<p>I’m a junior, and am partway through my college search. Caltech seems like an awesome school, but browsing through these threads it seems like most people have done some combo of research/olympiads/aime. Does anyone who hasn’t stand a chance in admissions (assuming fairly good SAT’s and grades)?</p>
<p>Yes. The majority of people who get in have not done any “serious” (e.g. long-term almost-publishable) research, or olympiads… even people who have taken the AIME don’t constitute a majority of admits.</p>
<p>Well… maybe not siemenns research, but at least been around the lab playing with Sodium and Water from time to time. The joys of chem</p>
<p>I hadnt done any research or olympiads or taken the aime and I got in! You so have a chance, go for it!!</p>
<p>All I did was take the AIME, do the National level of the Chemistry Olympiad, and interned for six weeks of research over the summer, and I got in. (That may sound like a lot, but considering that although I qualified for the next level of a few competitions, I didn’t win or publish anything.)</p>
<p>I recommend, though, that if you want to a)Improve your college resume and b)Enjoy next summer (far more important), you should apply to a program where you can do research (If, of course, you don’t already have a plan for it).</p>
<p>I recommend Boston University’s Research Internship program. I did biochemistry research with a great and friendly lab there last summer, and had a fantastic time. You can still apply to the program- they take kids that are interested in physics, chemistry, biology, math… anything. And research is an amazing experience (and Boston an amazing city).</p>
<p>It’s not too late to do research. I didn’t do any until the summer after my junior year. Just make sure you do something over the summer - if not research then taking college math/science classes.</p>
<p>Quote:
I recommend, though, that if you want to a)Improve your college resume and b)Enjoy next summer (far more important), you should apply to a program where you can do research (If, of course, you don’t already have a plan for it).</p>
<p>I recommend Boston University’s Research Internship program. I did biochemistry research with a great and friendly lab there last summer, and had a fantastic time. You can still apply to the program- they take kids that are interested in physics, chemistry, biology, math… anything. And research is an amazing experience (and Boston an amazing city).</p>
<p>Just wondering, what are other “summer” research internships are available?</p>
<p>Speaking of the AIME, what does Caltech view as a good score?</p>
<p>There’s no hard number. 3-4+ is worth submitting (it might seem bad to you but not everyone can do it), 5-6+ is good, 7-8+ is excellent, and above that it will really get you noticed.</p>
<p>I think I may have asked this before, but how many applicants/acceptees submit scores and what is the average?</p>