Help me get into Rice (dream school)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>General: rising senior from Texas. I plan on majoring in Biology/ Biomedical Engineering.
Ethnicity: Asian, Low income bracket
School Info: Pretty competitive, sends a few to top schools (3 last year: Rice, Stanford, Brown)</p>

<p>School Stats:
Class Rank: 10 out of 616
GPA: 6.85 out of 7
[9th Grade: 6.68/6.33]
[10th Grade: 6.59/6.82]
[11th Grade: 7.46/7.36]</p>

<p>Senior Classes:
BCIS Dual Credit
English 4 AP
Humanities Dual Credit
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science
AP Calculus
Marching Band</p>

<p>Testing:
SAT: 1880 (690 M 560 CR 640 W) retaking in October
ACT: will take in September and November
SAT II: 790 Math IIC, 770 Biology E, 750 Physics</p>

<p>EC:
-Marching Band (15+ hours a week practicing)[4 years]
-Student Council [4 years]
-National Honors Society [2 years]
-Yearbook [2 years]
-Student Newspaper [2 years]</p>

<p>Community Service:
-Various things with student council [red cross, blood drive, etc]
-Orphanage in Vietnam [9th grade summer]
-Hospital Volunteer [200+ hours]
-Church Volunteer [100+ hours]</p>

<p>Leadership Positions:
-Vice President of Student Council [11,12]
-President of National Honors Society [12]
-Flute Section Leader [12]
-Band Librarian [12]</p>

<p>Awards:
-1st Place in National Toy Challenge [9th grade summer, won in team challenge]
- Band
----3x 1st Division Solo
----2x 1st Division Small Ensemble
----3x 1st Division Rating in UIL Marching Band
----3x 1st Division Rating in UIL Sight Reading/Concert Contest.</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
-took Dual Credit Government and Economics
-went to Texas Association of Student Council leadership workshop at ASU
-worked at a local shopping center [15 hrs a week]</p>

<p>Universities:
Rice
UT Austin (Plan II/Dean's Honor Program)
TAMU</p>

<p>Hooks, if any:
-first generation college student
-minority (I doubt this will stand)</p>

<p>Please tell me if I have a chance, and what can i improve on besides the SAT.</p>

2

<p>Well to be honest you can't improve on anything other than test scores. If you have an influx of activities 4 months before applications it will sound desperate and well retarded. What you have done so far is basically what the admissions will look at, other than your Mid year report and essays, teach recs.
I don't know how the Rice Admissions determines the matriculating class but it looks like you have a good shot. I too am applying to Rice and wish you luck, my only advice is to keep up the grades through senior year and to present who you are as best as you can in your interviews and essays and let the rest speak for itself.</p>

3

<p>i suggest taking the ACT- my friend had around the same SAT score and he got a 32 on the ACT which fits snug into the Rice ACT limits.</p>

4

<p>I will take the ACT in September.
Surprisingly, I've been getting 35-36 on the Math, English, and Science. The only thing I have to work on to get an amazing score is my reading...(28)</p>

<p>Also, does Rice factor AP's into admissions?</p>

5

<p>You posted on one of my threads, so i'll return the favor. I think that you have a decent shot at getting in. I would suggest that you take the ACT, and also try and improve the SAT. Other than that, your grades and ECs looks fine. Being a 1st gen. college student will help for sure, but being asian is not a minority haha.</p>

6

<p>Same thing happened to me with the 35-36 math and 28 reading. All you can do I think is read more often and eat a hearty breakfast before the test (also a good night's sleep helps).</p>

7

<p>Seeing as how Rice only took around 25 (I truly believe that this was the number, I graduated from St. Thomas last year) from the Houston area last year, it is hard for anyone. You need to have your SAT in the 2300s if you want to be competitive.</p>