<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
Career Interests: Biomedical engineering or Biotechnology
I am transferring from a community college in Houston
High school GPA 3.4 (top 20 percent)
Community College GPA 3.65 (honor society,college ambassador,PTK, numerous volunteer work and extra curricular activity) 100 plus hours of hospital volunteer, Spanish Club, HOSA member, lead designer of course catalog in high school, Academic achievement awards in math, High school basketball team.
Multilingual: Hindi, Arabic, English.
ACT Score: 30</p>
<p>I know there are many other applicant with better or equal numbers to mine but i also heard that rice turns down many 4.0 gpa students and looks for diversity and uniqueness. My background and my passion to be a premed student is unique and compelling. plz some one give me some advice on what i can do to be a better applicant. Also tell me what you guys think my chances at rice are. This is the only university i can go to that is close to home. So this university is my top choice out of all the others.</p>
<ol>
<li>You're Asian (me too...it's a pain, I know, heh)</li>
<li>You're interested in Pre-Med..not the most unique aspiration I'd say</li>
<li>You're a transfer student.</li>
<li>Your GPA<3.5 and you were only top20% of your class</li>
<li>ECs don't show focus/passion, from what I can tell, atleast..</li>
</ol>
<p>Conclusion: Rock those essays. Make the adcom bawl and cry out to you to enroll. Otherwise, I'd say it's a slim chance.</p>
<p>You are border line/middle. You say you are in the top 20 percent with a 3.4, hopefully this school you go to is a high ranked high school that is known to crush your gpa. I had a 3.86 at my school (4.65 weighted) and I didn't make the top 10 percent in my school that is in the top 100 with 700 graduates. Hopefully you are maxing out on APs, and retaking the ACT. However, I hate to burst the bubble that premed isn't that unique nor compelling. Lots of kids do it. If you really want to be unique study something like underwater basket weaving. The good news is you have the scores that place you in the race, although not at the front. Plus you have some very interesting extracurriculars and cultural background. However, I don't get what you are doing in the Spanish club if you don't speak spanish. =/</p>
<p>i thought learning to speak the second most spoken language in usa would help and my Spanish teacher was so motivating. unfortunately the high school i went to was anywhere near top. which is why i have to hustle now in college. i believe my class was only like 400 student. anyways thanks for the opinions grashapa1 and mihan (btw i love being Asian ) any other inputs would be highly appreciated.</p>
<p>Arfandada, Most (if not all), of the people replying to your post are just high school students; folks even younger than you. None of them, and none of us parents, can tell you what your chances are. And even if we could, "chances" are meaningless! Either you get accepted to Rice, or you don't. You could have a 10% "chance" of getting accepted, and actually get accepted. So, I think you should apply, and do your best on your application - and let the adcoms at Rice do their stuff. You have an interesting background and sound like you would add to the diversity on campus. Good luck with all your endeavors! :)</p>
<p>I'm Asian, was barely in the top 10% at a mediocre high school, applied as a pre-med (though I am not one anymore), and I still got in. I was kicking myself not working harder in my classes, but what could I possibly do about that? Nothing. </p>
<p>So take a deep breath and put all your regrets and doubts behind you. Emphasize your strengths without bringing attention to your weaknesses. Be spontaneous where appropriate, like the box on Rice's application. Show that you're human and that you are more than just a bunch of numbers on a sheet of paper.</p>