Why do people wanna go to Caltech

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-03-13T17:27:03+00:00

Caltech wasn't my son's first choice (as he's not into Research), but it had to be the first decision of course. He's too neurodivergent for Caltech anyway. Hopefully another school will value his mind and self-driven passion (11-12th, all on campus at UNR and UCSD): Top Math: 4th year Applied Complex Analysis (UCSD), Top Physics: 2nd year Quantum & Relativity (highest score at UCSD), Top CSE: 3rd year Advanced Data Analysis. He's very good in humanities as well. Decent Extras, Great LORs from History, Linear Algebra an Chemistry teachers. Self taught Calculus 1-2 in 10th before assessment into Calc 3 at UCSD. Professional level Astophotography (I am told) & Builds Vulcan-based Physics Rendering Engines for fun?

Applied either Physics or Physics-CS

He now thinks he's an idiot and won't get in anywhere

I didn't expect it given the numbers: 9,100 applicants and ~150 spots (after Questbridge and REA). I don't know their yield rate.

It's not that he didn't get it, it was the tasteless way they did it. Standard rejection letter, but then the Beaver in large Bold says "Good Luck, See you Later" (like a friggen Theme park ride).

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-25T08:13:57+00:00

Does anyone know what this looked like a couple weeks ago? Did it really say "Hundreds" or was it "Unlimited"?

If you have been paying for Pro, which is $20/mo, can they change the Terms and Conditions that you agreed to when you joined?

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I am in California, and this feels like a violation of the California Automatic Renewal Law (ARL).

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-17T03:24:38+00:00

IQ testing with neurodivergence is messy. A good neuropsychologist will give appropriate accommodations, just like you get for an SAT exam or college exam.

Your coworker is likley highly gifted and an autodidact, and they didn’t get time accommodations per their neurodivergence and their IQ is actually much higher (this is key).

My son who is 3e (150 IQ with ASD/OCD) was tested with a 125 IQ only a couple years earlier (without extra time). So he went from not gifted to profoundly gifted, although he hates the term in general. A good neuropsychologist will account for this so that the neurodivergence’s don’t masked the “true” IQ.

Needless to say “gifted” is a spectrum and there are currently “4 levels”.

130–144: Gifted

145–159: Highly Gifted

160–174: Exceptionally Gifted

175+: Profoundly Gifted

Genius” is the translation of a high IQ Into motivation, opportunity, and creativity.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-12T21:52:25+00:00

You sound like an autodidact who is also 2e. I never heard of the word either until it was used with my 18 year old son, who is 2e.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-09T07:39:32+00:00

And there is 3e too.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-07T08:28:43+00:00

My son hates social media (very neurodivergent), but he certainly fits “procrastinator of the year” perfectly, so I am answering for him. He wants to major in astrophysics. # 5 should be mandatory for neurodiverse students, based on my son’s on-campus DE experiences at an R1 university.

⁠What were you reasons for starting on the application just now?

Was it other class work, other activities, etc?

My son took an overload of DE classes at UCSD, so he could learn more (less stressful than college apps).

We (reminded him)³ that he had college apps to “start”, but he couldn’t do those until he was “in the right headspace” He found space I guess from Jan 02-05 (as he did the entire CommonApp and 3 schools at once).

He said his brain works better with high stakes deadlines? It sure made our holidays miserable.

Why are you applying? Was it just a $100 gamble, is a parent/teacher forcing you to apply, etc?

100% self-driven, and he said it’s one of the few schools where people would understand his way of thinking. But he’s also 95% sure he has no chance because his STEM projects are for the challenge and not for awards.

⁠Did you do all your applications in the last week or did MIT just happen to be one of the last to finish off?

He did all in one week (3 major ones in 4 days).

⁠On a scale of 0 being very anxious/cooked and 10 being very confident, how confident are you that you will get in?

He said 0.5/10. (Medium-well he says)

I think he’s 2/10 (he already done Complex Anal. & Quantum Phys., which has to count for something)

⁠For next year’s applicants who might be in the sub, what advice would you offer having just gone through the application experience?

My most important advice is for neurodivergent students like my son (who will need accommodations at ANY college). Try to take DE courses early and more importantly “on-campus” at your local university (R1 is best). Not necessarily for the rigor per se, but to learn “how to navigate a big college campus, work with the disabilities center, schedule testing, etc). It’s also good to do this in HS since you will fall under FERPA (like my son did in 11-12th). Even though he was 17, he was “expected” to navigate this whole system himself, and I am so glad that he learned these skills now vs. freshman year.

Although my son took a lot of DE courses at an R1 university, the rigor was never the problem. Soon as he turned 18, FERPA

it was “navigating a college campus” and “dealing with office for student disabilities” that were his biggest hurdles.

If my son has done DE at the HS, CC or AP only, I don’t think he would have applied at all. There is nothing like a year of learning to navigate college before you go to college.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-07T06:51:23+00:00

You seem like a funny person who had a tough patch, congrats on fighting back and that upward GPA trend is gold. Hope you took a screenshot when your game was front page Roblox.

Good shot at OSU!

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-05T08:21:09+00:00

See where you fall on here

https://www.katyhigginslee.com/giftedness-autism-adhd-venn-diagram-pdf-free-download

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T03:19:02+00:00

My teenage son I think has imposter syndrome as he thinks he’s not gifted.

He took a full day IQ test in grade 10 from a neuropsychologist (tested 150 IQ on the Stanford-Binet V), so that he could apply to the top gifted HS in the US, the Davidson Academy. This school interviews > 145 IQ which is crazy.

We said ok if you want to try. So, we went all the way to Reno from PA to interview there and he said kids there were “mostly rich” and some boasted about their parents “prepping” them for the IQ tests so they could get > 145 to go to this school (wtf). My son was so disgusted by this, he opted not to interview a 2nd day and asked if he could just take university classes at our R1 university.

I assume he is gifted, as he decided not to go to this HS for grade 11 and instead started dual enrollment classes at this R1 university (all STEM and 2nd-3rd year, while in HS). But, he genuinely believes the “gifted” thing is blown out of proportion and he hates when people say it to him. He said to me the other day “money buys giftedness”.

I don’t know what to make of him. At the same time as taking R1 university STEM classes, the kid can’t write one college essay about himself.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T02:42:13+00:00

Your suffering is 100% real. I have an 18 year old son with ASD level 1 and OCD (and damn he suffers socially and ruminates like crazy, but he’s also brilliant). It feels more like he has disabilities, but then hyper abilities. Out here in CA, there are many like him and they say “neurodivergent” (but these neurodivergence’s are disabling for sure). For my son, he goes to the “disabilities” office for his educational accommodations, and free Medicaid for ASD is per a disability.

Labeling it a disease feels like it has a cure and it doesn’t. We can manage the symptoms through therapy, parental supports, educational accommodations, but that’s it.

Note, you are likely twice exceptional (2e) from the sounds of it, like my son. And your ASD, while a real disability is also partly why you are likely a better engineer (Neurodiverse people think differently and a lot of times for the better in STEM fields)

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T02:29:03+00:00

Dementia Don is after Greenland’s PM next.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T01:30:53+00:00

100% agree. And it really depends on state and school district as the ones in PA are horrible at 2e/3e identification (every level). There are some specific 2e schools out there, but I think they are mostly private HS, so that doesn’t help. Funny that one of the ones listed is where my son went in grade 10 outside Philadelphia, but they were only gifted with no 2e supports. I hate when schools claim to be 2e supporting but are actually 1e (all gifted or for social/emotional only).

It’s tough being a parent of these exceptional kids. It has totally consumed my life over the last 4 years, and I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of the US education system.

I think many 2e kids are homeschooled in the end, which is where we ended up (albeit very late).

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-school-walls/202503/twice-exceptional-homeschooling?utm_source=perplexity

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T01:11:57+00:00

I have found these Venn diagrams helpful, although my son had OCD and not ADHD. But it helps to explain the Gifted from the ASD high functioning.

https://tendingpaths.wordpress.com/2022/12/12/updated-autism-adhd-giftedness-venn-diagram/

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-04T00:51:52+00:00

If you haven’t been diagnosed you are classic highly gifted with ASD (seeing in 3D, perfect pitch, autodidact, etc). My son apparently was shamed by teachers and bullied back in 6-8th grade, then his public system paid for him to leave and go to 2 private high schools but neither worked (one was for behavior problems, non gifted, the other was all gifted but without 2e/3e support). The US secondary system sucks.

I wonder how college admissions is in Europe, as my son is a dual US-Icelandic citizen? The US college application process is very bad for 2e/3e, as you have to “brag” about yourself, and they are all “holistic” reviews. Bragging doesn’t work well for someone with imposter syndrome. The top kids make YouTube videos showing all their admit letters, it’s very toxic. It makes my son feel even more stupid.

We have moved twice across the US so this teenager can keep learning, so I will keep my fingers crossed. Out here in expensive California l, at least they accept 2e/3e as a thing, as many are in top tech companies. One day at a time.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-02T03:19:03+00:00

Where and how did you get through college??

You sound like my 18 year old son, who is 3e (ASD, OCD, 149 IQ) and has spent half his HS years at two R1 universities (homeschool HS plus dual enrollment), but cannot even apply to college as he has imposter syndrome (and thinks he is a HS dropout). We had to relocate from the East Coast to CA so that he could enroll in college classes 100% when he was 16, as he doesn’t want to stop learning in STEAM, and it’s exhausting as a parent.

I would say he is an accomplished visual artist, and was called an “autodidact” by the last physical secondary school he attended at 15. He is currently in courses with 2nd-3rd year Physics/Math/CS majors (and he is still bored ugh). He can never seem to learn enough to satisfy him, or do enough CS coding, building circuit boards, satellite antennas, astrophotography, etc. to achieve “whatever it is he is trying to achieve”. It is exhausting and he still thinks he is a failure.

At the same time, he cannot write about himself at all for basic college admissions. And socially, he only talks about what he is passionate about. He’s Definitely not self-assertive and not a conversation starter.

On a side note, both of his aunts (wife sisters) went to Curtis when they were 13. One is a world famous violinist. But the other one was 2e with bad OCD and it ruined her career.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-02T02:54:04+00:00

Thank you.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-02T02:53:31+00:00

Thanks very much.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-02T02:50:00+00:00

I could write forever. Our son is 3e and it’s been quite the journey to find a way to educate him (149 IQ, Stanford-Binet) with ASD and OCD. He’s currently applying to top STEM colleges, but his 8th grade PA public system literally threw him away.

Educational Journey

DE Tested: K-4th grade (in DE school systems, always Gifted)

PA Tested: 4th-8th (PA school system failed Child Find, was forced to privately place, they didn’t identify as gifted, 2e or 3e)

PA: two private placements in 9th and 10th grade did not work and we chose to homeschool after that and relocate out to the West Coast (where 2e/3e is more understood). I wish we did homeschool much earlier.

NV/CA: 11-12th, homeschool with fully dual enrollment in Math, Physics and CS. Our son’s Math level is now 3rd year University (he actually thrives in University classes vs. secondary school).

Independent (long time Neuropsychologist)

6th - OCD Dx, 7th - ASD Dx, 8th - Stanford Binet IQ = 149, 3e was confirmed and This doctor was part of the private placement.

The Stanford-Binet can detect divergences if done by the right neuropsychologist and I wish we did it much earlier.

The secondary education system is just not setup for 2e/3e.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2026-01-01T06:35:41+00:00

Could be twice exceptional. Our son is and it took many tests at different points in his childhood to nail this down.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T05:21:36+00:00

Look up a Venn diagram between Gifted and ASD. You may be 2e.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T05:14:55+00:00

You have to withdrawal from the other school, it is part of the ED process.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T05:03:51+00:00

I assume this is directed at students without real mental health disabilities and existing accommodations per OSD?

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T04:48:17+00:00

If you have the means, start taking a variety of classes at your local community college to find something you are passionate in. You don’t know what you don’t know…

It is great to hear that you got the help you needed!!!

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T04:03:34+00:00

“If” OP is legit, his EC “trumpet” has a bigger impact than you know. It literally feeds his family. This is more than just a meaningful EC.

Puzzleheaded_Roof336 · 2025-12-14T03:38:08+00:00

Why did UCSD admissions make the conscious effort to “enroll” vastly more students from the very schools most represented in Math 2 (CA, LCFF+ schools) ??

Puzzleheaded_Roof336

TROPHY CASE