<p>Lol recently I have posted a few threads on this forum because I am kind of wavering back and forth on my decision to Ed to Rice. So, I was wandering if you guys think that I stand any chance not only of admittance to this awesome school but also if you believe I might possibly have a chance at either a trustee distinguished scholarship or the rice/baylor program. My stats and such are below:</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0 (UW) and 4.1 (W)
Rank: 1/327
ACT: 34 (35 superscored)----------35 E, 34 on the rest
SAT: 2340-----800 CR, 780 W, 760 M (Only took test one time)
SAT 2: Taking in Oct.. will probably get 750+ on them all though
Race: White (Serbian)
State of Residency: NE
Recs and Essays: Both amazing
Desired Major/Minor- Bio/Econ</p>
<p>Main School ECs:
FBLA (9-12) Historian and Treasurer
SADD(9-12) Class Rep for 3 years
Science Club (11-12) President and Founder
AcDec (10-12) Captain for 2 years
Olympus Club (9-12) Actice Member
NHS (11-12) Possible office position next year</p>
<p>Community Service:
Red Cross--350 hours
Sunday School Teacher for 2nd and 3rd Graders---250 hours
American Cancer Society-----100 hours
Founded Organization that Raises money for Serbian Orphans-----200 hours
Volunteered at Local Congressman's Office----150 hours</p>
<p>Sports-
Did Cross Country for 2 years but was only an average runner...no awards or anything</p>
<p>Awards:
1st Place in Cell Bio and 3rd in Health Science at State Science Olympiad
1st in Health Science and 3rd in Disease Detectives at NE Regional Science Olympiad
1st in State Econ Challenge...flew to Houston for free and got 5th Place in Midwest
1st in State Microeconomics at Econ Challenge
2nd in State Finance Challenge 2008
3rd in State Finance Challenge 2007
3rd in Regional Economics Challenge
4th in state at Cyber Security Competition
Friend of Alexander Hamilton Merit Award Winner
President's Gold Volunteer Award
Represented my HS at NE State Leadership Seminar
Local Radio Station and News Station's volunteer of the year award
At least commended for National Merit
Won Like 20 regional AcDec Awards (was a top scorer at all of the competitions we were at)
Nominated for NCTE competition...but I dont think I won or anything</p>
<p>Work Experience:</p>
<p>Working as a paid research intern with a doctor at my local med center---may submit research to Siemens but who knows </p>
<p>Had a paper route for 7 years</p>
<p>Additionally, if my chances at Stanford are shall we saw "dim." Do you I a shot at one of the other elusive HYPSM = D?</p>
<p>Any Problems on App-</p>
<p>One thing, I have only taken 2 years of Spanish (Freshman and Sophomore year)...should I take Spanish 3 this upcoming year or just take more difficult classes that interest me.</p>
<p>I don’t think not having sports is a problem. As long as you very dedicated to some sort of extracurricular, you should be fine. I am proof of that; I played virtually no school sports, but was committed to an extracurricular, and got into Rice and many other fine universities.</p>
<p>Ya…i mean I dont like sports, so why should I attempt to pursue something that I hate to the depths of my core. I have done well in my other ECs though…plus dont colleges only care that you played a sport if you play it for them.</p>
<p>Yeah, I had no sports in any form whatsoever and still got in. It doesn’t matter as long as you have “depth” in some area whether it’s sports or not. Anyway, you definitely have a good chance at Rice and you seem like a strong applicant for Rice/Baylor. But since they only pick 14 applicants, it’s hard to “chance” anyone for it… All I can say is that you’re on the right track. =] Good luck.</p>
<p>this looks great!
On the ED/RD note–I applied RD and this did not hurt me at all (I got R/B, a Trustees Scholarship, and a Century Scholars thing which is a research stipend/internship). You look like you’re a good shot for all of these.</p>
<p>I have heard a lot of people tell me the pluses/minuses of applying ED, and I hear many people try to “game the system” on the question it asks you about where else you applied. I know for me personally, I did not disclose that I was applying to any of the Ivy Leagues because I thought that it would make it seem like Rice was my “second choice.” As it turned out, Rice gave me great merit aid that was a deciding factor in luring me away from other schools I applied to. If I’d applied ED, I’m not sure they would’ve felt the need to give me so much merit aid.</p>
<p>On a side note, as it turned out, about three days after I received the merit aid, my dad unexpectedly lost his job and the merit aid turned out to be THE deciding factor in where I attended school. R/B wasn’t a factor because I didn’t get off the waitlist until early May. So, I feel very fortunate that I applied RD and kept all my options open, so I could compare financial aid packages. If this is not a problem for you and you feel Rice will want you badly enough to give you merit aid from the getgo, then by all means, apply ED =)</p>
<p>Ya, the thing is RD has like a 14 percent admittance rate whereas ED has a 25 percent rate of acceptance. I really want to go to Rice for as little as possible. However, I am worried that if I wait to apply RD then I might end up not getting into Rice, Washu, HYMPS, and the other ivies, forcing me to go somewhere that is less “prestigious.” So, college316 are you saying I might just wanna apply SCEA to somewhere like Stanford and then apply RD to Rice and pray that I get accepted and receive good merit aid?</p>
<p>“So, college316 are you saying I might just wanna apply SCEA to somewhere like Stanford and then apply RD to Rice and pray that I get accepted and receive good merit aid?”
–So I might not be college316 but I’m going to answer. My answer is no. You show a great interest in Rice. And if you want to go to Rice regardless of Rice/Baylor, then apply ED. Don’t worry much about the merit aid, if you are great academically, then your FA will be wonderful (ask Slik Nik). Rice is great on FA but just know that if you really want to go to Rice, then apply ED. Going to Rice will not be just as good as other prestigious schools.</p>
<p>dude your set academically, 2340+ 34 act + VALEDICTORIAN = great chance for rice/baylor…Focus on your essays a lot, make sure you spend plenty of time preparing for them…if you are from the northeast you bring geographic diversity too…I don’t know if Rice/baylor considers geographic diversity…</p>
<p>yeah I mean if $$ is not an issue for you AT ALL then why not apply ED?</p>
<p>The only hesitation I personally had with that was:
$, because I fell into the domain of not getting need-based aid but not being able to attend college without it. so merit-based aid was my only hope
reluctance to close all the other doors</p>
<p>If this is not a problem then go for it. You do sound like you haven’t really moved past other schools, though, and you don’t want to regret having closed doors prematurely. that’s all I’m saying. In the end it’s a very personal decision so just think it through and do what is best for you.</p>
<p>But Rice Baylor cares more about what your ECs are than what your academics are (I might be wrong but that’s what a lot of BS/MD programs are like)</p>
<p>Not true at all. Rice and Baylor are first and foremost schools and schools care about academics. The problem is that there are so many applicants with such simillar stats that schools have to look at other factors to distinguish between canidates, so they turn to ECs. This doesn’t mean that ECs are more important or that they don’t care what your academics are like, it just means that the story doesn’t end with your test scores. You can have the best ECs ever but if Rice/Baylor doesn’t think you are going to be able to perform academically they aren’t going to admit you.</p>
<p>Ok, well if you guys dont mind one last thing. As for deciding to apply ED/RD, my situation is kind mixed. While I really want to go to Rice and it will b my first choice school (I am certain that wont change), my parents who can afford to pay a nice chunk of the tuition/room and board would be very, very reluctant to pay a $40,000+ tab each year. So, I can kind of torn here…should I kind of try to secure an acceptance to Rice by applying ED or try to get the best financial aid package by applying RD?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the wealth of advice everyone has given so far,
Robbie</p>
<p>I think what cdz was referring to is that stats/academics ALONE are by far not enough to get you into competitive schools and/or competitive programs. I’ve found that everybody has some variation on the 2340+valedictorian thing, so it’s important to use your ECs to distinguish your character, reveal something about yourself, and show that there is depth behind the scores.</p>
<p>as to ED/RD, again, it’s really a gamble. I’m wondering if there’s someone on this board who got merit aid and applied ED who can share their perspective…I applied RD so I really have no idea what would’ve happened re financial aid if I’d applied ED. You probably want both points of view.</p>
That may or may not be true but either way it isn’t what he said. Furthermore, I think you are severely overestimating the number of people with 2300+ scores, read some of tokenadults threads for the real numbers.</p>
<p>“That may or may not be true but either way it isn’t what he said. Furthermore, I think you are severely overestimating the number of people with 2300+ scores, read some of tokenadults threads for the real numbers.”</p>
<p>Actually there are not many people with 2300 (or 1560) that get into Rice Baylor really. From their website:
The mid-range SAT scores do not vary from the mid-range scores of the rest of the talented pool of applicants. For the class entering in the 2006-2007 school year, the mid-range (the middle 50 percent) fell between 1350 and 1510 on the SAT I.</p>
<p>Also from their website:
“Successful students generally have a defined interest in medicine and are convincingly certain that medicine is the field they want to pursue for their career. The interest may manifest itself in many ways; examples include: significant volunteer hours, personal experiences that focused on medicine”</p>
<p>Look at one of the essay’s Rice/Baylor wants you to write:
** 2. Outside of academics, what do you enjoy doing most? **</p>
<p>None of that corroborates your statement that “Rice Baylor cares more about what your ECs are than what your academics are”</p>
<p>Also:
No where did I say that you need a 2300 to get in, I just corrected you by pointing out that someone’s academics are what get them in the figurative door, ECs are less important because they only come into play at a later stage.
From you’re own quote: “Successful students generally have a defined interest”. The word generally is important, do you think that saying “Successful students generally have a very strong academic records” would be as accurate? No, it would be an understatement. All of the accepted students have strong academics, because they are more important.</p>
<p>Its really pretty simple, I don’t understand why you are persisting in this.</p>