Chance Threads

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>Hey everyone, </p>

<p>I'm an accepted ED applicant from last year, and I will be attending Rice in the fall.</p>

<p>I would just like to impart this word of advice after my admissions experience this past year:</p>

<p>Avoid Chance Threads.</p>

<p>Don't make them, don't read them, don't reply to them. Chance threads will only provide one of two things for you:</p>

<p>Stress or Over-confidence.</p>

<p>In my case, although I never made a chance thread myself, I was provided stress. I read chance threads everyday, sometimes the same ones over and over again, assessing my "competition" or however you want to think of fellow applicants. Chance threads only provided me stress from the phenomenal SAT and SAT II scores that I read from almost every applicant on CC. I was not very good at the SAT, at least by Rice's standards. I lost far too much sleep over my admissions decision, and that was in no small part due to the Chance Threads here.</p>

<p>As many of you are aware, chance threads usually provide nothing but lukewarm responses that are always coupled with the constant knowledge that none of us are admissions personnel. I would recommend writing a really nice essay, an essay of the highest caliber you've ever written, and scheduling an interview. Those are the places where you can truly showcase who you are for the Rice admission team. The rest is just a sea of numbers and accomplishments that are often matched or exceeded by another applicant. Once you've sent in your application, just try and relax. Go hang out with your friends. Have fun! It's your senior year, live it to the fullest because it only happens once. I will never get the time back that I lost worrying about my admissions decision, time I could have spent with my close friends, many of whom I may never see again.</p>

<p>As for overconfidence, there were plenty of applicants that, on paper, I considered more qualified for a slot at Rice than myself, and a number of CCers were happy to tell the original posters that they were "a sure thing" or something of that nature. A number of them were deferred/denied, and they had to scramble to apply to other colleges after the ED notifications were distributed. Nothing is a sure thing when it comes to holistic review, at Rice or any other Top 20 school. </p>

<p>I guess the moral of the story is this:</p>

<p>Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Enjoy your senior year. Use this board for questions about the admissions process/Rice itself, but don't use it for chance threads. Don't read chance threads. Don't post chance threads. Don't reply to chance threads.</p>

<p>I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, or if I am out of line.</p>

2

<p>

I’m sorry too.</p>

3

<p>Congratulations on being excepted!
I sincerely hope I am in the same boat as you this time next year. :]</p>

<p>I see what you are saying about the chance threads, they freak me out to no end and I can see how their uses are limited.
I also think that they do serve SOME purpose. It gives people perspective on their chances. I admit that maybe I am freaking out too much, but it will also help me to try harder on my essays.</p>

4

<p>Fromen, that was a very insightful post that I felt was much needed on this board. There are way too many Chance threads made by people who spend their free time worrying over getting into top schools instead of enjoying their junior/senior years. As someone who has already spent a year in college, I found that worrying to get into a top school was pointless and was a waste of my high school free time. There is less free time in college and over the summers, so might as well enjoy the high school years.</p>

5

<p>“Congratulations on being excepted!”</p>

<p>lolz</p>

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<p>Pff. My bad. I know how to spell accepted. I swear.</p>

7

<p>Put chance threads in the chances forum -_-</p>

8

<p>some chance threads are okay. some people need a little advice where to direct their efforts, aka SAT II or ACT or AP’s etc</p>

<p>I think they are ok… just that the OP must accept them as people’s opinions</p>

9

<p>Chance threads still give people a rough idea of where they are academically. However, they’re not the best indicators; you shouldn’t rely on them fully. I myself have lost a lot of confidence going through ivy league + rice chances threads, but look where I’m at now :D</p>

10

<p>they also end up being show off threads.</p>

11

<p>I agree with the OP. I don’t think chance threads are very useful. I think more general questions about what Rice or some other school looks for are much more beneficial.</p>

<p>One of the biggest issues with chance threads is that the people who are responding generally have nothing but numbers by which to judge you whereas admissions committees have a lot more than numbers–they have your essays, your short answers, your recommendations, etc., and these are probably in many cases the most important components.</p>

12

<p>Excellent post, Fromen. :)</p>

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<p><bumping this=“” back=“” up=“” again=“”></bumping></p>

14

<p>Fromen- I agree one million percent. For a typical mainstream applicant, a glance at the median ranges should be somewhat indicative of whether or not they’re “in the conversation” to begin with. For a lay-person to assess all the soft factors that an applicants brings without being able to consider the full applicant pool is impossible. However, we get all these CCers who set themselves up as admissions experts, playing Caesar and providing a thumbs up/down verdict on whether or not the applicant’s battle will be successful. Or you get the applicants who just want to hear good news and re-post the same chance thread over and over again because everyone keeps telling them they have no shot at Harvard with their 25 ACT.</p>

<p>I confess, I’ve dabbled in chances from time to time, usually to correct what I perceive as gross misinformation or mock someone with a page long resume and 4.0/1600 who wants their ego stroked. But I always feel guilty, dirty, soiled afterwards. </p>

<p>At the end of the day, here’s what it comes down to for me: are you going to apply there regardless of what I tell you? If so, then how does my uneducated opinion of your ‘chances’ change anything? You apply, you get in or you don’t, that’s that.</p>

<p>Thank you for posting this and expressing what so many of us feel.</p>