What are chances of me getting into Caltech?

Question

I have a really low gpa unfortunately due to moving around, and some problems. However, I aim for high SAT scores, and I am very keen on sciences, espicially physics (probably my best). Very good with mathematics on a sidenote.

I know french fluently, russian and english natively, have lived in france and US mostly, and have travelled all over Europe. I have a vast experience with all kinds of people, having gone to international schools most my life.

I am currently a junior reading up Feynman's lectures, and trying to get ahead of the game, however my grades do not reflect that.
I am somewhat in a crisis right now, because I don't wish to linger behind and take an extra year of city college (due to my bad gpa), but I do wish to go a prestige Tech/Sciences university where my love of sciences would be satisfied. I have have several conflicts in the past couple of years, that have affected my grades.

Any suggestions on possibilities to improve my chances would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

All of my friends who went to Caltech have one thing in common: excellent mathematics skill. If you're just good but not excellent in this department, you will have a hard time getting into Caltech. Do you have a 4.0 GPA in Math? If so, you still have a chance even with lower GPAs in other subjects. To better your chances, you will have to score almost perfect on your quantitative SAT.
Try getting letters of recommendation from credible referrals that have associations with math, for example the head of math department in your high school.
You can always apply to other colleges that might not be very technical but still have a very good science department. E.g. Berkeley (but it's also very competitive and they definitely look into your GPA).