<p>Hi guys! Im currently entering my junior year of high school but i have already been looking at many colleges. So far, Rice University is my number one and im looking for my chances of getting accepted in a couple years.</p>
<p>I am a hispanic female who goes to a non-competitive high school in CT
my GPA is about a 3.75 but i plan to get it higher.
Im ranked 24 out of 208
I am on the school wrestling team and plan to be varsity this year and senior year.
I studied abroad in Costa Rica this summer with 40 hours of spanish and 20 community service hours.
I will be in NHS this year and senior year, and I am also involved in two clubs at school
I am going to be helping out at a therapeutic riding center this year and senior year
Next summer I am volunteering abroad in Bali and the Galapagos Islands with a combined total of 100 community service hours
By the time im ready to apply im aiming for 150 hours of community service</p>
<p>I have not taken my SAT's yet but I am hoping to get at least a 2000.</p>
<p>Last year I took AP biology and scored a 3 on the test
This year im taking AP psycology, AP chemistry, AP english, and AP US history.
Senior year im taking AP english, AP physics, and AP child development</p>
<p>Please if anyone could tell me my chances of getting in, or any advice/recomendations to getting in! Thank you!</p>
<p>LOL - AP Child Development … oh please direct me to the collegeboard page outlining this course. If it really exists, I will apologize, but I do not think such a course exists. (OK, I apologize now for being snarky :-))</p>
<p>The volunteering/comm svc is not a key ingredient in college admissions, with few exceptions. Academics, passions, recommendations, and essays … and of course, test scores… those are what is crucial in admissions.</p>
<p>I am not an expert, but after having gone through this with my kids, I think it comes down to three simple things for selective colleges, such as Rice.</p>
<ol>
<li>Grades</li>
<li>SAT/ACT scores</li>
<li>Something that makes you stand out</li>
</ol>
<p>So work on those grades. Get into the top 10%. Study for the SAT and ACT. Take them both a couple times if you have to. And then find something interesting about yourself that makes you different from the rest. Can you become captain of the girls varsity wrestling team? That sounds pretty unique to me. Community service is good, but lots of people have lots of community service hours. Play up the unique parts of your community service - what is a therapeutic riding center and what unique qualities do you have that makes you so good at volunteering there. Stand out in a few really unique ways so that someone will take a second look at your application.</p>
<p>By the way, volunteering is great. But a paid job (one where you can actually get fired, not babysitting or working in your parents’ office) is pretty unique these days. If you have a real job, write about it in your essay.</p>
<p>Oh, and number 4 - don’t get your heart set on any one college. Rice is great. But there are other great schools out there. Apply to several of your dream schools, not just one.</p>
<p>Its actually a boys wrestling team, and im the only girl on it if that makes me stand out a little? 
also i have many, well a lot of, hardships to write about in an essay if that might help too. Also, would my chanced of getting in be greater or lesser due to me being out of state?</p>
<p>Out of state helps at Rice. They are definitely trying to be seen as less of a regional university and to attract students from as many different states and countries as possible. As to what you should write about in your essays, I would love to read an essay about why you decided to become the only female wrestler on the varsity team. But you’d better check with your high school counselor about the essay part. Your counselor, and maybe a trusted teacher or two, should help you focus and refine your essays, and they should be able to tell you what colleges would like to hear about and what will make you stand out. Good luck (and enjoy high school - it’s not all about getting into college, you know).</p>