Daughter is currently a junior in competitive public HS in TX.
Her stats as of beginning of junior year :
SAT: 1540
SAT Subject Test Math 2: 790/800
Current Rank within 3.06%
Current GPA: 5.06 (Weighted)
Completed AP: Calculus AB(5), Computer Science(4), Human Geography(5), World History(5)
Currently enrolled AP: Calculus BC, Physics, Capstone, English
Completed Dual Credit: US History
Enrolled Dual Credit: Economics, US Gov
Senior Year: plans for few more AP and dual credit.
Extra Curricular:
Robotics: 6+ years (since Middle School, actively involved in software programming, participates in First Lego League, First Tech Challenge with school teams)
Piano : 9+ years (TX State Awards)
Volunteer: Library, tutoring school district kids, tutoring Maths to HS kids, STEM summer camp
School Clubs: NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, National Technical Honor Society
Summer: Participated in First Bytes @ UT Austin
Summer Internship Completed: NASA, Texas Space Grant (SEES HS Summer Intern Program)
What are her Chances for Rice Computer Science, as of now ?
Also, any suggestions to improve her chances?
Her SAT and GPA are somewhat above average for Rice (assuming you intended 4.06 for a weighted GPA) and her selection of AP/dual credit classes are in line with a typical Rice student. Her extracurricular/volunteer endeavors make clear she has a broad range of academic interests which is also helpful. Her weakest area is probably a lack of nonacademic community leadership which top universities like Rice are increasingly considering in their admissions decisions. Still, there’s enough breadth and depth here that I’d give her a 70 to 80 percent chance of admission.
Thank you very much for your response.
It is 5.06 weighted GPA - 6.0 is for 100.
True, she doesn’t have much non academic community involvement. She is all interested in tutoring Maths and Science and assisting multiple middle school robotics teams.
Occasionally she has done park clean up, food preparation for homeless shelters - will suggest her to build on those. Thanks again for the suggestions.
My daughter, a freshman at Rice in Mechanical Engineering, has a similar background/stats to your daughters - but she had volleyball and soccer instead of piano - and was valedictorian - and from Illinois. She applied ED and was accepted - and loves it!
Good luck to your daughter - I think the odds are in her favor. Is applying ED a possibility for her?
@DCCAWAMIIAIL - Thank you very much for your response .
She is in state and first choice is UT Austin.
All the best for your daughter!
Congratulations on your daughter’s accomplishments. She appears to me an amazing student and person. Here are my thoughts for you. I believe Rice turned down 91.8 percent of its applicants last year. That number is staggering to Rice alums who attended the school years ago. My daughter is currently a college freshman who refused to apply to Rice. What I learned from her experience last year is that admission to highly competitive schools is really difficult. My personal takeaway is that all kids including your daughter need to figure out how to distinguish themselves from the other applicants. 17,500+ kids in the US have a SAT super score of over 1500 and they all want to apply to the same 10 schools. Princeton rejects over 50% of their applicants with perfect SAT scores and over 75% of valedictorians. Showing leadership is really important. If she has a research or academic passion in computer science, I would encourage her to email Rice profs who share that passion/research area so she can discuss that in her interview. Best of luck to you and your daughter.
Thanks @HoustonKen. Appreciate your suggestions. Will tell her to look into those.
You have the stats and ECs to be potentially admitted to Rice; however, it shouldn’t be a comfortable target. You will need high-quality essays that appropriately support the rest of your application.