California Institute of Technology
Source: caltech.md
California Institute of Technology
Admissions (Class of 2029 / Fall 2025)
- Total applicants: 16,626
- Overall acceptance rate: 2.6%
- Early round: Early Action (non-binding, non-restrictive) — 6.0% vs 1.8% RD
- Class size: 235
- Yield: 43%
Academics
- SAT middle 50%: 1530–1570
- ACT middle 50%: 35–36
- Avg unweighted GPA: 3.97
- Top 10% of HS class: 99%
- Testing policy: Test-free (SAT/ACT not considered)
Demographics
- Women: 30.7%, Asian: 26.3%, Black: 1.2%, Hispanic: 7.8%, White: 33.6%, International: 27.3%
Financial Aid / Net Cost
| Income Bracket |
Net Price |
| $0–$30,000 |
$4,822 |
| $30,001–$48,000 |
$7,597 |
| $48,001–$75,000 |
$10,241 |
| $75,001–$110,000 |
$24,272 |
| Over $110,000 |
$40,846 |
Athletics
NCAA Division III — no athletic scholarships. Tiny program given class size (235).
Notable
Lowest acceptance rate in the US (2.6%). Test-free — SAT/ACT not considered at all. No legacy preference. Yield low (43%) — many admits choose MIT or Harvard.
Admissions Strategy
- EA (non-binding, non-restrictive) acceptance rate ~6.0% vs ~1.8% RD — early advantage exists but both rates are extremely low
- No legacy preference — Caltech has never considered legacy status, confirmed across multiple forums and institutional statements
- No development/donor hook — Caltech is considered, alongside MIT, the most purely meritocratic of elite schools
- Testing policy recently changed: Caltech was test-free through 2024 but reinstated test requirements for Fall 2025 applicants — this is a significant shift widely discussed on forums
- Forum consensus: Caltech wants deep STEM passion and research experience; breadth and well-roundedness matter much less than at Ivies
- Tiny class size (235) means each admissions decision is high-stakes — forums describe it as essentially hand-picked
Campus Culture & Fit
- Intensely academic, small community — 235 per class creates an intimate environment
- Honor Code culture is strong — take-home exams, unproctored tests, and collaborative problem-solving are norms
- "Pass/fail" first two terms reduce initial pressure — similar to MIT's pass/no-record system
- Pranking tradition (especially with MIT and Harvey Mudd) is part of campus lore
- Forums describe social life as limited due to tiny size and Pasadena location — "it's a research institute, not a university" is a common framing
- Gender imbalance (only 30.7% women) is noted on forums as a cultural factor
Financial Aid Reputation
- Need-blind for domestic applicants; need-aware for international
- Net costs are moderate — $4.8K for families under $30K, $40.8K for families over $110K
- No athletic scholarships (D-III), no merit scholarships — all aid is need-based
- Forum consensus: aid is good but the tiny student body means less overall aid budget
Simulation-Relevant Takeaways
- No legacy/donor/athlete hooks — all multipliers should be ~1.0x (same as MIT)
- 43% yield is very low — many Caltech admits choose MIT or Harvard instead; yield model needs to reflect this
- Tiny class (235) means the simulation may need special handling — a single admit/reject decision has outsized impact on composition
- EA is non-restrictive, meaning Caltech competes for admits who also applied early elsewhere
- Return to test requirements may shift the applicant pool starting 2025
Sources
- California Institute of Technology Common Data Set 2024–2025
- research_colleges.json simulation data
- Inside Higher Ed: "Harvard, Caltech return to test requirements" (2024)
- College Confidential: California legacy admissions ban thread
- CollegeTransitions: "How to Get Into Caltech"