Caltech (2025-2026)

[warped cosmos]

If you go here you can see the Rose Bowl parade

[sullen robin]

im not applying here but 2nd hehehehahhw

[solar sparrow]

no one even going to caltech in this server anymore

rip idaho and arch

[carmine steeple]

https://tenor.com/view/взрыв-кот-шимпанзе-собака-взрыв-кота-gif-11438169359481997404

[lavish elm]

i hate this school

[odd igloo]

watch me

[sage heart]

why am I still here 😭

[sage heart]

goodbye

[wide flame]

hi yall did anyone apply to caltech up close this year?

slash if anyone did CUC last year/previous years how was it like?

i applied a few days ago lol

[zinc belfry]

dry ahh thread

[warped cosmos]

Then make it not dry

[zinc belfry]

no one going to caltech, gimme a free seat now

[lavish elm]

Oh

I’m glad they rejected me

[odd igloo]

can I take it pleeease

[zinc belfry]

nah i need an undergrad seat

[odd igloo]

awwww

ok we can both go :)

[zinc belfry]

YAYY

bruh im not making it

[odd igloo]

same

im applying for transfer

ts not happening

[odd igloo]

caltechs motto actually goes way too hard like its not even fair
"The truth shall make you free" like tell me that isnt one of the coldest lines youve ever heard

[zinc belfry]

that;'s so peak

[warped cosmos]

Class of 2029 Caltech Acceptance Rates

A2C Discord

Restrictive Early Action (7 applicants)

• Accepted: 2 (29%)
• Deferred: 3 (43%)
• Rejected: 2 (29%)

Regular Decision (75 applicants)

• Accepted: 16 (21%)
• Waitlisted: 10 (13%)
• Rejected: 49 (65%)

Caltech

-# 2028 data

All decision types (13,856 applicants)

• Accepted: 356 (2.57%)
• Waitlisted: 206 (1.48%)
  • Admitted off waitlist: 41 (19.9% of waitlisted applicants, 0.03% of all applicants)
• Rejected: 13,294 (95.6%)

[lavish elm]

ur telling me i made up 50% of the REA rejected population?? 🗿

🥀

[odd igloo]

i feel like Caltech has such a small acceptance rate mostly because they're ultra specific

a lot of people apply just cause it's a "top school" but the truth is that there's a very specific kind of person who really wants to go to caltech and who is really gonna succeed there

i just can't figure out if I'm that kind of person :(

[warped cosmos]

They’re listed separately

[wary sandal]

"The 2026-27 academic year will be the first year in which the new system will be implemented, and that the admissions office will continue to collect information on testing and student success that might help refine the process in the future. "It's the Caltech way to go in with a willingness to experiment and try something new that's really backed by data.""

are u sure its 25-26 or am i misreading

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/standardized-tests/standardized-testing-buckets

[warped cosmos]

Yes

I’m sure

Check the other page

It says fall 2026 applicants

[wary sandal]

ok one sec

huh

thats weird

ok cool

i wasnt trying to criticize u lol

just wanted to make sure

[wintry remnant]

I plan on applying to caltech hmm

I feel like this kinda diminishes my application 😞

Not that my SAT is in any way the only facet but like idk

Actually I guess not really because the ranges for buckets A and B are small anyways

I wonder what will be the difference between acceptance of A/A vs A/B vs B/B

[stark glacier]

aint nobody wanna go here

[fervent lintel]

This kind of creates an advantage for ACT test takers ngl. Traditionally according to the ACT/SAT Concordance tables a range of 750-800 on the SAT would be a 34-36 ACT, not a 33-36. And why is a 770 equal to Bucket B when the Concordance tables for the ACT/SAT say it's equivalent to a 35?

So SAT test takers are disadvantaged potentially, slightly

[mellow oriole]

RIP my 750 sat math guys (I'm not applying to caltech)

Tho they probably just want to limit the number of applicants they get
Or they have a deal with college board so that kids with 700-750 retake the test and don't just stop

Let's just hope the other t20s don't adopt this

[fervent lintel]

Yeah 🙏 I feel cheated out of Bucket A rn since I scored a 1550 😭

[warped cosmos]

I figured, this all seemed kinda rushed on caltech’s end

Like this says 33-34 and also 33 and below

I even had to double check if it was this or next year bc them saying 2026-27 year without further clarification would typically imply fall 2027 applicants

[fervent lintel]

oh yeah, that's weird

[wary sandal]

howd u end up double chekcing

[warped cosmos]

My assumption was they meant to say “students entering Caltech during the 2026-2027 academic year as freshmen”

[fervent lintel]

Oh wait this is next year? or this year

[warped cosmos]

Typically app cycles are referred to as the year and season you enter/start college

So if you’re going to start college in fall 2026 you are a fall 2026 applicant even if you’re turning in your applications in November

[wary sandal]

yeah i think this makes sense otherwise they'd put more thought into their publicized material. this seems like a rush to get it out before it gets too late in a sense

vs. a planned announcement for a next year hting

[warped cosmos]

Exactly

[warped cosmos]

This is also why when I discuss things on A2C I usually say “applicants applying during the 2025-2026 application cycle” bc it also includes transfers and people deferring enrollment and whatnot, the only time that wouldn’t work is if you really need to distinguish between spring and fall admissions

[fervent lintel]

ohh okay got it 👍

[warped cosmos]

It’s per subscore

The format is the same as it would’ve been before

Like reading: 750 math: 780

Except instead of saying 750 and 780 it would say your bucket in each slot

Unless you’re in bucket c then it says bucket c and your actual score

Just posted this

Hopefully that’ll help

[mellow oriole]

So you don't have to for example retake a 750 reading then cuz it says bucket C 750

[warped cosmos]

Huh

Why would you retake

If you get a 750 you’ll be in Bucket B where no score will be displayed it’ll just say Bucket B

If you get 740 or below then what you’re saying would be correct, it’ll say both Bucket C and your specific score

[frank quartz]

not applying here but like " 750–800 SAT and 33–36 ACT subscore ranges had little to no difference in academic performance at Caltech"

i feel like if they wanted to show little to no diffrence truly they should've just placed 750-800 as one bucket

otherwise the 20 points cutoff (which in reality is just like 1 more question wrong) is showing to applicants that there is in fact, a diffrence

[warped cosmos]

Oh I kinda summarized it

• There was a small difference in a student's grades at Caltech when they scored between a 780-800 SAT or a 35-36 ACT.

• There was a larger, but still relatively small, difference in a student's grades at Caltech when they scored between a 750-770 SAT or a 33-34 ACT.
• There was a sizable difference in a student's grades at Caltech when they scored a <750 math SAT or <33 math ACT or a <700 EBRW or <33 on the English exam of the ACT.

That’s the official wording

As to how much “small” is I have no clue as the research they did wasn’t linked to the press release and I didn’t bother to see where I could find it

It’s interesting they mention <700 EBRW being the threshold for reading bc the Bucket C threshold is still 740 and below

Esp considering there’s no lower threshold found by the research for ACT English

[cursive forge]

wait highkey this bucket system is so interesting

i wonder if other universities will adopt this as well

i feel like if MIT did this as well it would really help because i personally got dissuaded from applying since i did not have an 800 math 😭

[wintry remnant]

Do colleges really care that much between an 800 math vs like 750+?

[solar sparrow]

depends

[cursive forge]

^ for most schools no, but if you’re a STEM major or you’re applying to MIT (where the 25th percentile is a 790), then in those cases it matters

even if you’re a stem major you definitely don’t need a perfect score!!

[wintry remnant]

sigh i got 800-770 but Im not even gonna worry about those 30 points

if i am declined over 30 points maybe its for the best

[cursive forge]

omg pop off my friend with a 770 math got into cornell for stem + there’s definitely people with lower scores who’ve also gotten in

also if your score is good in the context of your score that also matters!!

[wintry remnant]

Congrats to them!

[cursive forge]

good luck!! you got this :D

[odd igloo]

correct me if Im wrong but I really don't think test scores matter in the US nearly as much as other countries

[warped cosmos]

Is portal down chat

[lean thorn]

aired 🥀

[warped cosmos]

Why did they typo

[wary sandal]

wow

caltech throwing

@tiny marsh u shouldn't apply anymore

[lone slate]

Where’s the typo 💀

[warped cosmos]

Is techers a word

[lone slate]

Yes

That’s what they call their students

It’s very corny and Caltech-esque

[wary sandal]

oh

@tiny marsh maybe you should apply now

[odd igloo]

apply with me

except I'm transfer

ggs

[wary sandal]

ok

[warped cosmos]

Usually a few days before

They used to always release decisions on Saturdays but last year was a Thursday

Id expect it to come out next week either way

[lavish elm]

Like all the people who attend it

[sullen raft]

WE are getting into Caltech chat

[split wolf]

What a hater fr

[lavish elm]

caltech was my top and then they rejected me and accepted my cousin

yes im a hater

[split wolf]

I will become one in a week

[lavish elm]

twin ❤️‍🩹 🥹

[hushed wharf]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSEFMDNAPqQ/

3:24pm pst

@warped cosmos

[warped cosmos]

Show ur work

Caltech REA decision date math time @everyone please show your work or else you will lose points

Edit: survey says <t:1765495440:F> in your local time

[hushed wharf]

dont have image perms

[warped cosmos]

You can dm to me

This is from Hajime

[solar sparrow]

so it was nernst

i alm ost forgot the name

[sullen raft]

wait is this legit

[lavish igloo]

Yes that's from their insta + there was an email

[wary sandal]

this is so tough

[split wolf]

Lmao same

[split wolf]

No this is from OpenAI

[warped cosmos]

From as in the person who sent it to me

[split wolf]

I get that it was a joke

because why tf would you use ai to do this, thats kinda goes against the whole point of it being a riddle. (Eventhough this year's was litterally 1 google search and 2 seconds on a calulator)

[rose basin]

is it usually harder

it was pretty light it just tried to use a bunch of confusing words but the calculations were simple

[thorny sparrow]

This is literally just plug and chug

[cinder heath]

should i apply here or am i cooked

[brazen surge]

gl to caltech REA-ers today!! can't wait to see yall's results in celebration station :D

caltech is so cool of a school omg

no offense intended (to caltech), but they screwed u guys this round with that riddle 😭 i feel like they couldve made one that's so much more fun than plug and chug

mann i was looking forward to having fun solving it 🥀

[warped cosmos]

It’s tomorrow

[brazen surge]

oh mb i keep forgetting yall r a day behind our timezone 😭

[split wolf]

depends, this year or next year

[merry fossil]

does anyone go to cal tech here? hoping to check in on someone. thanks

[wintry remnant]

Thank you caltech for having lowkey one of the best website designs for figuring getting info about majors (in the pool of colleges i applied to)

[cinder heath]

this yr, us there a difference?

[split wolf]

yes, you have like 20 days till the deadline

if you haven't started yet ur def cooked

[split wolf]

real

[thick rover]

for rd to caltech?

[split wolf]

yes their deadline is jan 5

?

If you only start considering a school 20 days before deadline I personally think that's a very short time but go for it ig

[molten iris]

Bro why do you say so?

I haven’t started like 10 colleges’ supplementals

[lavish igloo]

Lmao same I've done first drafts for half of them

[thick rover]

Ur chilling

I wrote most of my caltech essays the last day

[wintry remnant]

Its like 6 200-300 word Essays some of which you might have been asked from other schools

Lors I guess but normally people already have those

[sullen raft]

WE are (not) getting in 🔥🔥🔥

[fleet goblet]

Good luck all REAers

[rose basin]

40 minutes left

[supple halo]

Good luck

[warped cosmos]

How are my techers doing

[glossy jacinth]

30 min 🤯

[near pewter]

good luck everyone!!

[noble wigeon]

is there a reason why it comes out at exactly 5:24

[tranquil drum]

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/admissions-release-time-riddles

there's a riddle

i wish they have something like that for phd

[noble wigeon]

oh that's interesting

very caltech of them

[frank quartz]

the riddle is pretty much just plugging in numbers though lol

gl u guys

10 mins

[obsidian ruin]

10 mins 🥶

[tranquil drum]

just submitted caltech for rd

[frank quartz]

unc is trying to blend in with the hs seniors

😔

/j

[obsidian ruin]

apparently caltech doesnt let their own undergrads apply for grad school at caltech

[tranquil drum]

[lavish elm]

Oh it’s today???

Dang

Seven minutes 🫩

[tranquil drum]

6-7 minutes

[lavish elm]

https://tenor.com/view/67-gif-8575841764206736991

I remember how badly my heart was pounding ☠️

[split wolf]

my hr a crisp 159 rn

[frank quartz]

5 min

gl!

is anyone who did caltech even here in a2c

😭

this thread is lowkey hella dry

[lavish elm]

At least u guys get it 624 pm est I got mine at like 8 est or something

Two more hours of dooming 🥀

[split wolf]

it is currently 11:21 pm here lmao

[rose basin]

3 min

[lavish elm]

Hope u guys are crashing out ❤️

[tranquil drum]

im gonna ping everyone T-1 minutes

[rose basin]

2 min

[warped cosmos]

ideally wait until at least one kid says out

or its on the dot

[tranquil drum]

ohh ok

[rose basin]

What's willage where is that

[tranquil drum]

Just to double check, it's accept/defer/reject

3 options

[lavish elm]

It’s a name of a cafeteria on GT campus lmao

[rose basin]

Oh lol

[frank quartz]

1 min

[rose basin]

Let's go yellow jackets

[lavish elm]

Yess

[tranquil drum]

1 min

[warped cosmos]

website says yes

[rose basin]

Crazy to think about how within 45 seconds some of your guyses life is gonna change forever

[tranquil drum]

sounds good!

[rose basin]

While for others nothing happens

[frank quartz]

idt anyone here is caltech though

💀 😭

[tranquil drum]

20sec

[warped cosmos]

are yall just here for fun then

[noble wigeon]

yeah i'm just spectating

[frank quartz]

yea

[rose basin]

Lol I am at least

[warped cosmos]

💀

[rose basin]

Spectating

[tranquil drum]

refresh portal!

[lavish elm]

ITS GO TIMEEEEEE

[frank quartz]

welp its out

[rose basin]

Who got in

[frank quartz]

but erm noone is here

so ye

a

[lavish elm]

me totally

[frank quartz]

lmao

[rose basin]

I got in guys!!@!

[white falcon]

W

[rose basin]

/s

[tranquil drum]

@everyone CALTECH REA OUT

...

[rose basin]

What

Why did th ping work

[empty spindle]

good luck nerdds

🔥

[frank quartz]

bc they're a mod???

[marble grotto]

Oh boy

Good luck

[obsidian ruin]

deferred :/

[frank quartz]

pretty obv lmao

[rose basin]

Oh lmao

[empty spindle]

but not rejected!!

[frank quartz]

rip

better than reject!

[noble wigeon]

it's okay bro, don't feel too badly

[warped cosmos]

we always ping threads for thier decisions

[lavish elm]

Supposedly deferred people have a good shot in RD 🙏🙏

[warped cosmos]

it doesnt ping entire server

only those in thread

[wintry remnant]

I should've did Caltech REA

[lavish elm]

Who got accepted yo

[tranquil drum]

who got in

[frank quartz]

damn

[noble wigeon]

w clark

[frank quartz]

friend got rejected

[wintry remnant]

I didnt understand what REA meant until it was too lat

[frank quartz]

welp

[empty spindle]

1 accepted???

[frank quartz]

time to wait for pton

[empty spindle]

whomst

[white falcon]

oooo 1 acceptance?

[frank quartz]

@merry fossil congrats!

[white falcon]

who

[lavish elm]

Someone named clark

[white falcon]

W

[empty spindle]

congrats clark!

[copper ruin]

o wait i know u from the astro oly server

i think?

[white falcon]

wait FR?

which one?

[merry fossil]

lmao i was js trying to see the poll results

[frank quartz]

...

[lavish elm]

What is the Astro oly server 👀

[copper ruin]

idr i think OAAO

[tranquil drum]

...

[noble wigeon]

oh

[white falcon]

Ahhhhh yeah I see

[lavish elm]

LMAOOO

[frank quartz]

dont do that dude, its used for a2c details for next year 😭

[white falcon]

LMFAO

[rugged zodiac]

the humble see results button:

[copper ruin]

i can pm its for usaaao (us astro and astrophys oly)

[white falcon]

yep

rlly nice comp

[merry fossil]

ah

[white falcon]

I don't rlly help out r

but I stll lurk sometimes

[lavish elm]

Ohhh I see (I can’t do those anymore prolly)

[tranquil drum]

my theory is whoever got in probably passed out, thus they couldn't react to the poll

I almost passed out when i got into davis

[frank quartz]

welp

[lavish elm]

Can I be the honorary acceptee if no one else pulls up

[frank quartz]

pton is in 32 minutes

so we'll hope on that

[tranquil drum]

apply for their phd like me

[lavish elm]

OOOH imma lurk in there

[lavish elm]

Idk if im even gonna make it through masters hold on 🫩

[tranquil drum]

caltech phd has a much, MUCH better chance than undergrad

[red light]

Yuhhh

I’m in

[tranquil drum]

what

[tranquil drum]

proof

[red light]

accepted REA 🥂

[lavish elm]

Waitt fr

[noble wigeon]

actually?

[red light]

School address it’s fine

[tranquil drum]

HOLY

[lavish elm]

YOOO

[tranquil drum]

react to the poll @red light

[near pewter]

CONGRATS

[red light]

WHERE POLL

[noble wigeon]

LETS GOOO

[lavish elm]

U ATEEE

[white falcon]

WWWWW

Congratulations!!!!!

[tranquil drum]

^

react to this @red light

also #✨-celebration-station

dont forgot to post it in there

[hard drift]

YOOOOOOOO

[hard drift]

son 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 im crine 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[lavish elm]

I had no reaction getting into any school bro my mom had more of a reaction than me

[hard drift]

my biggest reaction was emory highkey lmaooo

[rose basin]

ecs

?

[empty spindle]

actually goated as hell

[gentle zephyr]

WWWWWW

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1250239994610716743/1265155388010135662/speed.gif

[rose basin]

wait @red light

how do you know my friend

from mn

wai

i remember your chance me bro

[red light]

ISEF 2x, NSB 2x, robotics worlds

• SSP

[red light]

YES

Wayzata?

[rose basin]

omg

yes

thats tuff

[red light]

ya I do sci bowl with them

(They fuck me)

[rose basin]

yea u got into the up close thing right

[red light]

Yea

[rose basin]

yea i think they say they admit a lot of students from that

[red light]

Yea

[rose basin]

thats amazing man good for you

🫡

[red light]

we are uhhh

8/10 from up close rn

[rose basin]

GGs

[red light]

8/10 from fly in, 1 rejected 1 deferred

[rose basin]

Yea i applied up close didnt get in sadly but ill take the fee waiver 🤷‍♂️

[winter ruin]

CONGRATS

huge

[red light]

Massive, even

[white falcon]

Yoooooo nice

can I see ur chanceme?

[rose basin]

your lifes changed

[red light]

Ah that’s good tho

Yea lemme find it

[rose basin]

beat you to it

[lavish elm]

My cousin did up close and got in RD

[rose basin]

wait

wrong one

i swear i had it here

https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1ph5uwk/rural_boy_caltech/

[red light]

I have disgustingly good ecs

[rose basin]

there

yeah

[red light]

But I think essays made the most

[rose basin]

u slayed

[red light]

rural boy probably helped

[rose basin]

caltech loves rural

ik a kid who got in last year

my best friends neighbor basically

from north dakota

[red light]

Oh word

Well I think it was the ECs + being rural

the context of the two

[rose basin]

yeah and essays

u kinda need everything

for a school as selective as caltech

[red light]

Imma be real bro I submitted a fuckin Minecraft portfolio

To Caltech

[rose basin]

LOL what

like your builds?

[thorny sparrow]

caltech loves high achieving rural

I know a few who got in last year

[rose basin]

arent u the guy that identifies insects and shit

[gentle zephyr]

https://tenor.com/view/based-meme-hello-based-department-based-based-department-gif-8935998474362718486

[rose basin]

idk if im thinking of someone else

i need to stop being terminally online

ik another guy on reddit who was into entomology but i dont think he was doing caltech

Anyways go and enjoy yourself ur amazing

[white falcon]

OH I READ THAT CHANCE ME!

BASED EC's

[hard drift]

real ones remember smalltelescopeguy

[red light]

THX

[red light]

Yea

[red light]

YES HAHA

[white falcon]

yeah it was insane

bro I hope I get ur luck T^T

[red light]

you’ll get in bro trust

[white falcon]

maybe I'll see you there XD

I'm applying RD

so we'll see :))

[red light]

❤️

[glacial trout]

deferred caltech

oh well.

[small orbit]

Wait

Thats like really fucking good

Congrats!!!!

[empty spindle]

@red light did you do frc?

i lowkey wanna ask if you know any of my friends LOL

[red light]

CEX

VEX

[red light]

Caltech barely defers tbh

[empty spindle]

oh niceee!!! i have some friends on vex but idt we’ve ever gone to nationals (or at least not recently lmao)

[warped cosmos]

#1448830292482719914

[glacial trout]

yeah ive heard deferral is still a good outcome as long as you dont screw up senior year

ggs on acceptance thogh!

[red light]

Thx!!

[rose basin]

defer is good at caltech

[sullen raft]

Caltech rejected 🔥

[empty spindle]

your next decisions shall be prosperous

[hard drift]

Omg my friend got into catechism last year

Caltech

[glacial trout]

from what i heard from someone there they dont admit by major but try to build a rounded class

[obsidian ruin]

are the deferral statistics (like what percent get deferred compared to rejected and what percentage of deferrals get accepted) for caltech anywhere? ik caltech doesnt publish them but i cant find any estimates either

[glacial trout]

nope that ican find

[thorny sparrow]

They look at your interests and obvs they won't admit like 90% applicants with same interest but it isn't major-based admissions like the UCs or anything

[merry fossil]

Cal tech has destoryed the mental health of another one of my friends 🙁

2/2 as of now

[empty spindle]

catholic school headahh

[hard drift]

Lol

[red light]

No

[molten iris]

What did you say about being rural?

[red light]

Not much

It wasn’t a point I emphasized

[molten iris]

Then what?

Did you do so in supplementals or ps or additional info

[glacial trout]

its probably just assumed by region or school

[red light]

I mentioned it in like two sentences in additional info

And yeah assumed by region

[red light]

💀 💀 💀

understandable

d ihh wasp

[rose basin]

Oh my

Once i see it I can't unsee it

[wintry remnant]

Sometimes I wonder if caltech is really gonna look at these 6 essays + my common app essay

[red light]

Yes, yes they do

they send handwritten letters about your essays and ECs to you in your admissions package!

And when I visited for the fly in, my counselor brought up a lot of stuff I wrote in those essays so they absolutely look at it

It’s one of the biggest parts of their application

[wintry remnant]

Is this a joke or no

[red light]

No it’s deadass

[wintry remnant]

Oh

Thats actually very nice

[red light]

I fucking love Caltech AOa

[wintry remnant]

How does one become an AO

[red light]

Me and other ppl that got accepted from the fly in got emails from them today n stuff

[wintry remnant]

Is it like

[red light]

Dunno

[wintry remnant]

A teaching degree

They become an expert teacher

Or like

[red light]

Caltech essays also get read by 3 diff sets of people xD

The AOs, staff and faculty, and then admissions council

[wintry remnant]

Uh oh

My cal tech essays are

Actually decent

[red light]

I can read them if you want

[wintry remnant]

Hmm expert advise

[red light]

I wouldn’t say expert

But we got a lot of tips on writing essays at the fly in

[wintry remnant]

Well thats good enough

Lemme open up my computer 👽

[red light]

Context also matters a lot to Caltech

Submit as much as you can

I submitted a Minecraft portfolio bro

[wintry remnant]

What does that even contain 😭

Whats your major?

[red light]

Pics of my fav mc builds

[red light]

Mech E aero minor

But iirc they don’t admit on major

[wintry remnant]

Interesting

[red light]

and also you can change very easily

they expect major changes and the first year of courses is the same for everyone

[wintry remnant]

I was considering sending a portfolio

[red light]

They have a core curriculum

[red light]

Always 100%

[wintry remnant]

But idk what to really like put in it

I was thinking maybe some like

Recording of tech demos and some code samples cause im majoring in cs

[red light]

I can drop my portfolio as an example

[wintry remnant]

And i did a lot of like

Game development

[red light]

Yeah that would work

School projects even

[wintry remnant]

Sure ill take it 😝

[wintry remnant]

Is it bad if 5/6 of my essays are related to my major

I feel like the "Why this Major" and the "Stem curiousity" and the "Past Stem experience" AND THE "Concept that blew your mind" are all sorta like

The awnser is obv gonna be something in stem..

And then my creativity in action is also... stem

[lavish elm]

AERO MENTIONED 🗣️

[red light]

AERO

no

Sorry I like the wasp pfp

[red light]

Yeah

This is true

There’s 2 non stem and 4 stem essays

Use your non stem essays to make an impression on your AO

The stem essays show why you’d be a good researcher or a good scientist

[brazen surge]

theyre...caltech 😭😭

honestly what did u expect

[wintry remnant]

Yeah but I dont wanna be yknow

Like CS is my only lifeforce

I mean i guess they have my personal essay

[red light]

my PS was about bugs n research

Stem rabbithole -> Bug ID

Stem event -> getting fucked at a robotics tournament so I locked in and won state

Why major -> my desire to make change and do something through my hands expressed as engineering

Innovator -> developing my own leadership style at my school

Hobby -> hiking

Core part of identity -> dealing with boarding school cooked schedule but still chugging through and vibing

[glacial trout]

lwk this defer thing stressing me out bro

is anyone else submitting another rec

i have no idea where to find another person to write an alternate angle

[wintry remnant]

Arent caltech defer chances pretty food

Good*

[red light]

Yes

[red light]

What do you have rn

[glacial trout]

ill dm

[warped cosmos]

No

You can graduate with most any degree although because it’s a communications type job grads tend to have social science/humanities degrees

A good number of AOs are recent college grads and some schools like to hire their own students

It doesn’t often pay well so there’s high turnover

I’m not sure the exact rate of progressing titles in terms of moving from ao -> associate director -> assistant director but it seems to be a couple years per title

People act like their AOs are 40 and while people high up the chain of admissions aren’t recent grads those don’t make up the majority

Like there’s a good chance I am around the same age as the person reading your application

[lone slate]

Not a joke

[static elbow]

My son was rejected REA Computer Science. Seemed he had a very good chance w/ high standardized test scores, high GPA, summer research & a top notch college counselor guiding him. As well, he had two of Caltech’s sports teams recommending him.

Question: Is it possible to attend a Junior College for a year, complete additional research & reapply next year? Or does Caltech not allow that.

[thick rover]

Just apply to other schools

[thorny sparrow]

also lowk caltech admits such a low amount of people that its very much a reach for anyone

theres no point in trying to circle around it

co29 is 248 people

tho it was like 430 accepted

the chance of transfer is extremely low tho

[wintry remnant]

It is..???

Goodness thats less than my HS class and I go to a small school

[warped cosmos]

He could try but per Caltech cds that’s not worth banking on

I would really encourage going for RD and/or rolling apps. I was a transfer and while I liked the school I transferred to I was definitely socially behind because a good number of my peers had 2 years to get to know each other before I got there

Even 1 year can make a difference + not everything is guaranteed to transfer over credits wise

[thorny sparrow]

Yes, caltech has a total undergrad population of about 1k

it is very known for this

the only reason admit rates look similar to other top colleges is cause theres a smaller applicant pool

[wintry remnant]

Oh boy I thought it was like 1k per year not total

[thorny sparrow]

lmao

but uh caltechs yield is surprisingly not that great

a 57% yield is yikes

[wintry remnant]

Wdym yeild

Yield

[thorny sparrow]

admitted students vs enrolled students

[wintry remnant]

Oh

[thorny sparrow]

cause they admitted 430

but only 248 are in co29

[wintry remnant]

So like not that many people they let it actually choose to go there

Interesting

Maybe a cost thing?

Although youd think such a small class you could afford to give each student a pretty good amount of money

[thorny sparrow]

i feel like theres also an element of the caltech admits getting into other top schools

[wintry remnant]

Oh yeah ofc

[thorny sparrow]

with how few people they admit there has to be a huge overlap

[wintry remnant]

If youre applying to caltech youre applying to like

Every other good tech school

[thorny sparrow]

though I know a few co29 peeps who got into like nothing but caltech and a few UCs despite applying like every t20

its weird sometimes

[wintry remnant]

Is there a specific reason they are so small? Are they trying to build expansions or is this purposely

[static elbow]

At least for the men, this admit rate of 5% is higher than the normal admission rate of 3%. lol

[thorny sparrow]

theyre very researched focused and want an exceptionally good student to prof ratio

[wintry remnant]

Awfully small school to be asking for 6 essays 😭

[thorny sparrow]

numbers are deceiving here

[wintry remnant]

Cant they get more profs tho

[thorny sparrow]

consider that transfer applicant are gonna be far more qualified than your average regular applicant

because people don't bother to do the whole transfer process for no reason

[thorny sparrow]

they like the whole "close-knit" thing

[static elbow]

Well we will burn that bridge once we cross it. Thanks for the feedback everybody

[wintry remnant]

Oh right ofc

I mean I wont judge them if they let me in sooooo

🥰

[thorny sparrow]

lmao

[wintry remnant]

I need to go look at all my schools acceptance rates and find the chance I get declined from every school

[thorny sparrow]

its hard because theyre not independent probabilities

so you can't go multiplying everything

[wintry remnant]

Oh

Too late 👽

Idk its not like the chance of getting in is really luck based anyways

Its about what you gott

Which

I could've did more..

I should've figured out how to do some formal research cause I talk about that being one of the things I want to do in college

Also making it to like state level in a competition wouldve been nice

[red light]

I feel like Caltech is one of the least luck based admissions once you know what they want on their essays

[glacial trout]

i just tried to highlight the values they said they valued on their site

[red light]

Yeah true

[thorny sparrow]

well i mean how do you go figuring that out?

[red light]

They’re very transparent with it on their website

[thorny sparrow]

ok so just that

[red light]

but also explained it more in depth at the fly in

[thorny sparrow]

Cause i thought you meant smn that like CUC students were gatekeeping 💀

[red light]

No

Not intentionally atleast

Don’t be afraid to talk about nerdy stuff in your essays (just make sure it’s correct haha)

Caltech does 3 diff rounds of reading essays

[glacial trout]

because the nerds reviewing are going to call you out lol 😭

[red light]

Yeah haha

AOs -> faculty -> admission board

you deadass have to run a gauntlet

[glacial trout]

does every file go to the board/faculty though

that seems really excessive

[red light]

No

the AOs look through them first

and weed it down

[thorny sparrow]

i assume they do filtering at the AO level

[glacial trout]

ah

[red light]

they value grades a lot (especially staying consistent) as well as course rigor ofc

The basic stuff

Testing n stuff counts too + ECs

Also reading through your essays and such

[quartz jay]

ive heard they care a lot abt amy potetial supplements you send in, if you have any

[small orbit]

worth applying with no research and non-perfect grades?

had a b in calc bc juinior year

but i really like physics and always did the extra credit during class!

and i like to read books abt physics outside of school but can't really participate in the club

[quartz jay]

im applying for phys as well lol

[quartz jay]

you get the chance once

id take it and apply

if you can afford the app fee, or you have a waiver

if you dont get a waiver, and it feels like a waste of money... then maybe not worth it?

[proper dew]

Hey, does anyone know if Caltech requiers official test scores sent from college board? I saw they said they only require official scores if you enroll, but they also have testing deadlines for fall 2026 entry listed that says "last day for which SAT scores must be submitted to Caltech"

Also the don't require all test scores right?

[red light]

No iirc

[red light]

Last day for unofficial scores

like for uhhhh REA you could submit SAT scores from November

Self report them after REA deadline

And you only had to submit official after being enrolled

[quartz jay]

time to grind these caltech essays

i like caltech essays.. i can yap abt my favourite phys concept

[proper dew]

ohhh i see tysm!!

[red light]

Caltech essays were really fun

[quartz jay]

for those who already did rea

did anyone send in like grades from unis that dont show up in you high school transcript?

can you just upload unofficial grades, and send if official if you get accepted or whats the way at caltech?

[lavish igloo]

Yeah I uploaded my unofficial dual enrollment transcript, there was a spot in their application portal after I submitted my common app

[quartz jay]

Okay great Tnx

[static elbow]

Seems very few recruited athletes got in this year. Very disappointing to say the least. Could’ve used the REA somewhere else.

[static elbow]

Admissions should have informed the coaches of the change in procedure. Or if they did, the coaches should have been forthright with the athletes.

[red light]

Why do you think so? Caltech doesn’t prioritize athletics iirc

they admit more on whether or not an applicant is qualified or fits Caltech, not whether they’re an athlete or not

Also considering a lot of athletes at Caltech are walk-on

It’s not like they have an athlete quota

and recommendations from coaches can only get you so far

it really isn’t

Lel it’s my default emoji rn

W the new update

Yeah Caltech is fs qualifications > athletes

I’m lowkey considering walking in for XC lol

[wintry remnant]

Is caltech really serious about having done like all the AP stems? Im specifically worried about not having done AP chem (no space + honors chem was like my lowest grade ever). Their "What we look for"page talks alot about being very good at stem rigorous classes, and Ill have does Cal AB+Bc, Phys 1 and C, APCSA but idk if they want every single stem possible 😭

I think honors chem i got like a 94 for the year which isnt bad but I was not gonna risk AP chem even if I could fit it. Also im applying for CS so like I felt like I should commit any extra space to technology related things

[quartz jay]

ig its fine if youre going into smt that really doesnt need chem really?

ive heard from a few kids tho that its better to play safe

i do the ib, so max 2 sciences and i chose cs and phys

but i did a dual enrollment course on chemical thermodynamics from a local uni so that will be sent to caltech... if you can do an online course it would be best of all worlds?

[wintry remnant]

Idk i cant really do much now cause its like

Less than a month till due dates

[quartz jay]

but youre cs so i think youd be fine

i should worry more lol

[wintry remnant]

I would've had to like

Sacrifice CS to do AP chem

Honestly magnet school sorta like

[quartz jay]

same but for ib

[wintry remnant]

Took me out of many Extra APs

I have 2 periods of Cyber/Tech related magnet schools

And my schools requires like fine art + lang years + and PE

[quartz jay]

bro get out pls

i have to do tok

in ib

its literal philosophical bs

[wintry remnant]

What does IB even look like

Ive only ever did AP

[quartz jay]

like this

[wintry remnant]

Wow

[quartz jay]

its so bad

like you have to do tok.. and two essays in it

on like how do you know you know

and philosophers are lalala

and then you need to write like a mini paper for every single subject nearly.. its so much pain

and the worst part is my school doesnt let me convince them to let me take all 4 sciences and math

instead i can only do phys, cs and math

so chem and bio are just gone

sorry abt the rant

needed to release that

[red light]

not rlly

[red light]

Yeah they’re pretty serious about it

Every Caltech undergrad takes the same courses for their freshman year

[wintry remnant]

Hmm

[red light]

they expect you to have taken every stem class basically

[wintry remnant]

Maybe i should add in my circumstances there was no space of ap chem

[red light]

That would work

And you do have honors chem

[wintry remnant]

Yeah and I did decent

[red light]

this is also because they expect that you might change majors

[wintry remnant]

I mean they cant expect every single stem AP right? I feel like apes and bio are usually less popular

[red light]

idk about apes but I know they want bio

what they want more is max course rigor, which I think ap bio counts as no?

[wintry remnant]

I mean

Atleast at my school

Bio is like

[red light]

Idk I don’t take APs

[wintry remnant]

Considered easy

The hard APs are like

Phys and Chem and Calculus

[red light]

Physics

[wintry remnant]

Im considering doing like

Self study E&M

Cause my school doesnt offer it

[red light]

e&m is physics C right

[wintry remnant]

Yeah

[red light]

gl

[wintry remnant]

We only have Phys C Mechanics at our school

Which idk how worth it it is so self study E&M if im already taking Phys C and im not going into physics..

[red light]

You’re gonna have to take it anyways if you go to caltech xd

[wintry remnant]

Hmmm

Idk i feel like id just be doing it to like put in my apps that im self studying it

[red light]

I wouldn’t do it then

[wintry remnant]

Im already self studying 2 certificates maybes its not worth it to put I'm self studying 3 different things

That might be a little tryhard

[glacial trout]

apes hardest ap ong

[lavish elm]

????

ts was easy

[glacial trout]

my only b is in apes..

[lavish elm]

💀

i would do apes 50 times over again i loved my class

[fervent lintel]

Bro I hate apes there’s so much busywork in my class

AP chem was easier ☠️

[smoky cove]

Georgia tech on top

🐝

[glacial trout]

C is easier than apes

in my experience

[static elbow]

@white falcon @quartz jay FYI, I let the mods know that you were attempting to dox a poster in this thread. Don’t worry, I grabbed screenshots in case you decide you want to delete.

1. You know a few things about Caltech wrt to athletics & admissions; but not everything. Thank you for your input.
2. This year the system changed without telling recruits. Admissions officers either weren’t aware of the change, weren’t forthright or they were and the athletics department wasn’t forthright.
3. This caused some recruits to make decisions based on incomplete or faulty information. With the correct information, they may have chosen to use their REA at a different school. I assume since you are in this server that you are aware that REA can have a big impact on admissions. I’m also sure that you don’t know the extent of the effort, planning and cost that went into attempting to attend Caltech and play sports there.
4. You’ve reminded me how people act and show their true selves when they think there are no repercussions because the internet is anonymous.
5. You weren’t even close to being correct in your dox attempt. The person you tried to dox actually went to a top tier state school and was a dedicated top athlete at a D1 school.
6. Take some time to reflect on the matter we are discussing and I wish you the best in your college selection process & future career.

@warped cosmos

@jagged grotto

[red light]

Where did you hear that there were changes w/ how athletes are recruited @ Caltech?

[static elbow]

I’d prefer not to say.

[red light]

that’s fair, I’m just wondering if it’s a reputable source

I’m just curious as to whether it’s an actual change in recruiting athletes or that this class happened to have less athletes, as Caltech is a school that focuses much more on academics in admissions than athletics

[static elbow]

You are correct. Do you know how to contact the mods? I’d like some things taken down ASAP and haven’t seen a response yet.

[red light]

Maybe ping them again, otherwise it’s really just waiting until they see the ping

but yeah I don’t think Caltech recruits much and it’s really a niche school with a certain personality

I don’t think recruiting gives much of a boost at all either

This is what their website says

Which imo would include the admissions process

https://tech.caltech.edu/2024/10/08/ug-admissions-athletics/
theres also this article which says athletics is weighed much less than before but im not sure how true it is

[red light]

@tranquil drum

[tranquil drum]

Can you give a tldr

[red light]

idk parent mad about kid not getting into Caltech, a2cers were silly and tried to find his LinkedIn

[tranquil drum]

@static elbow please send a dm to @hasty maple and communicate with us. Please send in all the necessary documents.

[static elbow]

Done & thanks in advance.

@tranquil drum

[static elbow]

@hasty maple

[glacial trout]

damn

[thorny sparrow]

Ok wait lwk what did they say about portfolios

Also how serious is caltech with the AP Chem thing, I haven't been able to take AP Chemistry since my school lets me only take one science AP

I've done honors chem, both AP Phys C (exam only), AP Phys 1 (exam only), AP Bio and genbio, which means I haven't had the chance to take ap chem 😭

[red light]

Wdym

They’re optional but they’re important because they provide more context

[red light]

This is fine

If your school won’t let you they won’t hold it against you

But if you can and choose not to it’s diff

[warm sigil]

i do the ib, and we're allowed max 2 sciences. i chose phys and cs. is this considered bad? cause i had a choice of phys+chem, but i chose phys+cs cause its better for me ig? if that makes sense. i did do chemistry in 9+10th grade, but simply as igcses

[red light]

As long as you explain it

In the extra context place

[thick rover]

They do im pretty sure

When u get ur portal itll ask you if theres any scores you haven't reported yet and ask you to report them

[thick rover]

U just need to have taken 1 year of chemistry as per the requirements

[red light]

He’s asking about how serious they are with trying to max course rigor

[thorny sparrow]

Ok wait lwk for the stem present essay how much do they care that you have like activities that back up what ur talking about

like this prompt

Your STEM Present: Curiosity

Regardless of your STEM interest listed above, take this opportunity to nerd out and talk to us about whatever STEM rabbit hole you have found yourself falling into. Be as specific or broad as you would like. (150 Words)

Cause i've been doing some stuff i wanna mention but have no like hard listed activities to back it up

[red light]

I have no clue I don’t think they brought it up at the fly in

They do care that it’s something recent though

[thorny sparrow]

Ok cause lwk I wrote about some new research in LLMs that i'm interested in but i don't have like much experience in the actual thing

and I could write abt smn older that I have a lot more experience in but idk

[red light]

That’s fine

I can show you what I wrote

[thorny sparrow]

I would rlly appreciate 🙏

[red light]

dms

[little gazelle]

Does it have to be related to your major?

[red light]

No

I think I had like a single essay related to my major and even then it was vague

[little gazelle]

Can I see it as well?

[little gazelle]

oh

thanks

[little gazelle]

Do I need to receive my InitialView interview before the RD deadline? (Interview is before the deadline but it costs extra to speed the processing to before Jan 5)

[thorny sparrow]

Website says recorded by app deadline

its also not required technically speaking

[proper dew]

does this mean recent as in a new breakthrough or a recent interest of yours?

[red light]

Recent interest, it should represent who you are now instead of like, 6 years ago or wtv

[proper dew]

ohhh got it sounds good, ty!

[thorny sparrow]

"Winning answer"

[glacial trout]

ig defer rates approximately equal to reject rates

interesitng

sample size is like 13 tho

[thorny sparrow]

t people who get rejected aren't likely to respond to the poll

[red light]

They’re not

[glacial trout]

defer rates higher maybe? or lower man idk 😭 just realized i meant accept

[red light]

Defer rates about same as accept

Both ~5%

[glacial trout]

yeah i meant accept

typoi

[brittle plaza]

what do you guys think abt applying to caltech for humanities majors? like polisci?

[glacial trout]

probably not as standalone major

but if its second major maybe

[thorny sparrow]

I don't think thats a good idea

Humanities standalone at caltech isn't like

very caltech

I would think it would also be very-statistics driven

Ok yeah the page literally says its about data science lol

[red light]

no 💀

[thorny sparrow]

Caltech does have a polisci B.S. and its like the most STEMified humanities thing i've ever heard of lol

[pastel stag]

Help guys how do you do the phonetic spelling of your name???

For the common app

Do you use international alphabet, with stuff like the upside down e to represent “uh”. So like /nætəli/

Or is it simpler than that, like I’d be “Nah-tuh-lee”

[thorny sparrow]

use IPA trust

[thorny sparrow]

its this ofc

[pastel stag]

lol common app won’t let me put in a schwa for some reason

[thorny sparrow]

huh

[deep sparrow]

wait is the one form big bang theory!!!!

i love rajesh koothrapali!

[thorny sparrow]

aight bro

[deep sparrow]

LMFAOOO

is it tho that was lowkey a genuine question

[thorny sparrow]

Yes it is lol

[red light]

What

[thorny sparrow]

Most of the main characters on big bang theory are affiliated with caltech in the series lol

[red light]

Yeah

Sheldon also goes to Caltech over MIT because weather

[thorny sparrow]

Lowk caltech and mit have diff vibes tho 100%

[red light]

Yeah

caltech is hotter

[thorny sparrow]

Caltech is def more uh uber-nerd compared to MIT

[red light]

not wrong

[thorny sparrow]

Caltech is hotter yes

[red light]

mit is more geek

[thorny sparrow]

Pasadena weather is mid imo

[red light]

tbh

it’s better than Boston

[thorny sparrow]

100% lmao

[red light]

where it’s piss cold half the year

[thorny sparrow]

But lwk I like bay weather much more than pasadena just cause of how dry pasadena gets

[red light]

caltech also has good hiking

[thorny sparrow]

Hiking more like a walk in altadena

this is a joke don't kill me

[red light]

caltech deadahh in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains

[thorny sparrow]

Yeah i've done some hikes down there

it's cool but mount diablo is even more fire

nothing beats the mt diablo view

[red light]

caltech also has better bugs than mit

[thorny sparrow]

On a good day you can see all the way to the sierras from the bay

[red light]

SoCal js a better location

And better fishing too

[thorny sparrow]

Lwk boston has a vibe tho

Just when its not frozen over like hell

[thorny sparrow]

I wonder why you'd care about bugs

[red light]

Boston vibe 📉

[thorny sparrow]

nah lowk the socal vibe is trash compared to east coast cities

[red light]

I’ve never actually been to the northeast lol

[thorny sparrow]

But like the weather is good so its a tradeoff

[red light]

farthest northeast I’ve been is DC

[thorny sparrow]

Theres something very charming about it IDK

Every time i visit another state I always want to leave cali more LMAO

except texas that shit sent me straight back to cali

[red light]

yeah it can’t get worse than New Mexico bro

😭

[thorny sparrow]

dallas is a fucking hellhole

[red light]

I actually love Texas idk what you mean

Dallas yeah fair enough

[thorny sparrow]

i mean I say texas but i've only been to Dallas, Austin, and Houston

[thorny sparrow]

bro I went to albuquerque once

never again

[red light]

💀

yeah uhh Albuquerque ain’t even that bad

I lowkirkenuinely enjoy when I go to abq

[thorny sparrow]

Sandia labs is the only good part of that city

[red light]

because it’s an actual city

[thorny sparrow]

otherwise its just like nose-bleeding hell-inducing boring-ass city

The dryness of the south always gets me

Like the east coast is nice and humid and in the southwest its just bone dry

[red light]

yeah but southwest got diversity

[thorny sparrow]

The northeast is hella diverse lwk

[red light]

east coast is just homogenous city concrete landscape

[thorny sparrow]

But the people there are so much more nicer than like anywhere in cali lol

[red light]

Whatchu know about NM

[thorny sparrow]

lwk I like the dense cities tho

[red light]

no

[thorny sparrow]

Open land wild west ain't my thing

[red light]

if I ain’t see fields of corn n alfalfa ion wanna be there

I’m jk but the rural life is nice

[thorny sparrow]

East coast rural is hella vibe tho cause its peaceful asf but ur still close to big cities

[red light]

instead of doing whatever normal people do on Friday night we go fuck around on farms or explore abandoned shi

💀

[thorny sparrow]

Like upstate NY is a vibe

its rural and urban at the same time

[red light]

mmm we have mountains

[thorny sparrow]

Ok but like the mountains are fun for a solid 5 seconds

[red light]

not true

Btw

have you ever backpacked 9 miles in the middle of the night in freezing temps

it’s quite the experience

[thorny sparrow]

Uh lowk never backpacked in the night but did a 12 mile during the day in India peak summer

wouldn't reccomend

I almost died

It was legit like a rainforest too

[red light]

Sounds vibeable

Man I need to apply for internships now

[thorny sparrow]

And then I also did mount diablo in terrible rain

which sucked but was fun

[thorny sparrow]

Lmao I already have like 30 or so apps in

gotta get to at least 100

[red light]

Holy shit

[thorny sparrow]

the CS life do be like that

[red light]

The good thing tho for research internships is that I count as a rising college junior

which I suppose is good

[thorny sparrow]

damn do u have an associates or smn?

[red light]

So I have access to a lot of internships

[red light]

Yea

[thorny sparrow]

TBH I get to claim rising sophomore too but like I won't finish my associates lol

[red light]

rip what happened

man writing research proposals is hard

[thorny sparrow]

Nah I started the track kinda late

[red light]

Ohhh okay

[thorny sparrow]

I didn't want to do too much CC gened anyways

I was more interested in the STEM courses

so I kinda neglected the gened shit

[red light]

🤫

[thorny sparrow]

lmao

[red light]

we gradding with 130

[thorny sparrow]

damn

Ok so you can claim junior now but that resets next year no? 😭

[red light]

yeah but idrc

I took the courses because they were free anyways

and harder

[thorny sparrow]

Well ofc taking the courses makes sense but I meant like when you apply for internships n shit

[red light]

oh I suppose yeah but once I’m at Caltech the internships are easier

[thorny sparrow]

Like it sounds weird that you would just backslide a year lmao