Can I make it to Cal-Tech? When is the Best Time for me to apply?

I am a freshmen in high school, take all advanced courses, receive all A's in all of my classes, I do martial arts (for 10 years), volunteer at the hospital, and in drama club. My teachers love me and I am have the highest grade in all of my IT Networkings class. I am part black, white, and native american. I also live on the East coast. I really want to go to CalTech. When is the best time for me to apply? What's the chance of me getting a scholarship? Any tips on how to get more information since I live in the other side of the country?

Can I make it to Cal-Tech? When is the Best Time for me to apply?
You need to call up Cal Tech and ask them these questions. I called Johns Hopkins University Admissions Deparment for my daughter and this is what I was told:





They said they "look" at the 9th grade scores, but they don't calculate those scores when they figure out your GPA. They look at your grades in only CORE ACADEMIC CLASSES (sciences, English, social studies, math, maybe foreign language, I'm not sure) for grades 10 and 11 and half of 12th grade when they decide who to admit. They add up all the grades for the core classes, take the average and that is your GPA that they work with. 90-100 is an A, 80-90 is a B, etc.








Want to know what else they said?


Only 21% of the applicants are accepted.


They look to see if you took the hardest courses offered at your school.


Did you have leadership roles in all of your after school activities?





75% of the kids admitted to JHU have a GPA between 3.7 and 3.8





They like to see volunteer work and good letters of recommendation from your teachers, but the high school transcript is the most important thing. If that doesn't look good, nothing else matters. They don't want to hear about potential, they want to see what you have done.





Typical ACT score of those students who are admitted: 30-34 composite (top score is 36)


Typical SAT score of admitted students: 1350-1500 in the old SAT (top score was 1600 then)(800 in math and 800 in English is top score on old SAT)





The lady in Admissions said that they don't really care much if you made National Merit semi-finalist in your state. They said a lot of students who apply to their university made National Merit on the PSAT in the 11th grade. But Johns Hopkins cares much more about how hard your classes are and what grades you got in them.
Reply:Having gone through the Caltech process myself perhaps I can help. Apply early action your senior year. Freshman year is too early to tell your chances. It's good that your taking advanced courses and doing well, but if you don't get a 2200 SAT (with an 800 math), it will be tough. Report It

Reply:I'm running out of space, so e-mail me at kdbachovchin@yahoo.com and I'll give you some more tips. Report It

Reply:IT Networking is a high school course now? Cool. When I was in high school, we studied Basic. And that was only 8 years ago.





You apply to colleges the fall before you plan to attend - so fall of your senior year in high school. Deadlines are usually late Dec to early Jan. If you really want to get in, figure out what you're interested in as a major / possible career and find a way to spend your summers working towards it - get an internship or summer camp or work or something that will make it obvious that you are serious about your plans and already know quite a bit about the field. Good luck!
Reply:Your junior year is usually spent investigating different colleges. Perhaps by then you will have another favorite college.





In your senior year, you apply between September (for early decision) or by November/December for regular decision.





I would go for early decision so you have a better chance at financial aid.





Good Luck.





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