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Restrictive Early Action or Regular Decision
Caltech offers two decision plans: Restrictive Early Action and Regular Decision. Additionally, Caltech participates in the QuestBridge Program, which has a separate admissions process.
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Restrictive Early Action (REA) is a non-binding early admissions process for students who are confident that Caltech is their first-choice university, are excited about the possibility of attending Caltech, and want to learn early if they are admitted to Caltech. At the same time, students will not be required to accept a Caltech REA offer and may compare financial aid options if they choose to apply to other institutions during the Regular Decision process. Although REA applications are due November 1, you will have until November 6 to submit all required and supplemental materials and standardized testing must be completed before November 30. Students will be notified of their admissions decision (admit, defer, or deny) by mid-December. Admitted students will then have until May 1, 2025 to decide if they will accept Caltech's offer of admission.
Students who choose to apply REA to Caltech may not apply Early Action nor Early Decision to any other institution, with the following exceptions:
Additionally, REA should be for students who are prepared to submit their most competitive application by November 1, including letters of recommendation, and required course work for admission. For more information on preparing for Caltech, visit our Academic Preparation and Academic Requirements pages.
We know you may have more questions about Caltech's Restrictive Early Action process.
Restrictive Early Action (REA) is a non-binding early admissions process for students who are confident that Caltech is their first-choice university, excited about the possibility of attending Caltech, and want to learn early if they are admitted to Caltech. At the same time, students will not be required to accept a Caltech REA offer and may compare financial aid options if they choose to apply to other institutions during the Regular Decision process. Applications are due November 1 and students will be notified of their admissions decision (admit, defer, or deny) by mid-December. Admitted students will then have until May 1, 2025 to decide if they will accept Caltech's offer of admission.
Students who choose to apply REA to Caltech may not apply Early Action nor Early Decision to any other institution, with the following exceptions:
In the few years, Caltech has seen a substantial increase in applications, more than doubling our total applicant pool since Fall 2020. With a first-year class of only 235 students, the application pool is far outpacing the space we have available on campus. Lowering our admit rate is not a goal for Caltech; instead, we want applications from students who are thrilled about the idea of engaging deeply in science, technology, and engineering in Southern California.
We believe that moving to a restrictive early action process will be responsive to our applicants' desire to identify Caltech as their first choice while, at the same time, allowing them to consider all their college options and financial aid packages until May 1, before making a final decision. We also intend to make the majority of our admissions decisions in the Regular Decision round and, as explained below, only make deferment decisions for a select few students.
Additionally, REA should be for students who are prepared to submit their most competitive application by November 1, including teacher evaluations and required course work for admission.
Caltech's admit rate is under 5% for both Early Action and Regular Decision and the difference in admit rates is negligible. As such, we recommend it for students who:
Applications are due November 1 and students will be notified of their admissions decision (admit, defer, or deny) by mid-December. Admitted students will then have until May 1, 2025 to decide if they will accept Caltech's offer of admission.
There are 3 admissions decision outcomes when students are notified in mid-December:
At Caltech, a student who is deferred to Regular Decision can only receive one of two admissions decisions in mid-March: admit or deny. We do not waitlist students who were deferred admission from REA.
Our plan is that students admitted to Caltech through REA will receive their financial aid notification before the December holiday break. The financial aid logistics and timeline will be posted later.
Great question. Caltech reserves most of our admissions offers for Regular Decision, so please do not feel compelled to apply REA to improve your chances of admission. As stated above, admission to Caltech is highly selective in both Early Action and Regular Decision, and there is a negligible difference in admission rates between the two. So what does this actually mean?
There are 3 admissions decision outcomes when students are notified in mid-December:
At Caltech, a student who is deferred to Regular Decision can only receive one of two admissions decisions in mid-March: admit or deny. We do not waitlist students who were deferred admission from REA.
Regular Decision (RD) is the most common admissions process at Caltech; additionally, the majority of students admitted to Caltech will have applied in Regular Decision. Although RD applications are due January 3, you will have until January 8 to submit all required and supplemental materials and standardized testing must be completed before December 31, 2024. Students will be notified of their admissions decision (admit, waitlist, or deny) by mid-March. Admitted students will then have until May 1, 2025 to decide if they will accept Caltech's offer of admission.
Potential admission decision outcomes when students are notified in mid-March:
If space is available in the class after May 1, we will review the applications of students who opted-in for reconsideration. The waitlist does not have a ranking system. We will communicate with students accordingly and waitlist activity concludes by mid-July.
