<p>Alright, so I've been looking forward to applying to Rice since I was a freshman. The thing is, if I don't have bad luck, I have no luck. I should really stop believing in luck... What I need is some honesty, so yes this is a Chance me/Advice thread. Now I could bore you with my "stats", but I would much rather wait to be asked.
I come from a small, rural town in West Texas. I'm the Valedictorian of a small class and I've taken all of the toughest courses offered(which isn't much). I've participated in all the extracurricular activities offered at my school, as well as Upward Bound. The catch is...my parents are both disabled, and they have always been disabled. When I'm not at school, I'm at home taking care of them. Our yearly income is on average $14,940 + food stamps. We live in a house that is falling down on itself, in fact, parts of the roof have fallen on my head twice in the 18 years I've lived here. I tell you that to tell you this. Every free moment I have is spent getting their medicine, helping them with the house, and making sure they are okay. I am not able to get a job, because my parents require constant attention. I am lacking a good deal of community service hours because I need to be at home. I have not been able to take a college day, due to the expense. My ACT is less than spectacular because I was up all night with my father in the ER. To top all this off, my teacher forgot to write my recommendation letter, and my essays didn't save to my computer. Shoot me now, please.
Here I am, two days away from the early decision deadline. I need to write the Commonapp essay, as well as finish the supplement for Rice. My teacher is having too rewrite my recommendation letter, and my ACT score will probably be less than a 30(total).</p>
<p>Do I stand a chance of getting in? </p>
<p>How do I blow Rice out of the water with my essay?</p>
<p>Do I stick with applying for the early decision, or wait for the regular decision?</p>
<p>Why does this thread seem like more of a rant, than anything?</p>
<p>Do any of you care?</p>
<p>Honestly, no matter what the response, I am still going to go for it. I have nothing to lose, except a few hours of sleep. Responses would be much appreciated. Thank you</p>
<p>i would say definitely make known your hardships in your essay. and definitely apply. like you said the worst that happens is u lose a couple hours of sleep. As for regular or early i think you should only apply early if you are able to submit the best application you possibly can within these next two days. If not then submit a better application for regular</p>
<p>That’s the plan, I guess I’m just so nervous…
Jjmagic7, do you think an essay can be too personal…? Because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Also, there is the Additional Information area on the commonapp that allows you to submit other documents…what would be a good example of a document to submit?
P.s. The fact that you replied to this made my day haha</p>
<p>I don’t think an essay can be too personal…(: And you plan to apply before you know your ACT score? Is this allowed? Anyway, I’d probably apply RD, Rice is a top school, even a 30 won’t really cut it, if you have next to no ECs. Wait to apply RD and shoot for a 33. That would also give you time to work on your essays, which I think with a bit of work, should be fantastic, given your life experiences.</p>
<p>That’s also really encouraging, Eli. You just singlehandedly resurrected my internal debate on whether or not I should go ED or RD! And what I mean is I took the ACT the other week, and I’m pretty sure the scores aren’t out yet. It was horrible…we played one of our biggest rival games and lost due to bad calls by refs. Then right after, I went to the ER to see my dad who had blacked out earlier that day. I spent all night with him in his room. When I took the test the next morning, my shoulder(which I’m pretty sure is dislocated) went numb so I had to finish the math section with the opposite hand. And to top it off, my eyes were blurry during the science section. So yeah, I was ready to run my head into a wall. haha
As for EC’s:
Science UIL
Number sense UIL
Mathmatics UIL
Calculator Applications UIL
Student Council
FCA
Spanish Club
Upward Bound and the Summer Program
Football
Track
Powerlifting
I helped found the Debate Team this year
NHS
I am in the process of organizing 3 school events and 2 county-wide events</p>
<p>Ohh jeez, that sounds terrible, the ACT experience. I wish you and your father the best. And my bad, I thought you couldn’t do ECs because your parents took up all of your time. Guess I was wrong, well good(: Hmm… If you make a 30, seeing as you actually have good ECs and are valedictorian, I can’t see them rejecting you… You’ll probably be deferred. But that would give you time to retake the ACT and submit it(: So your decision to apply ED or not should really be based on your essays… You won’t know whether they’re good enough or not until they’re written, so if I were you, I’d get to it!(:</p>
<p>A good majority of my EC’s are done on the schools time. and I take time out of class to call and check on them. I wish my school had more EC’s though…And the thing about being Valedictorian is, I have a small class. Thanks for your input Eli, it’s always appreciated :). And I am writing, I’m just taking College Confidential breaks haha…</p>
<p>Hmm, I can only get on CC on my ipod right now, and my ipod refuses to open my Private Messages on CC… I don’t have your email adress in the email which it sends to me notifying me that I’ve received a PM, so drat. Hopefully you’ll see this haha. My email address is. elikresses@********** if it censors that, hmm… that’s elikresses at (@) g mail .c0m, You should be able to figure that out(:</p>