<p>Decision: Rejected </p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2380, single sitting. 800 CR, 800 M, 780 W
[</em>] SAT I superscore (breakdown):
[<em>] ACT (breakdown): did not take
[</em>] ACT superscore (breakdown):
[<em>] SAT II: 800 US History, 800 Physics, 800 Math Level II
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
[<em>] Weighted GPA: n/a
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): around top 5%
[<em>] AP (place score in parentheses): BC Calc, Physics E&M, Physics Mechanics, US History, French Language and Culture, Spanish Language, all 5’s
[</em>] IB (place score in parentheses): school does not offer
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Legit courses… AP chem, english (everyone takes), some high-level history electives, fourth-year comp sci (first formal class, I self-studied prereqs over the summer), several college-level math electives …
[</em>] Number of other applicants in your school: Caltech is not popular at my school at all. 5-10 apply per year, ~3 are admitted, and almost invariably 0 attend. We have a big east coast bias.
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USAJMO qualifier, USPT semifinalist (2x, it’s usually around the top 250 on the F = ma exam if you’re unfamiliar). Several awards with math team. [/li]I have a bunch of more standard awards (e.g. National Merit Finalist, Presidential Scholar candidate, AP scholar, etc.) that don’t count for much.</p>
<p>[/ul]</p>
<p>Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity sports (serious ones too, not just track or something like that where everyone gets a letter) and some JV sports. Music (I’m actually quite talented, not that they would know from my app). Math team, physics club, chess club, etc. I’m really involved in this hobby I do. Wrote commonapp essay about it.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: No actual work experience. I did a full-time paid internship last summer, and I have a fairly serious small business.
[li] Volunteer/Community service: I’m barely average in this area. A few hours per week, nothing more, no leadership.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Writing (Write a brief description and Rate Quality on 1-10 Scale; 10 as Best):[ul]
[<em>] Essays (Include Subjects): Uh idk pretty weak probably. I thought they would appreciate my interest essay, which was very straightforward. I basically said that caltech students are good at math and science, so if you’re interested in math/science why wouldn’t you want to go?.
[</em>] Common App Main: Good.
[<em>] EC Short Answer: Weak.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation #1: From physics teacher. He loved me.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: English. Pretty good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Good
[<em>] Additional Rec: n/a
[</em>] Art Supplement: n/a
[li] Research Supplement: n/a (I probably should have submitted one)[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] Date Submitted App: whenever it was due haha
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): underrepresented state
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: private
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: did not apply for financial aid
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]</p>
<p>Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: test scores, math awards, well-roundedness
[</em>] Weaknesses: wrote my app in a day. did not visit or show interest
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: not showing interest, writing weak essays (I’m a pretty good writer but they were hastily done)
[</em>] Where else have you been accepted/deferred/rejected: none yet
[li] What would you have done differently?: Spend more time on application[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations, etc:
Obviously I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get in. It certainly wasn’t my first choice (this is going to sound bitter, but I don’t think I’m the type of student that’d fit in there), but I would have liked to have the option (because I know in terms of academics–especially math/science-- you can’t really beat it).
To be honest, I kind of expected to get in just based on my stats and physics/math awards. I didn’t think you needed to write good essays for a school that is so unabashedly math/science and test score-focused. I also thought that they would be looking for applicants who weren’t only about academics (I focused on sports and my hobby [very atypical for a math/science guy] in my app.)
I’d love to think that I was rejected because they didn’t think I would attend (due to my complete lack of demonstrated interest) and not because of my stats, because if that isn’t the case I’m in for a rough couple of weeks.
I should have known better though, because a kid I’m friends with from math team got rejected EA (so no interest problem there) with multiple USAMO qualifications and lots of other math/science stuff.<br>
Oh well. </p>
<p>Congrats to those that got in!
And for those applying–scores and awards aren’t enough, show interest! (Assuming you actually want to go there though. I personally think it’s kind of scummy to show more interest to a school than you actually have.)</p>