Do you think I should apply Interim or Regular? :/

Colleges & Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>I'm currently a senior at a public high school in Wisconsin. Rice is one of my dream schools (next to Stanford), even though my stats are just ok’ish. I'm debating whether or not I should apply to Rice Interim Decision, because I still have to retake my sat's and my rank will probably rise after this semester. Also, the Stanford application and Rice application are really close to each other (12/2 and 12/15). I’m not sure I’ll be able to put 100% into both apps if I do them at the same time. :(</p>

<p>Race: Taiwanese-American</p>

<p>Freshmen (4.0 uw, 4.6 w)
Orchestra
World History
French 2
Geomoetry Hon
English 9 Hon
Biology Hon</p>

<p>Sophomore (4.0 uw 4.6 w)
Algebra II Hon
English 10a + 10b Hon
20th American Century
Orchestra
Chemistry Hon
French 3</p>

<p>Junior (one B+ 1st sem of APUSH, 3.93 uw 4.64 w)
Pre Calc Hon
Research and Composition/Brit Lit II
AP Bio
Orchestra
French 4
AP Us History
Physics Hon</p>

<p>CTD Northwestern: AP Physics B </p>

<p>Senior
AP Lit/Comp
AP Chem
AP Stat
AP French 5
Orchestra
AP Calc BC
AP Micro/PAD Hon</p>

<p>GPA 9-11: 3.97 uw 4.62 w
Rank: 10/343 (will maybe raise to 4-7/343, at least 7 though)</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>In School
Orchestra Mentoring Program 9-12 (Founder + President)
Math League (Mu Alpha Theta Club) 9-12 (President + Captain)
Chamber Orchestra 9-12 (Concertmaster + Violin Coach)
Tennis 9-12 (Team State Qualifier + Team Manager + 2 var letters)
Cross Country 9-12 (Captain + 3 var letters)
Badminton Club 11-12 (Co-founder + VP, should i put this down?)
NHS 11-12</p>

<p>Outside School
Hospital Volunteer 10-12 (5 hrs/week)
UWM Student-teacher volunteer 9-12 (7 hrs/week)
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra 11-12
Wisconsin State Honors Orchestra 9,11,12 (Associative Concertmaster)
Tutor/teach Violin 10-12</p>

<p>This is where my app dies</p>

<p>ACT: 30 (9) retaken Oct 28th, maybe Dec 9th if needed
SAT i's: 2050 (780 m + 600 v = 1380) retake Nov 4th
SAT ii's: Bio + Math IIC taken Oct 14th, Physics (do i need three?) to be taken Dec 2nd</p>

<p>So should I go Interim or Regular? Thanks for your advice. :D</p>

2

<p>There's no reason to go Regular <em>because of</em> your stats. If you really think your essay quality will suffer due to the proximity of the Stanford app, that might be reason enough -- but only you can really decide that.</p>

<p>How long do you think you need to write the essay? With your stats, I'd focus more on the essays than trying to up your test scores by a few points. You're already taking the ACT/SAT twice this year; I wouldn't do a 3rd. You'd probably be less stressed about the applications/essays that way, too.</p>

3

<p>Rice isn't very stats driven, so a few points or ranks increase probably won't make much of a difference to your admissions chances. If you can write a strong essay by the interim deadline, you should probably apply by that deadline. It's possible to be deferred from interim to regular, and if you're close enough to admission that your change in rank and scores would make you an admit, you'd probably be deferred anyways. The strength of your essay is probably the most important thing at this time.</p>

4

<p>I would go all out for the stanford application and really focus on those essays. after having written those, you should have plenty of time between 12/2 and 12/15 to edit one of those many essays or create something (somewhat) new.</p>

5

<p>thanks for all the replies you guys, i just got my sat ii scores back today. i got a 790 on biology E, but my math does not seem to want to show up. :?</p>

<p>does that help my chance maybe?</p>

6

<p>You've got good stats. But really, at this point, the only ones that could really tell you your "chance" are the admissions officers at Rice. So work on that application and its essays, then send it in.</p>

<p>People here can only guess, you know. :) Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Always apply Interim if you can. It will help your chances. You'd like to go to Stanford? Cool. But Rice is xhardcorexawesomex...</p>

8

<p>Actually interim doesn't increase your chances. They said that at the seminar they had a month or so ago.</p>

9

<p>I'm sorry to bump this, but I got my act score from october, and it went up! :D I have a 32 now. I know it's still not that great for rice, but ahh 'tis life. </p>

<p>I'm applying regular decision instead of interim, because I thought my scores would be too weak. Can I still change them? Do you guys think I have a better chance for interim than I do for regular?</p>

10

<p>I think applying interim is a no brainer. If you get in you hear earlier..a big relief. If not you can still be deferred to regular and have a second chance. You may also apply to any other school regular decision. My son went interim and got in. When you get to February it is so stressful waiting for results. We all were thrilled to know in February (instead of that long wait until April) that he got into his first choice. He loves it at Rice, by the way.</p>

11

<p>PsychSushi......raising your scores may push your app "over the edge" (bad analogy?) (though your math score is good).....applying RD may help give you additional time to work on your essay, however ID gives you a slightly better chance.....not trying to dissuade from either decisions, but choosing wise may make the difference in you getting in and possibly not (though i though you have a very good shot)</p>