<p>I'm an asian female applying to Rice, but I'm not sure if I have a chance of getting in because I am having a lot of trouble with my essay. With these stats do you guys think I can still get in with a not so great essay?</p>
<p>GPA - 4.14 (weighted), 4.0 (unweighted)
Rank - 1 of around 400
PSAT - Commended
SAT - 1510 (Verbal-750 Math-760)
SAT IIs Chem (710), Molecular Biology (750), Writing (670-bad, I know) </p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Youth Making a Difference (4 years: Special Events Officer-11 grade, President-12 grade)
FCCLA (3 years: District VP-11 grade, President-12 grade)
Literary Magazine (4 years: Secretary-10, PR Officer-11, Treasurer-12)
Band (3 years: Marching Band Rank Leader-11, Symphonic Band Section Leader-11)
National Honor Society (2 years)
Student Council (2 years)
Multi-cultural club (3 years)
Spanish club (3 years)</p>
<p>I think you still have a great shot even without a great essay. I don't know what your definition of mediocre essay is; however, judging from your stats I'm sure it will be very well written. Just make sure that it helps them get a greater sense of who you are and is very readable. I DEFINITELY don't think that the college admissions process is an essay contest...so don't worry too much. The recs mean a lot, and if they're good I'm sure they can offset unspectacular essays. A couple bits of anecdotal support for all this:
My friend, ranked 5th in the class with a 1350, was accepted ED to duke engineering(sat interquartile of accepted students: 1450-1550). Statistically it was a reach, and his essays, though pretty good at explaining him, were not jaw-droppingly amazing. Certainly not amazing enough overcome the reach-ness of duke for him. What got him in, in my opinion, were his recs and ECs, which were strong. Among his ECs was a full time job at an engineering firm, which, in my opinion, probably was the tip factor for him.
On the other hand, a while back on CC there was a link posted to an audio clip featuring an interview with admissions people from Amherst. I don't exactly remember everything they said, but they did say that they rejected a kid with some of the best essays they had seen in the whole admissions round that year because he had gotten 3 B's as a sophomore.</p>
<p>So...just remember, it's not an essay contest. Just make sure they're solid. BTW, you sound eerily similar to me stat-wise...hmm...</p>
<p>FOR 3 Bs???? Ok, I'm really glad I'm not applying to Amherst.. I definitely got more than 3Bs more sophomore year... ahhhhh. Now I'm kind of worried about Rice.</p>
<p>i remember that clip, you can still find it on the amherst website. its scary. they actually laughed off an application when they read something like "93 weighted GPA." they just laughed and closed the file.</p>
<p>The video was a horrific representation of college admissions. A lot of admissions officers preach of how the admissions process is akin to "having a conversation witht the applicant," however, if they merely spend three minutes per application, the "conversation" must really be small-talk instead.</p>