The California Institute of Technology is one of the foremost institutions in the world for the study of STEM disciplines. As arguably the most highly selective college in the world, Caltech turns down most applicants for admission each year, including those with perfect grades and test scores. Yes, that’s right — perfect grades are not enough to cut it for admission to this elite school! But wait, for the Caltech Class of 2028, 86.4% of students graduated in the top tenth of their graduating class). Can both facts be true? Yes! Perfect grades are just one piece of this puzzle!

What kind of GPA does a student need when applying to Caltech?  Though the data for the Caltech Classes of 2028 and 2029 are not yet available, we can look at the prior three admissions cycles to get a good idea of what kind of grades Caltech students step on campus with. 

California Institute of Technology Admissions Rate

First, just how difficult is it to get into Caltech? For applicants to Caltech’s Class of 2028, an astounding 2.27% were granted admission, the lowest acceptance rate for a college in the nation. The year prior, for the Class of 2027, only 3.14% received good news after applying. For the Class of 2026, 2.69% set a new record for the most selective Caltech class at the time.

Class Rank of California Institute of Technology Class of 2028

The following is the class rank breakdown of Caltech’s Class of 2028 members, as reported in Caltech’s 2024-25 Common Data Set. Unfortunately, Caltech hasn’t reported any GPA data for recently admitted cohorts, so the class rank data below is the closest to ascertaining the GPA requirements for admission in Caltech’s holistic process.

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	86.4%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	97.7%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	0%
Percent in bottom quarter of high school graduating class	0%
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who subCaltechted high school class rank:	20.2%

Class Rank of California Institute of Technology Class of 2027

The following is the class rank breakdown of the members of Caltech’s Class of 2027:

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	94.5%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	0%
Percent in bottom quarter of high school graduating class	0%
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who subCaltechted high school class rank:	20.7%

Class Rank of California Institute of Technology Class of 2026

The following is the class rank breakdown of the members of Caltech’s Class of 2026:

Assessment	Percent
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class	96.4%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class	100%
Percent in bottom half of high school graduating class	0%
Percent in bottom quarter of high school graduating class	0%
Percent of total first-time, first-year (freshman) students who subCaltechted high school class rank:	25.5%

Further Context on GPAs of Caltech Students

While we await the official data, it’s safe to assume that the majority of those who secure a spot at Caltech boast impressive academic records, often with 4.0 GPAs. This is in line with the rigorous standards of other top-tier institutions. In fact, we at Ivy Coach would confidently speculate that all Caltech admits to the Class of 2029 had a GPA over 2.5, with 95% exceeding 3.5.

However, because Caltech routinely rejects applicants with perfect grades, we refuse to give a definitive answer to parents who rattle off their child’s GPA during complimentary consultations with Ivy Coach and want to know if they can get into Caltech. Without context — including the high school attended, the rigor of the student’s coursework, their extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, and so much more — your child’s GPA is nothing more than a statistic. 

Caltech takes into account a number of holistic criteria when deliberating between students because there are, after all, plenty of dull students out there with perfect grades!

Can I Get into Caltech with a Low GPA?

While it’s certainly possible to get into Caltech with a low GPA, the odds aren’t worth betting on. Remember that most students who get into Caltech without stellar grades have something else swaying the admissions officers in their favor. Caltech will overlook poor grades for applicants who meet institutional needs (e.g., a first-generation college student).

How Ivy Coach Can Gauge Your Child’s Chances at Caltech

If you’re interested in getting a clearer picture of whether your child has a shot of getting into Caltech, we recommend setting up Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session. Not only will you find out if your child has a shot at Caltech, but you’ll also receive a game plan of how your child can optimize their admission to the best school within reach. To learn more about Ivy Coach’s Strategy Session, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.