<p>“Getting a high score on the SAT is easy”</p>
<p>Few students manage it.</p>
<p>“I think the problem is that some very qualified students just don’t want to really take the time to study for it”</p>
<p>There are plenty of people at Caltech who DIDN’T study for it at all. I didn’t want to take the time to study either, so I just did the one practice test that comes with your registration form… but if my first score hadn’t been satisfactory of course I would’ve retaken!</p>
<p>“In fact, Caltech is the only school in the country where I’m not in the mid-50 range, which really seems to make apparent the fact that it’s very strict on standardized tests.”</p>
<p>I’d say it has more to do with Caltech’s extremely small class size than “strictness”. There are just fewer spots for marginal applicants, and as the saying (hyperbolically, of course) goes: “admissions doesn’t make mistakes”–it is not the kind of school where they are looking to “take a chance” on students who might end up being miserable.</p>