Chances at Rice, Duke? What colleges should I consider?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi guys! I am currently a Junior in High School and Rice and Duke are the only top schools I have ever considered. Can you guys chance me at those two, and also tell me if I should be looking at higher or lower tier schools?</p>

<p>Please feel free to ask for any additional information.</p>

<p>Basics:
Class Rank: 34/1166
Class Percentile: 2.9%
Unweighted GPA: 3.87
Weighted GPA: 4.35</p>

<p>Standardized Testing:
SAT I: 2240 [CR: 710, M: 770, W: 760 (800 MC, 9 Essay)]
ACT: 34 [English: 35, Math: 34, Reading: 33, Science: 34, Essay: 9]
SAT Subject Tests: Math II (taking June), Bio E/M (taking June), Spanish (taking June)</p>

<p>-should I retake the SAT? Also, I am looking to study BME. Any additional subject tests I should take? And what scores are acceptable?</p>

<p>Courseload:
Junior Year:
IB English HL Year 1
AP US History
IB Biology HL Year 1
AP Calculus BC
IB Spanish IV
IB Physics SL
Varsity Swimming</p>

<p>Senior Year:
IB English HL Year 2
IB Maths HL
IB Biology HL Year 2
IB Environmental Systems and Societies SL
IB TOK
Varsity Swimming - Captain</p>

<p>-i have room for a 7th class Senior year, or I can just leave early. Would colleges frown at not taking a 7th class?</p>

<p>Exams:
IB Physics SL (not yet scored)
IB Spanish SL (not yet taken)
IB Environmental Systems and Societies SL (Senior Year)
IB English HL (Senior Year)
IB Maths HL (Senior Year)
IB Biology HL (Senior Year)
AP Human Geography (3)
AP World History (3)
AP Spanish Language and Culture (not yet scored)
AP English Language and Culture (not yet scored)
AP Calculus BC (TAKING TOMORROW x.x)</p>

<p>MIGHT take Senior Year:
AP Biology
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Environmental Science
AP Calculus BC (if i do badly tomorrow)</p>

<p>Major (not all) Honors and Distinctions:
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Finalist (11th)
2nd Place - Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (11th)
1st Place - State of Texas Science and Engineering Fair (11th)
Gold Medal - National Spanish Exam (11th)
3rd Place – Pan American Student Forum State Spanish Competition: Grammar (11th)
AIME Qualifier (11th)</p>

<p>Major (not all) ECs with Leadership denoted by *<em>:
*</em>Plano East Varsity Swimming (11th and 12th) - Captain (12th)
*<em>Plano East Junior Varsity Swimming (9th and 10th) - Captain (10th)
Club Swimming (Since I was 9 years old till date)
*</em>LASER/Science Fair (10th, 11th, 12th) - President (12th)
*<em>Spanish Club (10th and 11th) - President (10th)
*</em>Math Club (10th, 11th, 12th) - President (10th, 11th, 12th)
**National Honor Society (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) - Co-President (11th and 12th)
Texas Math League (9th, 10th, 12th)
AMC (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) and AIME (11th)
Pan American Student Forum State Spanish Competition (9th, 10th, and 11th)</p>

<p>Community Service [hours per month]:
North Texas Food Bank (Before 9th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) [1]
Math Tutor (9th, 10th, 11th) [8]
Austin Street Shelter (Before 9th, 9th, 10th, and 11th) [1]
Family Gateway Center (Before 9th, 9th, 10th, and 11th) [1]
Spanish Tutor (10th, 11th, 12th) [10]</p>

<p>A lot of research experience at UT Southwestern Medical Center in the Microbiology department. Work there often.</p>

<p>Please let me know and tell me if you need anything!!</p>

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<p>I’m not going to chance you now, but no, lol, you don’t need to retake your standardized tests.
Go back and edit your post. Place the leadership role next to the EC. The way you’ve listed it makes it SO confusing. list TEN Ec’s with details and FIVE awards. that is all the common app allows.</p>

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<p>@noel597‌ thanks for the advice! i didnt know how i should format it.
i fixed the format but too late to add details so ill comment them shorty.</p>

<p>Oh and why not chance me?</p>

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<p>Once you do that I will :slight_smile: thanks!!</p>

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<p>@noel597‌ oh okay thanks! coming right up!</p>

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<p>@noel597‌ is this good? please lemme know what else you need.</p>

<p>Major (not all) ECs with Leadership denoted by **:</p>

<p>**Plano East Varsity Swimming (11th and 12th)
-I am going to be on Varsity again in 12th grade, and I will have Captain position.</p>

<p>Club Swimming (Since I was 9 years old till date)
-before I swam for my high school, I had swum for the city team from a young age. commitment?</p>

<p>**LASER/Science Fair (10th, 11th, 12th) - President (12th)
-i have done science fair every year since 2nd grade. this year, i won 1st in the entire State of Texas, and I qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, at which I won 2nd in the world in my category, along with 2 special awards.</p>

<p>**Spanish Club (10th and 11th) - President (10th)
-i was spanish club president in 10th grade, but i did not run for an officer position in 11th grade.</p>

<p>**Math Club (10th, 11th, 12th) - President (10th, 11th, 12th)
-i have been math club president for two years and will be again next year. i have organizaed trips to various tournaments and participation in compeitions, etc.</p>

<p>**National Honor Society (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) - Co-President (11th and 12th)
-i have been an active member of NHS, and have been co-president this year and will be again next year.</p>

<p>Texas Math League (9th, 10th, 12th)
-The Math League has Math Contests for Grades 4 through 8, Algebra 1 students, and High School Students. Over one million students from the United States and Canada participate in Math League Contests each year. Every contest has questions from different areas of mathematics</p>

<p>AMC (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) and AIME (11th)
-the AMC is a national math competition, and this year i qualified for the 2nd round AIME test which only some people move on to.</p>

<p>Pan American Student Forum State Spanish Competition (9th, 10th, and 11th)
-PASF is a state spanish compeition. This year only 8 kids were chosen from our class of 1166. I have been chosen all three years so far, and have placed my last two.</p>

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<p>bump?</p>

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<p>2nd place at ISEF? I would call Rice and Duke match schools. Therefore, you should look for a couple of safeties (e.g. GA Tech, UCSD) and apply to some reaches (e.g. MIT, Stanford) if you like them better than Rice/Duke. You may also want to consider Johns Hopkins since I hear they have a strong BME department.</p>

<p>Oh, and please don’t retake the SAT. However, put some effort into the Math and Bio SAT IIs. You only need 700+, but bombing either of them would look bad.</p>

<p>Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1652569-chances-and-college-list.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1652569-chances-and-college-list.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@DiscipulusBonus‌ dude those (Gerogia Tech and UCSD) are actually the exact two schools I was looking at after Rice and Duke!</p>

<p>Could I consider them (GT and UCSD) safeties? </p>

<p>I always thought of Rice and Duke as reaches, so even though I know Johns Hopkins has an amazing BME and Stanford and MIT and etc are great, I have never really considered anything above Rice and Duke tops. Do you think I could/should?</p>

<p>And sure I’ll chance back!</p>

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<p>@mavericks2k11: I think you can probably consider GT and UCSD safeties. I’m not very familiar with them, though, so don’t take my word for it.</p>

<p>Here’s my advice for Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and MIT: research their BME departments and determine if you like them better than the departments at Rice and Duke. It sounds like you have been interested in Rice and Duke for quite some time, so it may turn out that you like them better than the “reaches.” However, if you prefer JHU, MIT, or Stanford, go ahead and apply! I’d say you have a pretty good shot at any of them.</p>

<p>Also, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on CC today, and I would like to commend you for sounding humble but not condescending despite your academic prowess. This will serve you well in the admissions process.</p>

<p>P.S. I saw you were considering taking a 7th class. Have you considered dual-enrolling at a local community college?</p>

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<p>@DiscipulusBonus
Even with 2nd place at ISEF, Rice and Duke are still (low) reaches and GT and UCSD are matches. I know people with rank 8 awards (according to <a href=“List of Top, Prestigious Awards - #841 by riffed - High School Life - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/302001-list-of-top-prestigious-awards-p57.html&lt;/a&gt;), who are rejected/waitlisted by top schools because their UWGPA is not 4.0.</p>

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<p>@DiscipulusBonus‌ thank you for the help and advice! I’m planning to do some college visits this summer.</p>

<p>Nope I actually haven’t considered dual enrollment, because I’m already so busy with IB</p>

<p>@Mangiafuoco‌ do you have any suggestions on any schools that might fit my credentials and my desired area of study (BME)?</p>