California Institute of Technology's wording, checked October 26, 2026Caltech has a rigorous core curriculum and students don't declare a major until the end of their first year. However, some students arrive knowing which academic fields and areas already most excite them, or which novel fields and areas they most want to explore. If you had to choose an area of interest or two today, what would you choose? *Note that you are under no obligation to follow this choice if admitted.“Why did you choose your proposed area of interest? If you selected 'other', what topics are you interested in pursuing?”
How to approach it
- 1Name a question inside the field, not only the field.
- 2Show what you have done with it recently.
- 3Say what you still want to find out.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The area and the specific question in it.
- 2What you did recently to pursue it.
- 3What you want to understand next.
Where the 200 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| Where the interest comes from | about 70 |
| How you think about the subject | about 60 |
| Your path at this college | about 70 |
Mistakes to avoid
- "I have loved space since I was five" as the whole answer.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Caltech answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 150-200 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| Where the interest comes from | A specific, preferably recent experience (a class, project, job, reading, problem) shows the interest is real, not a stated passion. |
| How you think about it | The reader sees the applicant's own thinking: a question they pursue, a connection they made, a view of the field. |
| Your path at this college | It names how this school's curriculum, structure or opportunities fit the plan, specifically enough that it would not fit another school unchanged. |
| Caltech's ask | Explains the chosen STEM area with depth and current curiosity, between 150 and 200 words. |
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Questions
More on Caltech and this kind of question
- Princeton: Academic interests (A.B.) · 250 words
- Princeton: Why engineering at Princeton (B.S.E.) · 250 words
- Columbia: Your preferred areas of study · 150 words
- Penn: College of Arts and Sciences · 50-200 words
- Penn: The Wharton School · 50-200 words
- Penn: Penn Engineering · 50-200 words