California Institute of Technology

Caltech Application Portal Activation: QuestBridge will send Finalists’ applications to Caltech on October 18, and Caltech may need a couple days to import them into their system. Once processed, Caltech will email you instructions to log in and activate your Caltech application portal, the Beaver Breakroom, where you can access and submit the Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement, track the status of your application, and the materials you submitted.

Note that Caltech will accept Match requirements until November 5.

1

Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement and Teacher Evaluations

Finalists who want to participate in the Match and ranked Caltech will receive an email about the Beaver Breakroom where they can access, complete, and submit the Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement. The Supplement consists of required questions that require 200-250 words max. Fall 2024 applicants will be asked to review Caltech's guidelines on the ethical use of AI before submitting the required and optional essay listed here.

Caltech requires letters of evaluation from two teachers:

• one from a math or science teacher
• one from a humanities or social science teacher.

If your QuestBridge recommendations do not meet Caltech's requirements, you must reach out to a teacher to request a letter for the missing field and ask them to submit by November 5. Your recommender may email the letter directly to our office at admissionsdocuments@caltech.edu. Emailed letters must include your full name and date of birth. Caltech recommends requesting letters from teachers who taught you in your final two years of high school, know you well, and can speak knowledgeably about your skills and performance in their classroom. Caltech would like your humanities or social science teacher to comment on your writing skills, so be sure to ask a teacher from a class with a significant writing component. Examples of classes that meet Caltech's requirements for teacher evaluations are available here.

2

Official Transcript(s)

An official high school transcript (a transcript sent from a school official) is required along with official transcripts from any other institution where you have taken courses. If a counselor or school official already sent an official transcript through QuestBridge, there is no need to submit another.

In preparation for Caltech's core curriculum, which is the foundation for all majors, Caltech expects you engage academically with the most advanced and rigorous coursework available to you in high school. To prepare for core, students must demonstrate mastery in the following subjects:

• Four years of math, including one year of calculus*
• One year of physics*
• one year of chemistry*
• One year of biology (recommended)
• Four years of English
• Two years of history and/or social sciences (3+ years recommended)
• *If a student is unable to take a calculus, chemistry, and/or physics course in high school because it is not available to them or they experience unresolvable course conflicts, Caltech will accept examination scores or certification showing proof of knowledge in the subject in lieu of an academic course requirement, provided both the student and their counselor document the underlying unresolvable issue(s). Learn more about this and Caltech's Academic Requirements. 

3

Test Scores

Caltech has implemented a five-year* Moratorium on requirement and consideration of SAT and/or ACT test scores that will be in effect for all first-year students applying to Caltech for Fall 2022 through Fall 2025.

In June 2020, Caltech had enacted a two-year moratorium on both the requirement and consideration of SAT and ACT test scores as the undergraduate admissions process. In July 2022, the original two-year moratorium was extended an additional three years.

*The Caltech Undergraduate Admissions Office will not be accepting or reviewing any standardized test submitted. If your test scores appear on your application, they will be automatically suppressed when sent to Caltech.

4

2024-2025 CSS Profile

CSS code: 4034
Available Oct. 1

Complete and submit only if you are NOT a US Citizen or Eligible Noncitizen and cannot submit a FAFSA.

Please select "Early Action" as your admission application type.

5

Signed 2022 Parent Tax Return or Parent Non-Tax Filer's Statement

Through your portal, the Beaver Breakroom, upload the signed 2022 Parent Tax Return; or, if your parent(s) have not filed a tax return, the Parent Non-Tax Filer's Statement.

SUBMIT AS SOON AS AVAILABLE (likely by late December)

2024-2025 FAFSA

FAFSA code: 001131

The FAFSA will not be available until at least December 2023. Please complete the FAFSA as soon as it is available and submit it directly to Caltech.

Complete and submit if you are a US Citizen or Eligible Noncitizen.

Restrictive Early Action

Finalists who do not match cannot be considered for admission through Restrictive Early Action to Caltech, but instead can be considered in the Regular Decision process.

Regular Decision

Follow the instructions below to apply through Regular Decision. 

Finalists who ranked Caltech and submitted all materials (but did not match to a binding college)

Finalists who did not rank Caltech

Choose one of the following to apply: QuestBridge Application with Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement or Common Application

If you choose to use your QuestBridge application and Supplement, there is no further action that needs to be taken for this section.

If students choose the Common Application, select “Regular Decision” as the admission round.

If you choose to use your QuestBridge application, you must submit a Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement (only if Caltech was selected in the QuestBridge Regular Decision Form). Through the Beaver Breakroom, you can access, complete, and submit a new Caltech-QuestBridge Supplement.

The Supplement consists of required questions that require 200-250 words max. Fall 2024 applicants will be asked to review Caltech’s guidelines on the ethical use of AI before submitting the required and optional essays listed here. Experiencing writer’s block? Check out Caltech's Essay Writing Advice.

If students choose the Common Application, select “Regular Decision” as the admission round.

Teacher Evaluations

Caltech requires the submission of 2 teacher evaluations with your chosen application platform: 1 from a Humanities or Social Science teacher AND 1 from a Math or Science teacher.

Caltech recommends requesting letters from teachers who taught you in your final two years of high school, who know you well, and can speak knowledgeably about your skills and performance in their classroom. Caltech would like your humanities or social science teacher to comment on your writing skills, so be sure to ask a teacher from a class with a significant writing component. Examples of classes that meet Caltech's requirements for teacher evaluations are available here.

If a student applies through the QuestBridge Application, Caltech will consider the letters of recommendation that were sent from QuestBridge.

If your QuestBridge recommendations do not meet Caltech's requirements, you are expected to reach out to a teacher to request a letter for the missing field and ask them to submit by January 3.

If a student applies through the Common Application, then their recommender can submit a copy of the letter of recommendation that was submitted to QuestBridge to admissionsdocuments@caltech.edu. Please ask the recommender to include the applicant’s full name and date of birth in their email.

Recommenders are welcome to check out Caltech's writing advice page.

Caltech requires the submission of 2 teacher evaluations with your chosen application platform: 1 from a Humanities or Social Science teacher AND 1 from a Math or Science teacher.

Caltech recommends requesting letters from teachers who taught you in your final two years of high school, who know you well, and can speak knowledgeably about your skills and performance in their classroom. Caltech would like your humanities or social science teacher to comment on your writing skills, so be sure to ask a teacher from a class with a significant writing component. Examples of classes that meet Caltech's requirements for teacher evaluations are available here.

If a student applies through the QuestBridge Application, Caltech will consider the letters of recommendation that were sent from QuestBridge.

If your QuestBridge recommendations do not meet Caltech's requirements, you are expected to reach out to a teacher to request a letter for the missing field and ask them to submit by January 3.

If a student applies through the Common Application, then their recommender can submit a copy of the letter of recommendation that was submitted to QuestBridge to admissionsdocuments@caltech.edu. Please ask the recommender to include the applicant’s full name and date of birth in their email.

Recommenders are welcome to check out Caltech's writing advice page.

Midyear Report

Official Transcript(s)

Students should request a school official to submit an update including recent grades. 

If a student applies through the Common App, we prefer that the transcript is submitted through the Common App. Only if this is not possible, a school official may email the transcript directly to our office at admissionsdocuments@caltech.edu. Please ask a school official to include the applicant’s full name and date of birth in their email. Caltech does not accept transcript submissions from applicants.

Students must request an official transcript to be sent to Caltech from their high school(s) and any other institution where they have taken courses. To prepare for the core curriculum, which is the foundation for all majors, students must demonstrate a mastery in the following subjects:

• Four years of math, including one year of calculus*
• One year of physics*
• One year of chemistry*
• One year of biology (recommended)
• Four years of English
• Two years of history and/or social sciences (3+ years recommended)

*If a student is unable to take a calculus, chemistry, and/or physics course in high school because it is not available to them or they experience unresolvable course conflicts, Caltech will accept examination scores or certification showing proof of knowledge in the subject in lieu of an academic course requirement, provided both the student and their counselor document the underlying unresolvable issue(s). Learn more about this and Caltech's Academic Requirements.

If a student applies through the Common App, Caltech prefers that the transcript is submitted through the Common App. Only if this is not possible, a school official may email the transcript directly to our office at admissionsdocuments@caltech.edu. Please ask a school official to include the applicant’s full name and date of birth in their email. Caltech does not accept transcript submissions from applicants.

Finalists who ranked Caltech and submitted all materials (but did not match to a binding college)

Finalists who did not rank Caltech

2024-2025 FAFSA

FAFSA code: 001131
Deadline: Mar. 2

US Citizens and Eligible Noncitizens

2024-2025 CSS Profile

CSS code: 4034
Available: Oct. 1
Deadline: Feb. 1

Non-Custodial Parent Profile
(if applicable)
Deadline: Mar. 16

2022 IRS Tax Return Transcript and Forms
Deadline: Mar. 16

(Submit the following materials once you are admitted to Caltech)

Submit the following to IDOC. Please note that the IDOC service does not become available until October 1, 2022.

• Signed copy of your parents' 2022 IRS Tax Return Transcript and W-2 forms.
• Caltech Supplemental Application
• Verification Worksheet
• Parents' & Student's Income Tax Transcript

If your parents own a business or farm:

• Business/Farm Supplement

If applicable:

• Student Non-Tax Filer's Statement
• Parent Non-Tax Filer's Statement

Cal Grant GPA Verification Form
Deadline: Mar. 2

(Submit once you are admitted to Caltech)

For Residents of California only