have amazing stats? (i doubt it)</p>
<p>again, sorry about off-topic question :)</p>
<p>All technical schools have a pretty strong imbalance in the ratio of male:female applicants (check the admissions stats). Some schools make a very strong effort to bring the ratio of admits close to 50/50, and we still try to make the merit of the application the only factor that counts. Thus, our gender split of admits is closer to our split of applicants. There is no policy to maintain any sort of ratio in the admitted class; we just admit by merit and see what comes out.</p>
<p>Ben, I go to a small private school in Canada that does not offer any AP courses or honors (the school says that normal courses are honors level or w/e). I will be taking Introductory Calculus 12 second semester in Grade 11(my schedule is full and hardest possible at school). </p>
<p>I know colleges say they will take the applicant in context of what is available to them, but to what extent is this statement true at CalTech? Will not having AP Calc BC (plus other APs) on my transcript put me at a disadvantage? Should I try to self-study BC this year or in Grade 12?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>We’ll understand that it’s not your fault and won’t count it against you if your school doesn’t offer AP courses. We’ve certainly admitted people from small private schools before with no courses above honors.</p>
<p>I would say <em>definitely</em> make a note of the fact that your school doesn’t offer AP’s in the section of the application where we ask you for additional information (or just attach it on a separate piece of paper). Also say that you would have taken them had they been available, and are taking the hardest schedule at your school. And yes, studying AP Calc on your own during your senior year would look good. Just make sure to mention that somewhere in the application.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing that up!</p>