First-Year Application Deadlines

Deadlines and Notifications

Restrictive Early Action or Regular Decision

Beginning in fall 2022, Caltech will offer two decision plans: Restrictive Early Action and Regular Decision. Additionally, Caltech participates in the QuestBridge Program, which has a separate admissions process.

The information below is for fall 2023 applicants. Thanks for your patience as we update the information and requirements for fall 2024 applicants this summer.

Restrictive Early Action

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. 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, 2023 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:

• An institution outside of the United States;
• Any public institution that has a non-binding admissions policy with a fall application deadline (such as the University of California system);
• An institution's non-binding rolling admissions process;
• Any military academy;
• Any scholarships or special academic programs with an early deadline at another institution, public or private, if the early application submission is a necessary aspect for consideration, and the outcome is non-binding;
• If you are deferred admission after applying REA to Caltech, you may apply to another institution's Early Decision II program. If you are admitted to that institution's Early Decision II program, you are required to withdraw your application of admission to Caltech.

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 page.

Restrictive Early Action Frequently Asked Questions

We know you may have more questions about Caltech's Restrictive Early Action process. Please visit our FAQ page to learn more.

Possible Admissions Decisions from Restrictive Early Action

There are 3 admissions decision outcomes when students are notified in mid-December:

• Admit: a student is admitted and has until May 1, 2023 to accept or decline their offer.
• Defer: a student is deferred to Regular Decision. Caltech is very judicious with our deferment offers, only choosing this option for students we are very interested in learning more about and considering them in the wider Regular Decision pool.
• Deny: a student is denied admission to Caltech. All deny decisions are final and a student cannot appeal the decision, nor can they apply to Caltech in the Regular Decision round of that cycle. Students are welcome to apply for admissions again the following fall.

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

Regular Decision is the most common admissions process at Caltech; additionally, the majority of students admitted to Caltech will have applied in Regular Decision.

Possible Admissions Decisions from Regular Decision

Potential admission decision outcomes when students are notified in mid-March:

• Admit: a student is admitted and has until May 1, 2023 to accept or decline their offer.
• Waitlist: a student is waitlisted to Caltech and has until mid-April to opt-in for reconsideration should space become available in the class after May 1. Students are strongly encouraged to send in supplemental materials to support their application.
• Deny: a student is denied admission to Caltech. All deny decisions are final and a student cannot appeal the decision. You may reapply for the next fall entry term if you wish.

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.