Can I get into Rice?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>OK, recently I've started to look at Rice as a potential college and I think it's amazing... it's very much in contrast with my other top college (Bowdoin in Maine, lol)...
Anyways, do you think I can get in with any merit aid? Any input would be awesome.</p>

<p>Stats:
• SAT: CR: 670 , M: 720 , W: 720 (RETAKING in December, expecting around 2230-ish, if I'm lucky.)
• SAT II: Math II: 750, Chemistry: 780 , Ecological Biology: 750
• ACT: Taking in December w/ Writing, don't know what to expect (probably 33-35, I'm good at this kind of test from what I've heard)
• GPA: UW: 3.95000 , W: 4.69000
• Rank: County doesn't rank (In top 1% of my class of 352, if I had to estimate)
• Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP - [5: Chem, Calc AB, English Lang, World, Environmental Science]; [4: U.S. Government]; [Not yet taken: Calc BC, Bio, Literature]
• Senior Courses: AP Literature, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, NIH Internship</p>

<p>Subjective
• Essays: Great (Common App is about how my first time crabbing confirmed my desire to major in ocean science, haven't done any of the Rice essays (still thinking about the two 2000 char ones) but they will be good.)
• Teacher Recs: Outstanding (One from math teacher for both precalculus and calc AB, one from AP chem teacher who's also NHS sponsor)
• Counselor Rec: Outstanding (also very close to my counselor)
• Supplement Information (Y/N): Yes, scientific abstract
• Interview: Requested one a day ago.
• Hook (recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize):
Did/is doing research at the NIH (sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) on two subjects:
Summer '08: How do chemokines induce migration in Neutrophils? Worked on this project and got skills working with lab mice, pipettes, centrifuges, etc.
Fall '08: Where do polyreactive antibodies bind to apoptotic T-Cells infected with HIV? These polyreactive antibodies are thought (by my lab mentor) to signal macrophages to destroy the apoptotic (programmed cell death) T-Cells. They do not bind to live T-Cells, however.
I will probably be continuing my research from Fall '08 until Summer '09 trying to figure out the region of the dead T-Cell being binded too by the antibodies. Eventually I might even find the specific antigen(s) that it binds to and perhaps publish a paper near the end of the year. I will be submitting an abstract from my Summer '08 research to Rice as a supplement (is that allowed?) even though it wasn't actually my independent project (my current research is). Also, I'll be presenting my research at a televised symposium at the Howard Hughes Medical Center campus in Chevy Chase, MD in May. I'm also having my higher-up preceptor, the head of biotechnology products in the FDA, write me a recommendation.
Also, I'm in the process of building a 12' fishing boat from plywood... it's about halfway done and I haven't found much time to work on it since my hardcore research started on my new project, but I don't imagine many 16 year olds applying to Rice have built boats... (it looks like a boat, I just have to glue the seams with epoxy (1/2 done) and fiberglass/paint it)</p>

<p>Personal
• Location: Maryland, Montgomery County
• High School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Greek (Fine, Caucasian...)
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: Not really sure what I qualify as, my parents just got separated and my mother (whom I live with) is unemployed... I guess lowest?
• Applied for Financial Aid: Yes</p>

<p>Other
• Extracurricular (not that great, I was kind of a slacker outside of school from 9-10 grade and am finding it very hard to bring my EC's up now...):
President of NHS
Student Academy of Science (10-12)
Mathematics League (9-10)
Environmental Club (10)
Karen Noonan Environmental Education Program
Montgomery County Teen Court Juror (11)
Helped SGA with art and posters (9, 10)
Building a 12' fishing boat (from four sheets of plywood)
Worked for two years at the local diner as a busboy
600+ hours by the end of the year in my NIH lab in my HHMI/MCPS/NIH sponsored internship
Attended Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series at the NIH
Seminar on Toxicology at George Washington University
115 hours of community service
Attended F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference for creative writing (one of two students in my school).</p>

<p>• Awards: National Merit Commended Scholar, Rensselaer medalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, Maryland Distinguished Scholar Honorable Mention</p>

<p>Also, what are my chances for receiving merit scholarships at Rice?</p>

<p>I forgot to mention:
I'm putting my academic interest as Earth Sciences on my application because that is what I plan to major in (I want to eventually get a Ph.D. in Oceanography)... this is inconsistent with my lab research (which is cellular/molecular biology). Will this influence me getting in?</p>

2

<p>Oh wow. Another Moco person! :) Who woulda thunk it...Do you go to Damascus? (seeing you're from Damascus, MD) I'm not going to say which high school I went to, but it's right outside DC and extremely close to where NIH is.</p>

<p>I think you're in great shape for Rice! If you're aiming for the merit scholarships, I'd suggest really studying for the SAT and/or ACT and getting a more impressive score--your app seriously looks solid everywhere else (namely, GPA). SAT II scores are fine, don't need to improve them. Great research as well.</p>

3

<p>You should be admitted to both schools based upon your qualifications. Your Maryland residency may help your application to Rice as they like geographical diversity. Two of the best schools in the country, but-as you probably already know-also two of the hardest for admission.</p>

4

<p>Thanks a lot, guys (and yes, I do go to Damascus).</p>

5

<p>Also, sorry for making so many 'chance me' threads everywhere, I know it gets annoying to see the same person asking over and over =P</p>

6

<p>You probably have a stronger application than I do (worse SAT better pretty much everything else) and a lot of people are saying I have a good shot so I'll follow them and say you have a good shot too. Are you doing ED?</p>

7

<p>No, I still don't know between Bowdoin, Columbia, and Rice. Good luck to you though =)</p>

8

<p><em>pats self on the back</em> This is exactly why I'm doing ED. I figure people with applications significantly stronger than mine will be shooting for the Ivies and schools that have better name recognition than Rice so they won't want to apply to Rice ED and lock themselves up. So far seems to be accurate... :)</p>

9

<p>yeah, I live in Fort Worth and a lot of my friends stupidly think "aw man, I like Rice, but no way I want to stay near the same place I grew up in, I'm not going to apply there." The blind fools, they don't realize that Rice is one of the most secluded campuses there is and it in no way feels like it is in the middle of a city.
Yeahhh, all the people smarter than me are applying to yale, stanford, penn, georgetown, hopkins, bowdoin, which helps out a lot.
if i don't get into rice ill feel sad forever. but oh well, ill probably get into kenyon or maybe possibly columbia or some other reach, that won't be too bad I guess... rice is the perfect school though, noone can deny it, yeah that sounds unappreciative but rice is seriously the golden standard for undergrad colleges.</p>

<p>some people are telling me that I am practically in rice because I am a legacy with pretty good stats, but that will just make me feel worse if I'm rejected, like wow you are such a weak applicant that you cant even get in WITH legacy status during ed.</p>

10

<p>theendusputrid, make sure your essays and the rest of your application is flawless then. I honestly put in as much effort and time into my Rice app as I did into my MIT, USC, UT, and A&M... COMBINED.</p>

11

<p>You need to let your friends know that legacy is NOT a shoo-in. We knew of twins who were National Merit Commended or Finalists, legacy (I think on both sides!), smart and good stats and everything--- did not get accepted even though applied Early Action (back when there was Early Action.) I wish you the best of luck with your application and hope you are a Rice Owl in August! :)</p>

12

<p>that is true</p>

13

<p>Really focus on the essays. I spent months on mine and I think they are a huge part of the reason I was accepted.</p>

14

<p>Lol. Please don't revive very old threads. This person probably applied early decision so this is irrelevant.</p>

<p>Well, both deadlines are over so...</p>

15

<p>If he retook it in December, I think he RDed</p>

16

<p>You're the first Greek I ran into at CC !!! Go Greeks! (I'm Greek too, that's why I'm cheering!). Do you have double citizenship? If yes, I think you could apply as international and that would improve your chances...(Not that they're not good enough already).</p>

17

<p>^I'm pretty sure International doesn't help...</p>