Do I have a shot?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>Ethnicity: White Female
An underachieving public school in Vancouver, WA. Only roughly 60% of our students passed the state required exam to graduate in the math, similar numbers for reading, etc.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.94/4.0
Rank:7/306
SAT I: 1790(very bad, but I didn't study) Am studying and retaking in Oct/Nov
-CR:580, M:600, W:610 (essay-8, mc-62)
Very bad AP scores Jr. Year: AP Lit.:3, AP Us history:2</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Comparitive Gov't
AP Calculus
AP Environmental Science
Intro. to visual art (req'd)
Aerobics (req'd)/Teachers Assistant(no other classes this period)
Ap English language
-currently considering an extra class at the local community college, but not sure since im getting a job</p>

<p>-I took/am taking most of the AP classes offered at my school, minus one or two</p>

<p>EC's:
-3years class council
-3 years mock trial (varsity last year and this coming)
-2 years NHS (officer last year and this coming)
-3 years legal magnet (officer last year and this coming)
-1 year math club (officer)
-1 year red cross club
-volunteer at various places (local library, local homeless shelter, etc.)</p>

<p>-Job at local burger place for 9months jr. year. (currently looking for another)</p>

<p>Summer Experience:
-Economics for Leaders sponsored by the Foundation for Teaching Economics
weeklong intensive camp at the university of washington in seattle.
-I also visit my family in alabama when i am able.</p>

<p>Hoping for really good recs and essay.</p>

<p>Economic disadvantige: I come from a really disadvantaged family. I live alone with my mom and she is disabled so we only get about 12,000 dollars a year.(hopefully will make me stand out)</p>

<p>Possible essay topics:
-the experience of living with my mom being in the hospital while she was fighting for her life. (why she is now disabled)
-visiting my dad in prison
-growing up in a family that is surrounded by drugs and realizing that i don't want that life.
-...among other topics im considering</p>

<p>Basically, I do not have a lot of opportunities available to me. I would love to do some of the stuff that i see on these sites, but i have no connections to get me in and i am clueless about how to try. </p>

<p>I really want to go to a top 20-25 school, but at my school my counselors are more aiming to get students into washington state or western washington, not vanderbilt, if you know what i mean.</p>

<p>I would greatly appreciate any and all input on all areas of my stats and how i can really stand out without having to aid in microbiology research or some of the things i see on these sites. Also any good websites you know for scholarships (fastweb hasn't really given me anything useful) would be appreciated.
So...do i have a shot? (I feel greatly inadequate)</p>

2

<p>Your GPA is good, but your test scores/AP scores are lower than those of many applicants. Being low-income won't help you get in, and writing essays about that imo won't be the best way to talk about your academic goals/why being accepted to Rice will help you achieve them. </p>

<p>Have you heard of Questbridge? You could try applying for Rice through that, but you really have to get on it right away: <a href="http://www.questbridge.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.questbridge.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>I normally refuse to do "chance me" questions, but I'd like to add one or two things.</p>

<p>In response to emilia, I think being low income/having a very difficult upbringing might actually give your application a pretty good boost. Rice doesn't consider financial need when looking at applications, but they do look at the background of an applicant, and given that you come from a community that hasn't been able to provide you with every imaginable college prep/resume padding activity ever, that makes what accomplishments you do have stand out much more. It's kind of a "if this is what she can do when she has very limited resources, let's see what she can do once we admit her and actually give her a decent chance" view. Besides, Rice is committed to having a diverse student body, so you'd bring a different perspective than another upper middle class white guy.</p>

<p>I'd say you'd be crazy not to at least mention your background in your essay. Yes, include what you actually want to do with your life/academic goals, but tie in your background as well.</p>

<p>So if you like Rice, stop worrying about your chances and just apply - you're definitely in range.</p>

4

<p>I'm relatively inexperienced to the whole application process, but I know for a solid fact that AP exams scores are completely irrelevant when you're applying for colleges.</p>

<p>They only scout the Subject Tests/Reasoning Tests. AP exams are only if you want to omit a class or two (or three). And even then, if you're doing Rice, I wouldn't exempt any classes so that you'd be able to build a stronger foundation.</p>

<p>For example, If I was specializing in Pre-Med (not an actual major, btw) and had for example, a 5 on the AP Exam, I could probably skip the class. However, doing so would probably be extremely poor judgment on my part; I don't want to graduate from Rice having completed core chemistry in high school, right? :d</p>

5

<p>yeah try out questbridge....that's how I got accepted into Rice....</p>