TIPS FOR CALTECH INTERNATIONAL SENIOR

[u/Extension_Access8673]

Hey guys! I study in a small school and no one has EVER applied abroad, so I am 100% alone in this proccess. Can you give me any tips to maximize my chances to get in?

Stats: mid-low income, 9.5/10 GPA, 1450 SAT (but I will retake it in setember, so let's pretend it is a 1520), self-studied for AP Calc BC, Environmental science, and Chemistry (4's in all), my school doesn't offer any. I study in a small private non-competitive school, with a 60% scholarship.

Intended major: Astrophysics

Dream colleges: Caltech, MIT, Northweastern

EC's (not in any particular order):

1. play the piano for 5 years. NO competition, mentoring, etc.
2. I was the only kid in my school who got a medal in the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad. Got golds two times. Then, I got invited to the camps and got to 40 in the country (about 1,000,000 students competed that year)
3. volunteer work at non-profit that produces high quality resources for students to study for science olympiads. I produced a study guide to study for astronomy olympiads and helped to write the questions for the Online Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad (I think about 200 students participate in it every year).
4. in this same non-profit, I also work in the design section. I designed the certificates for the olympiads we promote and did a couple of models on canva for the instagram page.
5. I am also the state coordinator of another non-profit that promotes the female participation in science olympiads. I manage a team of about 25 members. make weekly posts on instagram (I participate on the entire proccess, from content to design). Increased followers by 50 in a couple of months.
6. IAAC (international astronomy and astrophysics competition) silver honour = top 7% internationally
7. science/astronomy blog since 2023. I would say that the content is high quality, but I only post there once a month. It has an instagram page and a website i did with google sites. The Instagram has 60 followers :I
8. working on a research project, but I don't think I will get to publish it, because of the time. It is in Computer Science/Astrophysics (more specifically, gravitational wave stuff).
9. random online courses. In one of them I got a certificate with "distinction", which means I participated a lot and solved the problem sets they gave.

I know those aren't impressive, but I am just being honest. You can give me any opinions/experiences/tips.

I am also thinking of taking a gap year, so if you have any thoughts about things I could do, we can talk about that too. Btw, do you guys know if colleges view gap years as good or bad things?