Caltech (2025-2026)

[thorny sparrow]

true

[red light]

Being a Caltech undergrad holds massive weight

[thorny sparrow]

It is also a massive weight

[red light]

Benefits outweigh

[thorny sparrow]

true that lol

[red light]

for grad school it’s massive, you get crazy internships n stuff too

I’m basically guaranteed a fellowship each summer cuz of SURF

• JPL internships also exist

[thorny sparrow]

I have a friend at caltech rn who still hasn't left the "how tf am I getting B's" vibe

[red light]

And LA is prime time location

[thorny sparrow]

this is like the #1 reason I wanna caltech lol

cause of JPL

[red light]

Isn’t the average Caltech gpa like a 3.0

[thorny sparrow]

Its terrible for her cause she wants to do med school 😭

not MD PhD

I still question the validity of that pathway

[red light]

I wonder how Caltech would do for that

Yea

I agree

All I know is caltech helps hella with applying to grad school cuz you do mad research

[thorny sparrow]

like caltech MD PhD checks out but just MD?

[thorny sparrow]

Exactly and this just dosen't help that much for med

cause MCAT + GPA matters more

[red light]

Yea

[thorny sparrow]

caltech prolly has most people go onto gradschool

[marsh patrol]

Hi, I am applying with a research supplement, and it says a InitialView Viva is required. Does anyone know whether the interview is conducted immediately or you have to schedule one? (not to be confused with the normal InitialView interview)

[red light]

I’d email the AOs to ask

Btw you’re familiar with the rules for research supp right

[marsh patrol]

I do know that it has to be mentored and published (or submitted)

[red light]

yea

Stuff done in summer programs don’t count

[marsh patrol]

Yeah.
I'm trying to submit two, but one is like not technically published but entered a local science fair, though I am assuming it counts.

[red light]

is the other one submitted to publishing

science fair doesn’t count

[marsh patrol]

Yes, published to journal

[red light]

what

Is it published or not?

[marsh patrol]

yes

it is

[red light]

Then it counts as research supp yeah

[marsh patrol]

I'm looking at the CalTech website, and it says that "The outcome of your research resulted in a paper or publication that was published, submitted, or in preparation." For the science fair one, I did write a formal research paper though, so I'm not sure if I should put as research or STEM portfolio...

[red light]

Was the science fair one published

if not: stem portfolio

That’s why I got confused earlier lol cuz you said “not published but for science fair” and then said “it is published” xd

[marsh patrol]

No, I'll do stem portfolio for that one then.

[marsh patrol]

Sorry for the confusion, there are two different ones: one for science fair (not published), one published

[marsh patrol]

Guess that'll be better too, as I won't have to translate the entire thing to English.

[glacial trout]

i emailed them about this and they said that stem portfolios will also be reviewed by faculty

fyi

[red light]

Yea

[thorny sparrow]

I'd hope lol

also is portfolio deadline same as app deadline?

I don't have beaver breakroom yet so I can't actually see the instructions n shit

If anyone has access to the instructions and could send i'd appreciate just so I know what to expect

[glacial trout]

when i applied portfolio deadline was a few days after

i think like 5 days after

it should be on their website

not beaver breakroom, like the caltech website

[thorny sparrow]

They don’t have it on the website

The link for portfolio info redirects to beaver breakroom

[glacial trout]

Although RD applications are due January 5, you will have until January 11 to submit all required and supplemental materials and standardized testing must be completed before December 31, 2025

from their website

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/deadlines

[red light]

7 days after

iirc

Something like that

[thorny sparrow]

yeah

[fleet goblet]

Just submitted, please accept me 🙏

[jolly ore]

Do i really have to submit all my ap scores? how will they find out

[fleet goblet]

Dont risk it

Be honest

If they ever find out fraud they can rescind your acceptance, kick you out of the school, or remove your degree

[deep sparrow]

i mean they will

if you get accepted/ enroll in caltech

you have to send all yoru scores officially

act through the act website

and sat and ap's throughc ollegeboard

and if they notice any mismatch they just gonna rescind your shit

[jolly ore]

okok thanks

if i submitted more than one paper on the portal, do i have to do vivas for each or just one?

[deep sparrow]

no clue im not locked in with papers

[silk bronze]

each one I believe

it says on the portal

[silk bronze]

I have a question

so I was going to submit a research note as Caltech's research supplement and for the viva exam

but bc of new data (and the fact that my research note is still on its first draft) I'm concerned I won't be able to get it in in time and I don't want to submit it now

my question is: should I email my undergraduate counselor?

and if so, will this hurt my admission chances?

[red light]

I’m not sure if research note counts

[red light]

Yes

[red light]

No unless you say something crazy in the email

[silk bronze]

W, ty luca!

[candid grove]

can you submit multiple projects for the STEM portfolio? I wanted to submit one individual project and one group project, but from the wording of the form looks like I can only choose one?

[thorny sparrow]

Does caltech not take any STEM teacher for this 💀

I submitted another stem teacher and its being marked as incomplete....

[graceful jolt]

When reporting awards and honors on their portal are they supposed to be STEM only?

[fleet goblet]

I have the same issue for my history teacher

Except, he is a history teacher

So..

[thorny sparrow]

💀

The Application Checklist is not fully updated until two weeks after the admissions deadline to which you applied. Please do not call or email our office about the status of your materials during this period. In the meantime, express your gratitude to your recommenders and counselors for their assistance.

They say this but lwk is it fine if I call about LORs?

Cause I kinda need to know if i need to ask another teacher

[glacial trout]

is your teacher not calc, chem, physics, or bio?

then yeah you probably should ask another teacher

[glacial trout]

you can do multiple

it just adds another entry ever time

[red light]

Yes. If it’s a lot js submit a whole folder

[red light]

Prob fine

[red light]

Should be only stem

iirc that’s what it says on the site

[thorny sparrow]

In the explanation text box, we just explain all the projects separately, I assume?

[red light]

Nah I just added diff docs explaining the projects lmfao

[thorny sparrow]

Oh lol what did u put in the text box then

on the page before it lets you add the link

[red light]

“This is a google drive folder with stem things I’ve done over high school” or smthing

[candid grove]

Thanks, by the way my mentor for the projects also wrote the optional recommendation letter on the common app which already basically answers the questions Caltech has, should I still have him fill the form out for Caltech separately? I feel kind of bad, don't want to take too much of his time doing the same thing

but then again I heard Caltech doesn't really look at the common app optional letters so...

[silk bronze]

hmmmmmmm........ fr?

is there like a source for that

bc from what I know this is the criteria

You worked with a laboratory in a university or research-affiliated organization
Worked closely with and/or reported to a senior researcher within the lab
The outcome of your research resulted in a paper or publication that was published, submitted, or in preparation.

and it is a publication

[red light]

Ohhh I thought a note wasn’t published

If it’s published yeah it’s fine

[red light]

This might be an AO question

[red light]

Not true iirc

[candid grove]

AO question as in I should contact the AO?

might as well have my mentor fill it in though idk just to be safe:/

[red light]

Yea

[wintry remnant]

How are people already seeing their portals 😨

Maybe because I applied kinda close to the deadline

[red light]

It took me like 3 days I think

[wintry remnant]

Makes sensee

[thorny sparrow]

took me like 3 hours 💀

tbf I did submit early (few days before deadline)

[thorny sparrow]

@red light on the upload page did you just put a google doc with the drive link?

for STEM portfolio

[red light]

yeah more or less

[latent orchid]

How tf can I give proof of my amc and aime scores?

I never received an email with them

the only record I have of them is texts with my math team teacher

[lavish igloo]

uhhhh i low-key think screenshots work? i got an email with a single sentence from my proctor for aime and took a screenshot of that i think, but i figure a screenshot of the scores on the student portal should be okay?

[silk bronze]

has anybody's like verification portal messed up?

I checked mine this morning and all of the files I submitted to update were under each STEM verification

[thorny sparrow]

no thats just how the portal looks

ur good

[silk bronze]

fr? It looks legit weird asl

wait let me send a SS

[thorny sparrow]

yeah its the same for me lmao

[silk bronze]

like this?

and it's under each one

so like wtf?

[silk bronze]

oh fr?

ngl it looks so frustrating

and like weird

[thorny sparrow]

you have appropriate file naming

they'll be able to match it

[silk bronze]

W

[thorny sparrow]

also bro is cracked 💀

[silk bronze]

wait it looks lowkey doxxing

[thorny sparrow]

yeah delete that if you wish

[silk bronze]

lmfao

thanks man

[thorny sparrow]

my ass just has usaco and some robotics awards 💀💀💀

[silk bronze]

I'm sure ur cracked as well

[silk bronze]

bruh ur good

[thorny sparrow]

don't ask me why I even bothered applying

hopefully my maker portfolio cooks

[silk bronze]

dude you miss 100% of the shots you don't take

[silk bronze]

ong ong

I'm writing my research note rn

to submit for the viva exam

and I'm lowkey cooked

bc I'm scared as hell they'll think its shit

[thorny sparrow]

college apps has me regretting not trying to do more in hs

[silk bronze]

like I'm using Google docs rn gng

[silk bronze]

bro college apps taught me that I'm hubris incarnate

[thorny sparrow]

😭 bro you gotta use overleaf trust

[silk bronze]

It's legit so tough though

[thorny sparrow]

google docs is fine lol

but like every paper is latex istg

[silk bronze]

oh it 100% is

I'm just running into deadlines

hubris T^T

it's my downfall

so bad

[thorny sparrow]

lowk my downfall is hubris in another way 😭

[silk bronze]

can I ask why lol

[thorny sparrow]

I didn't do research shit cause I was like "do i need to spend my time emailing 100 profs?"

[silk bronze]

lowkey I didn't do that

like I just applied to my state school's fellowship

and like 1 internship program

[thorny sparrow]

and my ass only applied to selective programs and internships

[silk bronze]

like I'm looking back at my junior year and I'm like "shit, did I peak in HS?"

[thorny sparrow]

clean reject 😭

[silk bronze]

nahhhhhh bro

did u get an internship?

[thorny sparrow]

nope

[silk bronze]

like what'd you apply for?

[thorny sparrow]

I just did a bunch of projects

[silk bronze]

ay Caltech and MIT like that though

[thorny sparrow]

Nasa stuff, CS at local companies and startups, and some other hs program internships in silicon valley

my ass is freudian slipping today

thinking about scholarship apps so every other word just becomes scholarship 💀

[silk bronze]

lmfaooooooo

"scholarship valley"

you ever feel like ur fingers got auto-correct?

like you mean to type one thing

but ur ass lowkey just types something else?

[thorny sparrow]

Yeah I do that lmao

especially when tired

[silk bronze]

w/o u thinking?

ME TOO

omg

I'm so glad I found some1 else who does that

[thorny sparrow]

nah but lowk the benefit of half-assing hs is I can now claim I did not peak in hs

[silk bronze]

one time for an english essay is I wrote college instead of collage

kms

[silk bronze]

ONG ONG

[thorny sparrow]

I did so much stuff like that

[silk bronze]

like dude I now have such bad imposter syndrome

because I'm legit like

"did I srsly just exhaust all of my strength junior year?"

and now I can't even think straight

[thorny sparrow]

lowk junior year cooked me

[silk bronze]

so my brain's melting

[thorny sparrow]

its been a grind since the start

[silk bronze]

ong

[thorny sparrow]

but I could've fit in more 😭

[silk bronze]

ngl idk how I survived junior year

[silk bronze]

it's all abt the struggle ig

that's lowkey life

what was ur hardest part abt junior year?

[thorny sparrow]

It was lowk sports stuff + school + robotics happening all in one month

• i had to self study some APs and finish some out of school courses

so it all added up terribly

[silk bronze]

damn, my condolences

[latent orchid]

Hmm

Ok I guess it's fine

if they rly want to confirm my score

they'd probably email me

[thorny sparrow]

oh for amc and aime they have scores lol

lots of colleges buy the lists off of MAA

for your verification contact you should put a school counselor or smn who can verify it via the math teacher tho

Lowk for portfolio should I reformat everything with their uploader thing or should I just link the google drive?

I feel like google drive may be easier with the whole nesting of multiple projects

[thorny sparrow]

well there we go

[night nebula]

do you think its even worth it finishing my supps to submit tomorrow Jan 7

[red light]

Aren’t the supps due later than that

[night nebula]

supplemental essays

I didnt apply Ive been trying to finish everything else

[red light]

Oh 💀 bro the deadline was yesteday

[deep sparrow]

…

[night nebula]

Yeah

I think they have a grace period but idk if it reaches into tomorrow

[silk bronze]

uhhhhhhhhhh

I don't think there's a grace period dude

also

it's been an entire day

so I don't think the application's open rn

[brittle finch]

has anyone done the viva yet?

because im contemplating if i should submit my research as a stem portfolio or though the research portfolio

since its not published and i only did sci fair

[warm sigil]

idt youre allowed to submit research if its not published

afaik it need to be with a mentor, and eithe published/submitted/inreview?

so ig the only case where you would submit is if its submitted/in review/ or when you get your first peer reviewer's feedback?

[red light]

You can if it’s in the process of being published asw

[red light]

Then it’s not research

[warm sigil]

ya, but if it gets accepted, you have a prepublished doi generated ig?

or did you mean like under review process

[red light]

Under review

[silk bronze]

you are, if it's "in process"

published means it's already in a journal

and in process is if you're writing it

[brittle finch]

yes they just said they prefer published research not that its required

and i have a good reason for not submitting it yet

[red light]

not all research counts tho for reference

Like a lot of science fair might not count and neither do some summer programs

[brittle finch]

yes ik, i did all the preliminary stuff myself then i cold called to use facilities at UCI working under a mentor, i think im good no pay to win bs

[red light]

That’s good

[silk bronze]

yeah those are counted under like a STEM portfolio

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/supplemental-materials/stem-portfolio

[red light]

Indeed

[night nebula]

So guys do you think caltech has an extension like brown

[red light]

idk

Js submit it

[night nebula]

Idk if its worth it putting the effort

[silk bronze]

wdym extension?

like application

oh

no

just try to submit

[brittle finch]

for the test score confirmation section i don't see my SAT but I submitted it officially through college board already and it shows they received it on the portal, should I add it to the test score thing?

[gaunt surge]

What is the viva exam like and what types of questions do they ask?

I’m lowk terrified of it if I just get stumped if they ask me something really obscure

[wintry remnant]

For the stem award verification, how much proof are they looking for? I have plaques/medals but they dont have my name on them. Do I need to find some sort of onlije documentation of my win?

[warm sigil]

asking for a friend

are conference presentations/papers also allowed for research application

im assuming presentation wouldnt, but paper would?

[silk bronze]

presentations fall under stem portfolios, papers fall under the viva exam

[silk bronze]

omfg I finally finished my research note holy

[red light]

That’s what did

[wintry remnant]

You just took pics of youre awards or you just found some proof online?

[red light]

Online proof

News articles

[wintry remnant]

Gotcha

[lavish igloo]

I didn't have many awards but for one of them I low-key just took a picture of the medal so I don't think they're too strict

[wintry remnant]

I dont have many either..

I have 2 that are in medals but I can prob find online proof

Other than that I have certificates with my name

[red light]

caltech homie ❤️

Wait were you at ssp Purdue with brycen

[lavish igloo]

Yeah I was!

[red light]

Wait holy Indiana ssp cracked

4 Caltech REAs 😭😭

[lavish igloo]

Wait whatttt really? I'm not up to date with what cohorts everyone was in so I had no idea

[red light]

Yea

We had 2 from IU

[warm sigil]

ahh shit.. i submitted stem honors and all that like in dec, and today i got an invitation for one of the highest phys honors in my country

should i email this to my AO?

with my invitation letter as a proof?

or is there another way of doing this

[fleet goblet]

You can yeah

You could probably upload the invitation letter on their portal

But email your ao first and see what to do

Sometimes they'll just add the activity to your file

[warm sigil]

okay tnx.. also is the name of the AO in the portal always correct?

[fleet goblet]

Should be

[warm sigil]

cause when i checked in my portal, the AO who is stated for me is meant to be taking care of Eastern European apps

and im in Germany, and hence im in western europe

and the western europe is sm else

[fleet goblet]

Idk I'd just message them either way

You don't know how they organize it

[warm sigil]

okay okay

tnx tho

[night nebula]

They gave me an extension so now i gotta write these essays too

I was lowkirkenly hoping they wouldnt so i wont have to 😭

[vale canopy]

hi whats up!

i know u from the admitted students server lol

[vale canopy]

and u too!

[red light]

Niceee

[little gazelle]

Is the STEM portfolio deadline based on local timezones, or based on something like EST?

[brittle finch]

if it isnt local it would be PST

but idk if it is or isnt

anyone else got this error on their viva i siwtched browsers since i usually use firefox, still got the same error...

[silk bronze]

fr?

have u tried w/ google?

also recording in the dark lol

[brittle finch]

i'll try chrome i dont have it downloaded i used firefox then edge but i assumed there wouldnt really be a difference since edge is chromium based

[warm sigil]

i have to do this lol

what do they even ask? is it a person or a bot?

[lavish igloo]

The questions are AI-generated

[silk bronze]

it's a bot

[wintry remnant]

Anyone know what "Representative Work" check box means in the stem portfolio submissions

Also the meaning of the "Medium" box

Oh ok I looked it up, "Representative" means the important works that I really like. "Meduim" question still stands though

[gentle compass]

im getting this too

on chrome...

this shit is pissing me off

[gentle compass]

mine isn't

it keeps on switiching back on forth

idk whats going on

[gaunt surge]

did you figure out how to fix it? mine's is also displaying the same issue

[gaunt surge]

ok nvm it got fixed they sent an email

[fleet goblet]

Does anyone else have this issue? 1 of my recs is from a history teacher

I sent an email but I'm not sure if, in the meantime, I should try to quickly get a rec letter from an English teacher

[red light]

Hmmm

It seems like they might not have submitted it idk

[thorny sparrow]

history is fine

[fleet goblet]

They did

I took a look

[red light]

Weird

Email AOs

[fathom mirage]

when are RD decisions coming out? im super nervous

[warm sigil]

like march?

theres a lot of time left

[rocky wave]

gng i know the form was already due but i forgot to submit SAT, submitted only AP, lwk cooked. anyways whats the difference here? dont they say they want all of them?

[graceful jolt]

They just use the score you put on your commonapp right?

If it’s checkmarked on the checklist it should be fine

[rocky wave]

oh hm it's not checkmarked

I think on the commonapp it's just a superscore, not individual sittings, iirc?

[graceful jolt]

Well I reported an individual sitting because It’s my highest score

And it worked for me

If you report a super score and the school doesn’t super score then you probably need to report the individual sitting

[warped cosmos]

This will NOT be you

[grizzled iron]

The pizza in the cafeteria so fire btw

[grizzled iron]

Yo I met Kim Thorpe while at Caltech no joke

Not even a bit rn

[glacial trout]

gl to deferred squad

we all gettin in

[grizzled iron]

I’m coming in for RD bro be ready

[warm sigil]

six times is crazy

thats like what 600+ bucks down the drain?

[graceful jolt]

For caltech it was alright to just report sat scores on the common app right?

Meaning it was not necessary to report it again in their own portal right?

@red light do you have an answer for this

[red light]

Uhh yea

I don’t recall reporting it again

If anything just ask the AOs

[glacial trout]

i think for ap scores i had to report them again on the portal

but sat is autofilled

[graceful jolt]

Yeah it doesn’t actually show the sat score in the portal I think but it was checkmarked for me when I submitted my app

[deep sparrow]

@red light do you know where I add course updates?

or a link to beaver breakroom

its there allegedly and I have no idea hwo to access it

nvm twin i got it

[red light]

No clue

Oh lit

[warm sigil]

could you tell me asw pls

need to send in some additional courses

[deep sparrow]

js go to your application and then there’s a button

“additional info”

and then click that and you can upload a new schedule

[warm sigil]

perfect tnx

[ornate loom]

hi everyone! if you're an international and applied to Caltech for financial aid, have you received an email from their senior finaid director urging you to submit your css profiles and giving you a fee waiver? (even though you might've already uploaded your css way before that)

it was like two days ago at this moment

[graceful jolt]

Anyone else's portal banner update to awaiting decision?

[ornate loom]

yep

seems kinda early, soo weird

last year ig it was the same week as the decision day

[graceful jolt]

does it usually update on the same week or the week before?

maybe decisions are coming out next week

[ornate loom]

last year's CC megathread shows that the banner flipped 3 days before the decision day

[ornate loom]

yeah based on the historical patterns it's Mar 7 with like 99.999999% chance

[graceful jolt]

they would have probably sent out an email already if decisions were coming this week

it's definitely next week

[ornate loom]

yeah that's what im saying, next saturday

[graceful jolt]

weekend release seems kind of weird though

most likely friday no?

[ornate loom]

nah look, in 2020 the calendar was exactly the same as this year's. Mar 14 was the 2nd saturday, and becuause they don't drop on the same day as the MIT, it was a week before, hence the 1st saturday of march, or March 7.

[cunning iron]

It’s dropping March 7th

[graceful jolt]

Alr

[cunning iron]

I think I have to volunteer that day

[ornate loom]

Still tho anyone has any idea why the banner flipped that early?

[cunning iron]

Do yall know what time they usually drop?

[ornate loom]

Depends on the riddle

Last year it was 10:00 AM PST, the year before it was 6:28 PM ig

[cunning iron]

Oh I see I see

Oh yeah I just remembered they do that

[ornate loom]

caltech is wilding this year

[cunning iron]

They can’t drop while I’m volunteering I think I’ll tweak out

[ornate loom]

this is super improbable, but it could be that they'd drop this Sat

although there's no riddle on their ig so far

[cunning iron]

I think they would’ve clearly sent an email out?

[ornate loom]

i mean they already broke one pattern; i wouldn't expect them to follow any other known ones lmao

[cunning iron]

Kill me ig

[ornate loom]

i mean many things changed there this year, probs that's why all the known patterns kinda broke

we'll see for sure from their official email

good luck everyone in advance

[red light]

Next Saturday makes most sense

But it is also the big CIT

[ocean pecan]

mine didn't 💀

[graceful jolt]

What?!

Aw hell nah

[ocean pecan]

yeaa are you intl?

[graceful jolt]

Nah I’m domestic

Us citizen

[ocean pecan]

oh same

hm

I mean maybe because I'm deferred applicant idk

[graceful jolt]

Oh maybe

Yeah I didn’t get deferred

Applied rd

[ocean pecan]

oh I see lol yea mb im probably not the best sample

March 7th sounds about right yea since its been 2nd saturday of march for a couple years and this year it overlaps w/ pi day so cant be that

[warm sigil]

damm

i knew caltech would be early.. but this early is kinda crazy

oh well time to buckle up

[fleet goblet]

Its easy when you put everyone in the rejection pile

[fleet goblet]

Mine did

[ocean pecan]

did you get deferred?

or just RD

[ornate loom]

Mine has changed, and I applied in RD

[ocean pecan]

hm I think maybe they only changed it for people who applied RD

idk can someone who got deferred REA check

[fleet goblet]

RD

[ornate loom]

@ocean pecan has it changed for you yet?

[haughty ferry]

Mine did

International here, so getting my first us rejection xD

[ocean pecan]

Nope still says application complete

[ornate loom]

Chillax it doesn’t mean anything yet

Everyone who applied in RD seems to have gotten it

[ornate loom]

Btw I’m also an intl, can I pm you a question?

[unique aspen]

I'm intl as well, it's showing me "Current Application Status: Awaiting Decision"

[ornate loom]

if they drop the riddle soon it's gonna be their biggest admissions troll ever

cuz like usually they change the banner like 3-5 days before the decision day

[unique aspen]

what's "the riddle"

[ornate loom]

it's like a math or logic problem that reveals the decision date and time

in past years they sent it out within a day after the banner changed

[silk bronze]

bro this will actually be crazy

ain't no way it comes out this soon T^T

[ornate loom]

we're yet to see bro lmao; maybe the early banner flip was just a fluke...unless they drop the riddle tomorrow or the day after it

[graceful jolt]

Well it’s either coming out this Saturday or next Saturday

[silk bronze]

how do you know T^T

also I prayyyyyy ur right

[graceful jolt]

Last year and in prior years it came out like the first weekend of march

I think

[ornate loom]

2nd usually, unless it also coincided with the Pi Day; then, it was on the first sat (like in 2020)

[red ore]

So by this logic it will be the 7th then

People were saying it might be this sat because of the portal updates but I think they would have had to send riddle for that

Could be wrong though

Who knows

[ornate loom]

The riddle might come today or tomorrow tbf

[red ore]

Yeah maybe

Doesn’t matter I ain’t getting in either way 😂

[ornate loom]

But some (if not all) REA deferrees still don’t have the changed banner

[red ore]

Interesting

[ornate loom]

Are you an intl by any chance?

[red ore]

Nah

From NY

[ornate loom]

Aight

[red ore]

We shall see we shall see

[ornate loom]

Yh

[red ore]

Whole process is super stochastic can never know

[ornate loom]

Yeah

[red ore]

Gl to you

[ornate loom]

U too

[red ore]

You clearly want it 😂

[ornate loom]

I meaaaan

Ngl I became obsessed with caltech only like a week ago lmao

Prior to that I too thought i wont get in

Anything can happen tho

[red ore]

I feel like nobody thinks they will get in

Considering they accept what? 300 kids?

[ornate loom]

You just gotta stay delulu

😂😂😂

[red ore]

Fr

Good advice

[grizzled iron]

Na bro ts my saftey

[silk bronze]

LMAO

hopefully we get in

did any1 do the viva exam?

[grizzled iron]

Na bro they finna take my app and use it as kindling for a fire

[silk bronze]

I'm sorry the image is so funny T^T

I'm just imagining an AO at home reading a book and drinking hot chocolate

and then when the fireplace dies down, they just throw an application into the fire T^T

[red ore]

That’s the one you do either the research supplement right?

Nah I didn’t do research supplement cuz I don’t have full papers but I submitted some abstract I was published on as an additional doc

[grizzled iron]

They finna frame my application to ridicule it every time they walk by

[cunning iron]

My application is so bad that it’ll be a ghost story that the caltech aos will share to one another

[grizzled iron]

My shit finna be an example of what not to do

Finna be the shit the throw up as a bad example

[cunning iron]

“Okay so NEW AOs, do we see THIS application. Yeah if you see this, you gotta throw them in the rejection pile.”
“Wait but I imagine that student tried really hard and—”
“ZIP IT BETHANY”

[silk bronze]

BROOOOOOOO T^T

now I'm even MORE scared

[cunning iron]

it’s okay we’ll be scared together

[warped cosmos]

Can someone translate this for me

To gain code execution on the device, open the rear cover, remove the lower SD card, mount it on a system that supports ext4, and place a shell script in autorun/. It will appear in /init/autorun/ on the device, and will automatically be run at boot.

Or, with newer EEPROM-containing dongles, put a shell script named autorun.sh at the root of a USB filesystem (either attached directly to the rear USB port, or with disklabel MP_SD), and it will be run at startup instead of the stock UI.

Idek what cords I need

Do I just need normal Ethernet

Are there multiple types

It’s for this

[pastel stag]

LMAO I love you asked Caltech for help

[red ore]

the first sd card option seems easier

just put whatever sh script you want in the autorun thing and it should run on boot?

seems a lot more complicated than the second option considering i dont see a usb port

what is the device and what are you trying to run lmao

[warped cosmos]

I gotta emulate the transit system

Like this

[red ore]

hahaha this is amazing

what are your plans with it

[warped cosmos]

I was thinking decoration but maybe that’d use too much electricity so maybe I’ll just bring it around for fun

Like that video was taken at a brewery

The guy just brought it in his bag

[red ore]

i wonder if you could set it up as a keycard reader

type thing

and conect it to some kind of automatic lock

for your door

idk

just spitballing

[warped cosmos]

The guy who’s selling them would probably love to hear this

That was his whole point of selling them

[red ore]

would be so funny to have a transit thing outside your room as a keycard

[red ore]

lmao

how much is he charging

[warped cosmos]

$25 to ship anywhere in the U.S.

[red ore]

wait i do actually need to install keycard things on my school's science olympiad room

[warped cosmos]

https://kevin.wallace.seattle.wa.us/pm3/

[red ore]

because the school is making us lock the room due to having saws and stuff and now i have to ask one of the coaches anytime i want access but they said if we do a keycard thing with team member's student id cards we can use that

[red ore]

600?

wow

[warped cosmos]

Liquidity sale

[red ore]

i kinda want one

idk why tho

[warped cosmos]

I ordered last Wednesday and got it by Monday

[warped cosmos]

It’s niche

[red ore]

wow very good service

[red ore]

ye its very cool

especially as someone who lives in nyc and takes the subway basically every day

if i come up with a decent enough use case I will get one I suppose

[warped cosmos]

Ngl I don’t have a use case

I just got one in case I do get one

[red ore]

ye fair

idk if I can justify it to myself on the basis of it being cool though haha

appreciate the info nontheless tho

[warm sigil]

ya was lowkey weird ngl

[red ore]

What exactly is it? I didn’t end up doing it but the website was very unclear on what it consists of

[warm sigil]

you had to do it for research supplement

if you either published a paper

or its under review

or you will be submitting (i was this category, since i will be submitting to my country's national physics journal)

but my recomender mentioned that i was indeed going to be published since this was a project funded by the associtation

[warm sigil]

they baiscally take your manuscript and then they basically ask some quesitons with an ai bot and you record your responses

[red ore]

to make sure you didn't pay someone to write you a paper ig?

interesting

[warm sigil]

well ya

or use chatgpt

or smt

[red ore]

yeah

[warm sigil]

but lowkey the qs were kinda bad

theres like 10 qs

2 were like focused for me

the rest were so general 😭

[red ore]

I didn't end up doing research sup cuz i only have a few abstracts published rn and didn't have a full paper for my first author thing written at the time but I'm glad i didn't have to do that haha. just submitted abstracts as an additional doc.

[red ore]

lmao

[warm sigil]

published abstracts?

[red ore]

ye 3 but not first author

and the thing i would have written the research sup about would have been the first author thing that hasn't been published yet

[warm sigil]

idt you need to be first author to submit a paper or?

[red ore]

no you don't

[warm sigil]

you just need to highlight what you did

and your recommender should do the same

[red ore]

idk it says paper strongly recommended so I wasn't gonna do it about an abstract I was third author on

[warm sigil]

ya ya icic

i thought i geeked out on supplements

[red ore]

that hasnt even been published fully yet just accepted cuz conference procedings havent been published

[warm sigil]

but i realised theres worse people

[red ore]

idk may have not been the right decision but I think it was

[warm sigil]

should be fine

[red ore]

that's my thought

I also put a note at the bottom saying if they want more info can always provide etc

of the abstract doc

[red ore]

wdym

[warm sigil]

i sent like 3 stem portfolios and 1 research supp

[red ore]

jezzz

[warm sigil]

i thought it was a lot

i still think its a lot

but ik this guy

crazy like 4 or 5 stem and 2 research supps

but idk abt the quality yk

[red ore]

i love how caltech and mit are like the hardest schools to get into in the country and they are the most casual about people being qualified and the most friendly over email lol

[red ore]

did he get in

i hope so haha

[warm sigil]

rd rd

hes fighting with me

same school

[red ore]

damn

[warm sigil]

intl i hope he doesnt get in

🤣

boosts my chances

[red ore]

oh wow that's a tough fight

I would hope for the best for him tho who knows you might be clasemates

[warm sigil]

ya but hes also a whats is called

i dont even know what its called

crimson whats that research thing called

that you pay for

well i hope he gets in as well

but i hope i get in first

[red ore]

lmao

who knows you might know by this saturday

[warm sigil]

he spent like thousands on these summer resarch stuff

liek crimson education and stuff

[red ore]

oh yeah

idk about the reputability of those

[warm sigil]

ya same

[warm sigil]

thats why i said that

[red ore]

ye

[warm sigil]

cause 2 research supps is crazy yk

like sure maybe you crazy geeked out but like holy hell

2 papers

💀

[red ore]

who knows

people are crazy

but like

ik everyone likes to mention this but someone who build a nuclear reactor in their garage got rejected from MIT a few years ago

[warm sigil]

i mean i kinda read through one of the papers he sent

it was like a simple ai model for exoplanet detection

[red ore]

anyway I should probably sleep gl to you my friend

[warm sigil]

go to sleep bro

[red ore]

lmao

[warm sigil]

i woke up like 3 hr ago

[ornate loom]

No riddle damn

Seems like it’s indeed mar 7

[haughty ferry]

Damn that's very cheap

Generous guy

[ornate loom]

Can i pm u one question?

[silk bronze]

ikr it was just so. weird

and like the questions only tangentially pertained to my research

[silk bronze]

oooooo r u intl?

[warm sigil]

sure

[warm sigil]

brudda

bro forgot me

[silk bronze]

OH SHIT

bro ts my b T^T

I haven't been on A2C in a WHILE

[warm sigil]

np np

[red ore]

someone i was talking to about this just suggested building a vending machine around one of these

i love that idea

[thorny sparrow]

as such this seems moderately simple to mess with

since arbritary code execution has already been figured out

[red light]

hello

ready for decisions?

[silk bronze]

oh lord T^T

btw luca, which schools did you get into other than caltech?

[red light]

gtech aero + stamps finalist
ut aero
Purdue fye
school of mines mech e

[silk bronze]

ayyyyyyyy W

ur chilling then lol

we're thinking caltech comes out 3/7

sooooo

we're praying T^T

[warped cosmos]

I think so but speculated

We would find out next week if so

Probably back half of the week

[red light]

Prob

[thorny sparrow]

ello

[thorny sparrow]

😭

Lowk not tracking when they come out on purpose

busy enough that I can't honestly think about it too much either which is prolly for the best

[warm sigil]

so its prolly going to be next week?

a speculation with some potential past historical backing

[sterile escarp]

could it come out like this saturday?

[ornate loom]

No, they would've posted a riddle way before that

It's gonna be next Saturday (Mar 7), based on the 2020 calendar

[errant lagoon]

Is anyone here interested in joining varsity teams at Caltech?

If so, how do you contact with coaches?

[silk bronze]

hey so does anybody know if caltech takes the common app self-reported scores?

I sent them my ACT through there I think

but I'm panicking bc some1 said they were cooked cuz they didn't verify their superscores w/ the application

[ornate loom]

Self-reporting is perfectly fine. You’ll only need to send the actual scores at matriculation

[ocean pecan]

banner still hasnt flipped for me 💀

[silk bronze]

???

you mean it doesn't show awaiting decision?

[ocean pecan]

yea but im deferred but kinda surprising since it flipped for RD people a week ago

'Current Application Status: Application Complete'

[silk bronze]

huh that's weird

[glacial trout]

im deferred rea and it also says application complete for me

i thinkits just deferred people who get that

i saw someone on reddit saying the same hting

[ocean pecan]

alr bet glad its not just me 😭

[glacial trout]

ur good

[gritty orbit]

where's the riddle

[ornate loom]

Do I look like I’m the admissions office dude

Tomorrow or Thursday it is then

[silk bronze]

Lollllllllllll

Is there a chance it’s next week?

[obsidian ruin]

big feyn please give me caltech 🙏

[silk bronze]

PLEASE

I beg

[hidden timber]

7th or 14th?

[warm sigil]

theres always a chance

but i think mit comes out 14th or

i feel like historically caltech comes out before that but who knows

[eager ledge]

It's Thursday rn should get a riddle hint or something
But if that doesn't happen until Thursday then it's probably next week

Could be Saturday too
Waiting like we waiting on SBR fr

[ornate loom]

It’s still Wednesday morning in CA

[eager ledge]

Yeah Thursday CA ofc

I meant like its thursday for me mb

Oh you know what
Im actually dumb asf I thought this was a thursday
Its still wednesday for me too lmfaoo mb

[fleet goblet]

I hope the riddle is interesting atleast

[silk bronze]

Same honestly

It’ll be a fun one

[warped cosmos]

Lowkenuinely guys what if Caltech is waiting an extra week so they can do pi day

[red ore]

I feel like they wouldn’t cuz pi day it’s mits thing but maybe not

[warped cosmos]

Georgia tech took it once

[red ore]

Hmmm interesting

[cunning iron]

If Caltech and MIT both come out at the same time that’ll be pure comedy for them but trauma for me

[steel igloo]

Watch the riddle be based on pi day shit

[silk bronze]

if they do I swear gng

I'll die of anxiety

[red ore]

I think they would just do 1:59 then lol

[steel igloo]

Yeah

[obsidian ruin]

fyi admission date for rea was announced 2 days before at 8pm est

[sterile escarp]

so its still possible for this week

[warm sigil]

double pain then man mit and caltech same day

[steel igloo]

wait im convinced they're gonna do 3/14 1:59 pm '26

[ornate loom]

How specific

[red ore]

I think you are right about the last part of this

lol

[warped cosmos]

Someone lmk when riddle comes out

[jolly ore]

Hi when do we think they’re dropping decisions and riddle

[eager ledge]

Probably next week
We'll have to wait until Friday since there's no chance they'll release it on a Sunday
Unless they wanna be cheeky

[silk bronze]

it'll be diabolical if ts is true T^T

[warm sigil]

well id rather get it on sunday this week than on pi day 😭

double rejection would hurt

and uchicago comes out like a day before

[silk bronze]

WHAT

How do you know that gng 😭

[warped cosmos]

Chicago is most likely gonna release on the13th

I’ve had that down for a couple months now

[silk bronze]

ahhhhh I see

[warped cosmos]

Expect an Instagram post telling you that tomorrow morning

[warped cosmos]

I’m starting to think it’s gonna release next week

I think one day turnaround is too little

Idk if they usually push in the evening

But today would be cutoff imo

[strong gazelle]

5:17 pst but still no email

[silk bronze]

Anything on the insta?

[strong gazelle]

nope just checked

[silk bronze]

Welp

Tmrw?

[strong gazelle]

wow mit and caltech double release

[strong gazelle]

nah, past years they have always released riddle at least 2 days before decision

[silk bronze]

I’ll Kms if that happens 😭

[silk bronze]

Nooooooooo

[strong gazelle]

first they change rd applicants banner to say awaiting decision on the last week of feb and then this

[eager ledge]

Nah not likely

It def won't happen this week unless they pull some BS off

[cunning iron]

Is Caltech not dropping this sat

[eager ledge]

Nah they're probably not

[cunning iron]

I see

Double whammy on Pi day I suppose

[eager ledge]

Probably

[hidden timber]

can they stop edging us

[ornate loom]

Frrrrrrr

Although guys

I believe they still might drop the riddle like today

We js never know

What if their RD-riddle-producing-AI-based-slop-generating-machine ran out of reserve power, and the poor twelve AOs are walking to convert footsteps into electricity 🥹🥹🥹

[red ore]

Imagine if they r delaying decisions cuz they can’t think of a good riddle lmao

That’s maybe happened before is the funniest thing

Was it? The one for rea this year was just plug and chug

What was the riddle

[ornate loom]

Oh mb it was in 2024

[red ore]

Ugh

The one the year before was just running a Jupyter notebook I think

[ornate loom]

Yh

[ornate loom]

Hence I don’t think that’s really an excuse lmao

[red ore]

Ye I was joking

Js very funny to think that that’s a possibility

[ornate loom]

I wonder what’s happening in the office rn

Perhaps class balancing

Yoo tho it might be a good thing

It miiiight mean that they won’t heavily under-enroll like in last year

[red ore]

Wdym

[ornate loom]

Like

If they take extra time to fill the class up

They won’t have like 40 ppl accepted from the WL

Which was 1/6th of the whole class lmao

[red ore]

That happened???

Lmao

[ornate loom]

Cuz before that they pretty much just had the WL for fun

Yeah lmao last year they heavily underenrolled

[red ore]

Jeez

Yeah maybe more
acceptances this year 🤞

Who knows i thought caltech would be my first decision of march but might end up being something else

I heard cmu might be the 12th?

[ornate loom]

I doubt tech will release concurrently with MIT

[red ore]

I think same day is possible but def not same time

[ornate loom]

Might be Friday the 13th then

[red ore]

If they do pi day will be 1:59 I bet

[red ore]

Hasn’t it always been Saturday

[ornate loom]

I think it had shifted to a day before MIT once

Iirc

[red ore]

Any way no point obsessing over this we shall get our decisions when we do

Mmm

[ornate loom]

Yh

[red ore]

Well gl regardless

[ornate loom]

Gl to u too

[warm sigil]

gl gang

[broken shadow]

GL i hope u all get to go to CalTech Erewhon

[ornate loom]

Has this changed for you yet?

[ocean pecan]

nope

[ornate loom]

😭😭

Yeah ig 14th it is…

Another 8 days of excruciating wait

[ocean pecan]

fuck

at least they have a policy where they dont waitlist deferred applicants

if I had to wait 4 months for my RD decision just to get waitlisted and have to wait another 4 months i would end it

[warm sigil]

bruh

didnt expect to get an email from mit before caltech to tell me when decisions come

[gentle compass]

Really?

[lavish igloo]

Yes, deferred is either accept or reject

[vagrant cape]

what up fake mit

sorry i mean caltech

[silk bronze]

mhmmmmmmmmmm

L take

[deep sparrow]

crazy part is utd mogs both schjools

[shell mantle]

Is Caltech decision tdy?

[silk bronze]

nope

[vagrant cape]

we think tomorrow

[pastel stag]

Any riddle yet?

[silk bronze]

nope

seems to be pi day

[narrow nacelle]

At least we get to hold on to hope.

[calm fossil]

No way I hope it’s not pi day

Cuz it’s always MIT for pi day and I hope they aren’t gonna conflict

[vagrant cape]

idt its pi day

mit is 1:59 on 3/14

[calm fossil]

Idk if caltech wanna release on the same day with mit

So its either this Saturday or pi

I don’t think they’re making to 3/21

[eager ledge]

Fr

[pastel stag]

Caltech might be 1:59 pacific time

[red ore]

woah after mit

[pastel stag]

Im preparing for a double whammy of rejections

yeah exactly 3 hours apart (that’s my prediction)

[red ore]

interesting

[safe dragon]

why is caltech releasing sae day as mit bruh

like caltech uses week before for recruitment

it would be unfavorable for them to do same day as mit

[pastel stag]

Cuz it’s PI DAY

Who knows maybe they’ll surprise us tmrw

Or sometime midweek

[safe dragon]

yeah name 10 people who would choose caltech over mit bruh. I love caltech but i have not met one person who would choose it over mit

its not strategic

but maybe caltech has more confidence in their reputation this year.

[silk bronze]

lowkey me ngl

for astronomy and JPL

but the kavli institute is also pulling punches

[eager ledge]

Why would I name people bro 😭✌️

[safe dragon]

figure of speech bruh

[hidden timber]

name 10 books

[pastel stag]

I would choose it, bc closer to home, better weather, and it seems more collaborative and less competitive

[safe dragon]

ok i guess there is 10 people then

but my point stands to extent

[pastel stag]

Ok sure

[red light]

I would pick the big c tech over the small m I t

[warm sigil]

any chances they release mid week

to not collide with mit

[ornate loom]

Same question

Though I think, if anything, they might shift it to Friday at most

[bitter path]

Hmm

[warm sigil]

prolly

well uchicago comes out 13th but idt caltech cares abt that

[ornate loom]

Lowk could they’ve forgotten about the riddle 😭

I so don’t wanna wait for a whole another week

Js reject me atp ✌️

[ornate loom]

yooo guys

this is from the Caltech's CC megathread CO2024 (same calendar as this year)

They also got nothing (no riddle, no nothing, except for an email for EA accepted students that only hinted at 3/7) until the very last moment

Sooo there is still a chance they drop today

The caveat though is that they didn't have riddles back then

[bitter path]

Hmm

When's results

[ornate loom]

Could be they might drop the riddle today, but it will be as delayed as in 2020 (so, before 5PM PST)

otherwise March 13 (like in 2015)

[vagrant cape]

ts is the age of the dinosaurs

[warm sigil]

@ornate loom idt they will cancel riddles bro

riddles are like caltech

like how pi day is for mit, riddles are the equivalent for caltech now i feel

[eager ledge]

Yeah fr
Like it's their whole schnick

[errant lagoon]

Did they give a riddle for REA this year?

[ornate loom]

Yh

But look look hear me out

As I said, the riddle MIGHT be dropped but only somewhere in the morning PST. So, this way, we get both the riddle and the delayed ash pattern

[warm sigil]

brudda

it isnt dropping today

i think the whole point of a riddle is to keep people excited and solve to find it out

how would you feel you woke up realised caltech released a riddle

and before you even read or attempt to solve it the decisions released

🤣

that'd be devious

i think we should just let the caltech office do what they want

and write a letter or rejection rejecting their rejection later

[warm sigil]

but i love the dedication for the predictions i swear

[ornate loom]

Greatest overthinker of our time

[eager ledge]

Anyone wanna bet on this?

I'd be down but I don't like gambling alone

[hidden timber]

what if the riddle was the absence of one

[narrow nacelle]

Keep hopes up.

[narrow nacelle]

I’d gamble but I don’t have money.

My Google account ran out of storage, so I can’t receive Emails.

I have to just constantly check Beaver Break Room.

[warm sigil]

delete some emails

[eager ledge]

RIP

[narrow nacelle]

It’s photos and videos. I do a lot of photography and don’t have a PC to store my stuff on.

[fleet goblet]

Just put the fries in the bag bro

[warm sigil]

i mean you can change your email through the caltech portal

[narrow nacelle]

Ooooh. Ok.

I'll try that. Thank you!

[calm fossil]

So ig Caltech is coming out on pi day then🥀

[narrow nacelle]

I wouldn’t be too sure.

CalTech is on some GTA VI type of timing. 😂😂

[oblique cape]

it says they made decisions already

on slate

[narrow nacelle]

They just haven't sent them out yet?

[oblique cape]

yep

[narrow nacelle]

Ok, so it will be soon then.

[hidden timber]

whats the likelihood it gets sent out on a weekday

[narrow nacelle]

I heard in the past it has almost always, or always been Saturday, however I guess things can change.

I would just keep checking for Emails.

[calm fossil]

That’s what I thought cuz historically it’s always on a Saturday

So it’s either a pi day or 21st which is kinda late

[narrow nacelle]

Pi day makes sense though.

Because it is a Saturday.

[ocean pecan]

how does that even work

oh nvm i figured it out

[ornate loom]

How can one check this?

[oblique cape]

Slate

https://start.edu/connect/

Sign up with the email and name you used for your college app

It automatically matches