California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA · Private (nonprofit)
Dive deeper at CollegeNumbers.com →
access comparisons, trends, analytics
Acceptance rate
2.6%
356 admitted
SAT · 50th
6-yr grad
94.4%
Retention 97.4%
Undergrads
987
3:1 S-F
Admissions
2.6%
356 admitted
from 13,856 apps
Applications13,856
Overall admit rate2.6%
Enrolled218 · 61.2% yield
Admitted from waitlist41 of 206
Very important factorsApplication essay, Character, Recs, Rigor of HS record, Test scores
Important factorsGPA, Class rank, Extracurriculars
Selection factors from CDS §C7 (Basis for selection).
Test scores
SAT composite · 50th %ile
Cost & aid
$65,622
tuition (full-time)
Tuition$65,622
Fees$3,086
Room & board$20,991
Books$1,428
Avg need-based grant$71,378
% need met100.0%
Avg debt at graduation$16,168
Academics
3 : 1
student-faculty ratio
97.4% retention
Student-faculty3 : 1
Retention97.4%
4-year graduation77.1%
6-year graduation94.4%
Enrollment
987
undergraduates
64.0% out-of-state · 33 intl freshmen
Total undergraduates987
First-year218
Full-time100%
Female45%
Out-of-state64.0%
International (freshmen)33
Rankings
#1
Niche
Best Value Colleges in America
SourceListRankYr
NicheBest Value Colleges in America#126
ForbesBest Small Colleges (Under 4,000 Undergrads)#226
U.S. News & World ReportBest Undergraduate Engineering Specialties: Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical (Doctorate)#426
Princeton ReviewBest Value Colleges (Private Schools)#526
Princeton ReviewBest Value Colleges for Students With No Demonstrated Need (Private)#526
U.S. News & World ReportBest Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Doctorate)#526
NicheBest Colleges in America#926
Rankings are the property of their respective publishers (Forbes, Niche, Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, WSJ/College Pulse). Ranks as published; methodologies vary.
Classifications & designations
R1 Research University
Carnegie Classification
131 member schools
SourceGroupMembers
Carnegie ClassificationR1 Research University131
Athletic conferenceSouthern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conf.7
Athletic divisionNCAA D3105
Institutional controlPrivate (nonprofit) college211
Geographic groupingCalifornia colleges41
Groups derived from CDS + IPEDS fields. Curated national memberships (AAU, HBCU, Common App, etc.) being added — see task queue.
Application timeline & requirements
$75
application fee
waivable
Regular decision1/3 → 3/15 → 5/1
Early action11/1 → 12/15 · restrictive
Deferred admissionAllowed
Test policyRequired to be considered for admission
HS units required4 Eng, 4 Math, 2 Sci, 2 SS
Admissions URLhttps://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply
Admissions emailugadmissions@caltech.edu
Admissions phone626-395-6341
Deadlines and requirements from the school's Common Data Set §C3–C6 (Deadlines & Notification, ED/EA, HS Coursework).
Peers by the numbers
Massachusetts Inst…
closest algorithmic match
across selectivity, size, profile
SchoolAdmitSATSize
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA · Private (nonprofit)4.6%15504K
Stanford University CA · Private (nonprofit)3.8%15507K
Harvard University MA · Private (nonprofit)4.2%
Princeton University NJ · Private (nonprofit)4.4%15305K
Carnegie Mellon University PA · Private (nonprofit)11.1%15407K
University of California CA · Public11.4%33K
Yale University CT · Private (nonprofit)4.8%15306K
Peer set computed algorithmically from CDS metrics (admit rate, SAT/ACT band, size) plus IPEDS classification. Not measured cross-application behavior.

Official Common Data Set Documents — California Institute of Technology

23 years of California Institute of Technology's officially published CDS, archived by CollegeNumbers. PDF and spreadsheet originals exactly as the school filed them.