Perhaps more than a hair in this case, because Emory does not consider freshman grades.
2 Likes
Unlikely because Rice is near impossible for all - and then you struggled first year. 5 Bs and 1 C in 9th grade stand out.
Donât forget, everyone is amazing (well those they accept) and they canât accept all.
Thereâs no reason you shouldnât try though.
For ED2, Emory (Oxford) and WUSTL have higher acceptance rates. You can try Vandy - but itâs a tough nut.
Youâre certainly worthy of trying.
Why this list? What are you looking for in a school? You may try Chicago too - another mid-size in a city. Or TuftsâŠboth as Ed2 candidates.
Itâs awesome you have the full ride at Az (is it a true full ride or tuition only).
You could get blanked at the Chicago, Vandy, Emory, WUSTL level schools. You could even get blanked at a Northeastern, Tulane, BU, - and might need to go to a Brandeis/Wake/Case Western/Rochester levelâŠall fantastic schools.
If you are NMF, Iâd add USC - because itâs similar and youâll get a 50% merit - they want NMFs. If you did Arizona and itâs awesome, Alabama is another who wants NMFsâŠthey have the most in the country. And Fordham and Tulsa as mid-size not far from or in-city privates.
Would the admissions committee not understand that my struggle in my first year was out of my control? Even back then, my grades did not represent the type of student I was.
I had to take care of my very ill grandfather suddenly for around 8 months in the middle of the school year, and this took around 4-6 hours of time after school on weekdays and full time on weekends. I had literally no time for sleep, studying, and even completing homework was a struggle due to the major lack of time.
^^ Kind of the explanation I would like the admissions committee to understand.
Would my 9th grade grades still stand out then? Iâve spoken to my counselor and recommenders, and they plan on properly addressing the situation. If the admissions committee still considers this to be a weakness for me despite the additional info and LOR explanations then thereâs absolutely nothing else I can do.
Thank you for also putting Fordham on my radar! Will continue to research their programs and campus.
I think your record is your record.
We are all humans and many people go through myriad situations.
If it is addressed and your counselors are the right method, certainly it will be taken into account.
If you ask my opinion - Iâd say no to Rice - but if youâre going to get in, itâs ED. That said, we are all âamateursâ - and thereâs only one true way to find out.
What I will caution you, what I cautioned my kids on is - donât fall in love with any school. My daughter was sold on American the first time she visited. It was done.
She got in, she got some merit, sheâs not there.
If a school like Fordham is free tuition, are your parents ok paying $50K_ for Rice? Thatâs $200K.
So before you ED anywhere, you might have that chat.
That they can afford to pay is different from - do they want to pay if they donât have to.
Since you are ok looking at Fordham, I throw that out there because if you get into Rice, then no where else matters.
Good luck.
1 Like
It is what it is. We are speculating on what the admissions committee might think. You are targeting schools with extremely low acceptance rates and holistic review. The picture is never clear. My daughterâs friend that applied last year was an impressive candidate with all As on his transcript. He did not receive an acceptance. It certainly wasnât because of his grades. Youâll never know whether your grades in freshman year is what might keep you out or not. And with such a low acceptance rate we feel comfortable saying that your chances are low.
Thank you, I see your point. When dealing with these T20 schools, I sometimes forget the actual difficulty and selectivity every one of these institutions actually has. I have no problem attending Fordham free tuition, but both my parents and I visited Rice a while back and fell in love with the campus and location. I have carefully considered my ED, as I know how serious this decision is.
Thank you for your response. I understand. I guess the best I can do is just grind my essays out and hope for the best. Iâll keep you guys updated when decisions come out! 
1 Like
Donât fall in love - USC gives $$, U of AZ is gorgeousâŠthink what they could do with the $300K+ youâd save from going to Rice if itâs a true free ride.
Rice is awesome. I wish you luck and if thatâs what you want and your family agrees, go for it.
Honestly, Iâm not sure if youâd get into the next tier - BU, Northeastern, Tulane, Tufts, etc. but I do see you getting into a Wake Forest, Rochester or Case Western.
You definitely need a safety - so I hope you have one - well U of AZ, Fordham if it works for you (but you have to love NYC or learn to love it).
Good luck.
1 Like
I am also speculating but, as colleges with holistic review almost always point out, it is all about evaluating individual students in context. In my view, having to take care of an ailing grandparent (pretty much a full-time job, as OP described above, not to mention the likely emotional toll) is highly relevant context when examining OPâs freshman grades.
OP: Please donât stress about this aspect too much and I hope you can feel at peace that you were able to spend time taking care of a loved one in his final months. I think you have a stellar record and wish you the best with your college applications.
4 Likes
Absolutely - no one is denying the OP has a wonderful profile and we all know we are amateurs.
You could fix the freshman year and still be a no for Rice.
This is why students shouldnât fall in love with a school - there are things they canât control. He absolutely should apply if thatâs his top choice and his parents agree $$ wise.
No one is saying otherwise. But we also know there are more incredible students that are applying than there are seats - which is why so many schools have such low acceptance rates.
Many a student has written on the CC that they blanked.
My daughterâs vaedictorian last year is at UT KnoxvilleâŠ4.0, 4.5+ weighted, 36 ACT and was 0 for 16 of the top 20. Got into NYU full pay and UTK - which is where she went.
No one is trying to be dismissive of the OP but we are trying to be realistic so this, or worse, doesnât happen to them.
1 Like
I can understand your response to Rice. I also loved the school when we visited with our S19. For him, the school was too big, but I was impressed with the residential system, with the professors and students we met, and with the surrounding area. I had never been to Houston before, but it wasnât at all what I was expecting - the neighborhood around the school was very diverse and interesting. You are getting a lot of good advice here - donât fall in love with any one school, have a safety you would be happy to attend, donât underestimate the difficulty of getting into these schools for anyone, etc. I think you should take all of that on board and then give your Rice ED application all youâve got. You have a terrific record apart from freshman year and you have a compelling explanation for those grades - I hope your recommenders do a great job of presenting your strengths and that your application finds its way into the hands of a reader who will value them. I was lucky enough to have that combination once a long time ago, and it did work for me.
That sucked and I am really sorry it happened to your daughter (I vaguely recall seeing your post and was shocked by it). Being the ever optimist (weâll see how I will be after my D22 gets through this year!), Iâd like to think that was an anomaly and that stellar students will generally be successful at top schools (T20-30). I think @RichInPitt just pointed out there are 100K spots at USNWR Top 30 schools and there was also commentary a while back that, in general, stellar students (top grades and test scores; strong ECs; etc.) will get admitted to top schools (maybe not HYPSM but a tier or so below).
1 Like
My daughterâs veledictorian, not my daughter 
My daughter got turned down out RiceâŠhad a 32. She applied TO.
With the top 20 and beyond (Tufts, BU, Northeastern, Tulane), you have everyone who is the top of the top applying and people are far more than their GPA and ACT. In the OPs case, he was a caregiver and that is very important.
That said, you can be the seemingly perfect student and still not get into these level of schools which is why safeties are critical - and itâs best never to fall in love.
This is reality. Yes, these are kids with feelings we are dealing with - but weâre also working to ensure they find a home somewhere.
Oops, sorry. I definitely agree that safeties are critical, even for the strongest of applicants.
I thought Rice was considered a âsmallâ school. Has their enrollment radically increased?
Small for a research university, but bigger than an LAC.
Rice is definitely a possibility. Here is what I would do to maximize your chances:
-
Rice pays attention to demonstrated interest. Visit the campus in person, attend virtual presentations, sign up for the interviews. They used to offer on-campus interviews, take them if available. Applying ED is the best way to show interest, but there are others as well.
-
You could use the benefit of a college admissions counselor to help package your application. Right now your ECs are all over the place. DECA, Film, Tennis doesnât fit to me. I donât see the connection between what youâve listed and your primary academic interest. Ideally things should be so easy that a reader would logically conclude that you are a perfect fit. There are ways to package the common app to make things more clear.
-
Your science related ECs seem to be a better fit for the engineering school at Rice. Its my understanding that you have to indicate which top 3 choices (school and major) in your common app. There probably is a lot more competition for the School of Natural Sciences. Another reason I say this is because many ORMs are turned down routinely from Rice because they donât want their class filled with gunner pre-meds. They have enough premeds already because of the Rice/Baylor connection. Your research in oncology made me wonder if you are secretly interested in pre-med. You donât want the admissions readers to speculate or read between the lines.
-
Be careful about blaming your poor grades on care of your grandparent. Iâm wondering why your parents forced you into this position. Why didnât they help? Or put your grandparent into a nursing home. Obviously I donât know the entire situation, so there are probably reasonable explanations. But iâm just pointing out that a reader might not empathize with your position and simply think you are making excuses. Another alternative is to simply acknowledge your grades due to poor time management and immaturity. A college admissions consultant would be able to help guide you here as well.
Other questions:
- What is your estimated class rank? I know your rank is not revealed, but they can usually figure it out based on prior year apps.
my school itself does not rank, so nobody ever receives a rank.
i am concerned on how to explain my case without blaming or making excuses. unfortunately, i do not have a consultant as my parents do not want to pay for one. if i acknowledged my grades were due to poor time management, that would simply be wrong though. As for my ECâs, I talk in my rice essays about how I want to be a professional biomedical researcher, so i make it pretty clear that I donât plan on doing premed.
As for demonstrating interest, I have already visited the campus and attended virtual webinars. I had my interview prior to applying a bit earlier this month.
I have heard that Rice is relatively difficult to enter through engineering. Would I be better off applying for Chemical Engineering instead of straight Chemistry?
First, you are a strong applicant.
Second, there are flags (freshman grades). When there are flags, you will be looked at more carefully. You say that you had to take care of an ill relative your freshman year. Iâm not questioning this as your reason for your poor grades. But someone on the admissions committee will then wonder why you are full pay (you say money is not an issue for your family). Well then why the heck did they not hire someone to take care of the ill family member? You canât have both - canât say they can afford any university full pay yet not be able to pay for the health of an elderly family member. Unless your parents came into money in the time from your freshman year to now.
Commercial lab technician? As a HS student? Donât you have to have a degree for that? I run a large lab - all technicians have a degree. And then, to become a manager, you have to have been a technician for quite some time (decades). This is a full time position, how can you do as a HS student?
I hate to see the stuff about publications so I wonât go into that, but I donât put any value into those (Iâm an editor in several high impact factor journals).
I do love the diversity in your extracurriculars though. Science, athletics, arts, all represented!
I think you have a shot and hope you get in, but put some more thought into or better describe these weaknesses (poor term, I know, sorry).
1 Like