Chance me for Rice ED? Rural student, ask to see essays

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

I’m currently a senior applying to Rice ED. I go to a small Title I school (class size: 53), so many of the resources available at larger, more urban schools were not available to me. I am applying as a prospective astrophysics/mathematics double major. Can anyone give a reasonable estimate of my chances?

Demographics: white, male, Texas resident, first generation, income around ~$160K.

Academics
–GPA (weighted): 98.39. My school doesn’t give an unweighted GPA.
–Rank: 2/53
–SAT: 1530 (770M, 760ERW). Highest both individually and when superscored.
–SAT II: 780 on Math II, 780 on Chemistry, 670 on Physics (which I don’t plan to report)
–ACT: 29 (don’t plan to report; SAT looks much better)
–AP: I took the only AP course offered by my school (English Language and Composition) and scored a 3.
–Honors classes: took the only two available at my school, Biology and Chemistry, and scored a final average of 99 and 100, respectively. I also had a final average of 100 in physics, but it wasn’t honors. This is good because I’m applying to the Weiss School of Natural Sciences.
–Dual credit: I am taking plenty of courses at my local community college. At the end of my senior year, I will have taken DC College Algebra, DC Trigonometry, DC U.S. History (two semesters), DC English (two semesters), DC Calculus I, DC Economics, DC Government, and DC Philosophy. My college GPA is 4.0, and I will graduate with 31 credit hours. As a result of my efforts in these courses, I was accepted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
–Taught myself Algebra 2 and tested out of it so that I could move on to higher-level classes
–Don’t know if it makes a difference, but I was the only one at my school who was taking German instead of the usual Spanish (resulting from my own insistence with the counselor)

Extracurriculars:
–PROMYS (Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists); PROMYS is a 6-week rigorous, internationally-acclaimed mathematics program at Boston University. I solved challenging problems and proved intriguing theorems in number theory. I also did a research lab. (6 weeks, 75-80 hours/week, 11)

–NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program; HAS is separated into two portions: the online and the onsite. During the online portion, I completed a variety of projects related to space, NASA, and the STEM field. I was also accepted into the onsite portion at the Johnson Space Center, where my team and I completed various projects related to a mission to Mars. At the JSC, there were 4 teams competing against each other. My team won. (18 weeks/year, 2-80 hours/week, 11)

–UIL Science; basically just a state-wide competition in biology, chemistry, and physics. In 10th grade, my team and I won District and Regional and placed 3rd at State. I won 2nd individually at Regional. In 11th grade, my team and I won District and placed 3rd at Regional. I won 3rd individually at Regional and 5th individually at State. I also went to a week-long summer camp centered around the themes of UIL Science in the summer of 2017. (32 weeks/year, 5-10 hours/week, 9-12)

–Business Professionals of America (BPA); I prepare for and compete in events related to the field of business, as well as help manage our local chapter. I did an event for two years which required me to draft a 10-15 page business plan for my own hypothetical business. I placed 3rd at Regional both times. Moreover, I am Vice President/Secretary this year and I was Treasurer last year of our chapter. (15 weeks/year, 2-10 hours/week, 9-12)

–Theater/One Act Play; I performed in several different plays, including the UIL’s One-Act Play, each year of high school. For the past three years, I have had a lead role. Last year, I was deemed “All-star Cast” by the judges for UIL’s One-Act Play. (16 weeks/year, 4-12 hours/week, 9-12)

–Band; I play (and have played since early childhood) the piano for my school’s band. I have solo’d in a few school concerts. Last year, our band got a perfect score in the sight-reading portion of the annual competition (an impressive feat for a brand-new band). Unfortunately, there was no individual competition for me as a piano player. I am also a section leader. (40 weeks/year, 5-12 hours/week, 10-12)

–Cross Country/Track; I was on the JV cross country and track teams. I won my fair share of medals. (40 weeks/year, 5-15 hours/week, 9-10)

–Community Service; I volunteer tutor for the school and my younger siblings. In addition, I have volunteered to work at the concession stand for events at my school. I don’t have documentation of anything, though. (20 weeks/year, 2-6 hours/week, 9-12)

–Work; I have a job as a part-time crew member at my local Braum’s. My work mainly consists of working the register, cleaning, and preparing dishes for customers. (45 weeks/year, 6-35 hours/week, 11-12)

–Class officer; I was a class officer my Junior year.

Other distinctions:
–NHS member (and current secretary)
–Phi Theta Kappa member
–Salutatorian

Letters of Recommendation:
–Biology/Chemistry teacher and UIL Science coach: known me for 4 years now, really likes me. Should be excellent.
–English teacher: known me well for 3 years now. Thinks highly of me. Should be really good.
–Math teacher: known me for 2 years now. Thinks I’m way smarter than I actually am (like I’m the next Einstein or something), so it should be great.
–Counselor: Probably good (definitely not bad). She consulted my physics teacher for more information about me, and my physics teacher gushed over me.

On-campus Interview:
I drove 6 hours to Houston for it. (12 hours round trip.) I thought it went well. I gave her novel, non-cliche answers to her questions. She commented “good answer” after I answered the question “What makes you unique among the pool of applicants?”, so that’s a good sign. I even made her laugh a few times. The interview lasted almost an hour, as opposed to the advertised 30-45 minutes.

As for other demonstrated interest, I did a campus tour and information session back in June, and I did another campus tour the same day as my interview.

Essays:
I thought my essays/short answer responses were pretty good. Although really, it’s hard to judge the quality because I don’t have anything to compare them to. If anyone wants to see/review them, just send me a private message and I’ll send you a PDF of all my essays. I don’t expect anyone to read all of them, but any feedback would be much appreciated. And obviously, me sharing the essays with you is not permission to plagiarize them.

I think that’s just about all the information I can provide regarding my application. Should I get my hopes up or look elsewhere?

Also, with these stats, do I have a good chance at other top schools like Columbia, MIT, Harvard, etc.? What about UT Austin’s Plan II honors program? (Assume I have a similarly good interview at any other such school I apply to.)

2

You have as good of a chance as anyone else applying. Also realize that a lot of the DC courses probably won’t be accepted at these elite private universities. With the work you have already done, credit wise, a state flagship might be a great option.

https://registrar.rice.edu/students/high_school

3

@malibugirl My safety school is UT Austin (I get automatic admission because I’m in the top 7% of my class), but I would really prefer to go to Rice. Honestly, I didn’t take the DC courses with the expectation that the credit would transfer to whatever college I go to. I took them because I wanted to take the most challenging courses available to me.

But do you mean that my profile is average/doesn’t stand out in the pool of Rice applicants?

4

Your background (rural high school with a class of 53!) should in itself set you apart from the typical Rice applicant. Of course, one objection to your application might be the assertion that the very limited curriculum offered by your school was lacking in rigor and thus did not really allow you to demonstrate that you are capable of performing at a sufficient level to succeed at Rice.

Fortunately, you have two effective rejoinders to such an objection: First, your SAT scores are more than adequate; the 25%-75% range for Rice’s latest enrolled class was 1460-1550, so your 1530 looks to be above the average. Second, your ample coursework at the local CC and your 4.0 GPA there testify to your academic ability in a more challenging context than that [probably] provided by your your high school classes. (The question of whether these CC courses would transfer to Rice is peripheral to admissions. What counts is that they in effect make up for the lack of AP courses offered by your high school in terms of allowing you an opportunity to demonstrate your capacity to handle college-level courses.)

I do think, however, that it is important that you find some way to call attention to these offsetting factors (i.e., standardized test scores and success at the CC) in your essays. Don’t depend solely on the good will of the admissions officer to “read between the lines” of your transcripts and make inferences about your initiative and ability. Point out–albeit briefly and in the context of your overall narrative–how these achievements demonstrate your intellectual chops and your determination to succeed. Sell yourself in part by emphasizing how the unique perspective your experience brings to the table would enrich the Rice community. (It sounds as though you did this effectively in your interview.)

What are your chances? Well, reach schools are reach schools for almost everyone, but I would have to think that with solid essays contextualizing your background/experience, you would have a fairly strong chance of getting admitted to Rice ED. Harvard and MIT seem much less likely, but Columbia does have a penchant for students from non-traditional backgrounds, and your rural Texan point of view would certainly add diversity to an urban campus in the heart of NYC. Still, if Rice is your #1 choice, I think you’d be best advised to play your ED card there rather than rolling the dice (pardon the mixed gaming metaphor) with Columbia ED and Rice RD.

Good luck!

5

@Mathochism Please don’t misunderstand, I just meant you have a chance just like a lot of stellar students. I hope you are accepted and represent rural Texas well. My D is also from small town Tx and is loving her time in Houston. Good luck and I hope this next month of waiting goes by super fast!

6

@MrSamford2014 @malibugirl Thanks for the feedback!

7

Could I see your essays?

8

@iiMimic I just read that in order to PM someone, you have to have at least 15 posts. Seeing as how you have 13 and I now have 6, you should make two more posts and then send me a message. (Just reply “okay” and that can be one post.)

9

@Mathochism I can’t PM yet, unfortunately, but could you tell me more about your experience with HAS? I’ve been accepted for this year and was wondering how work intensive, etc. it was

10

@hurricane314 Sure. Congrats on getting into NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars! I’ll start by going over the online portion.

Basically, there are four big modules you have to complete, each themed around a different aspect of a Mars mission (in the order you have to complete them: “getting there”, “discovering there”, “living there”, “working there” - “there” of course being Mars). Each of those modules are comprised of four smaller sub-modules - one for Science, one for Technology, one for Engineering, and one for Mathematics. Each sub-module has specific material for you to review (e.g. videos, articles, etc.), an activity related to its respective STEM theme, and a quiz over the material (and you have to get a 60% or above on the quiz before you can see the activity). The activities are mostly discussion boards, math assignments, engineering projects, and writing assignments, the latter two being the most difficult. One engineering project requires you to build a miniature zipline, attach a cup to it, and figure out a way to drop a marble out of the cup onto a fixed target. At the end of each module is a mega-quiz, which is really just a conglomeration of all of the quizzes of that module’s sub-modules. (It’s literally the same questions in the same order).

Now, each module is due around the end of the month (starting in November, so you should be done by February). The sub-modules don’t have individual due dates per se; you just have to have them all done by the end of the month. It is recommended though that you do one sub-module per week. (I would recommend not waiting until the last minute to do them like I did. It’s quite stressful.) And once you finish that month’s module, you cannot move on to the next one until the next month.

The work isn’t very time-consuming or stressful so long as you manage your time efficiently. Naturally, some of the activities will be harder than others; some of the material will be more interesting, some less so.

If you do well enough in the online portion, you are invited to go to the onsite portion at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. You will be notified of your invitation (or lack thereof) sometime in March. If you get in, you will fill out some forms and then get assigned a week and a team. There are one of six weeks you can be assigned, starting in mid-June and ending in late July, and there are four different teams for each week.

Starting in May, you will be given another online course called the Team-Building Course. It is pretty much just there to prepare you for your week. It will give you a little information about the projects you’ll do at the JSC and an opportunity to get a head start. But note: it is not mandatory or even graded. Our team hardly did anything more than introductions on this course, and we won.

NASA pays for the transportation (and everything else; you won’t pay a dime for the entire duration of the program).They pay you back for whatever it costs in gas money to drive there. If you live more than 300 miles from the JSC, they will pay for a plane ticket if you want. That’s what I did, and I actually saw a few other people from the program on the same plane as me. So if you see another person that looks to be around 17 and is by themself, you might want to introduce yourself.

You will start working literally as soon as you get there and put your stuff in your hotel room. There is no free time, unless you’re willing to stay up really late. Each day, you leave the hotel I think at around 7:45 AM and return at around 10:00 PM, and all of that time (save for that which you spend eating) will be filled. Oh, and the hotel rooms are really nice. There are three people to each room, not necessarily on the same teams. There are two big beds and a pull-out truffle bed, so you will have to alternate (unless someone wants the truffle bed).

Just a heads-up: since this is a government-run program, it is very bureaucratic. Because you are a minor, you are never allowed out of sight of the counselors. You can’t even leave your hotel room (and they enforce this by putting a piece of tape connecting your door to the wall; if you open the door, the tape will rip, thus telling them that you left your room). If you do, you will be questioned and possibly removed from the program. They are very serious about it.

Now onto what you’ll actually do at the JSC. Each day, there are tours of NASA facilities and information sessions about things related to NASA. (On Thursday, for example, we got to see Mission Control in action.) That’s usually all in the morning. For most of the afternoons and evenings (and part of the morning), you will be working on your projects. Each project is competitive; you can earn points by doing well, and get deducted points for doing not-so-well. There are six or seven different projects to do. Most are engineering-related, but one is more based on research. (And different people can do different projects; there are some that you will never interfere with because there is just not enough time for every single person to work on every single project.) Whichever team has the most points at the end of the week wins the overall competition.

I think that just about covers it. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

11

That’s quite the paragraph. Good information, thanks for taking the time to help!

12

Update: I was accepted!

13

Congrats @Mathochism!!

14

Yay!!!

15

@awesomepolyglot @ifonlyrice Thanks!

16

That’s awesome. Congratulations!

17

Congratulations on our acceptance to Rice! Rice is lucky to have you.