<p>I'm not trying to be tricky (I already sent in my app); I'm now just curious. Since Rice seems to attract a lot of really bright science-oriented people, do they seek to attract more humanities-oriented people? Or does the school you put down have absolutely no bearing?</p>
<p>I've heard that science and engineering are the hardest to get into. However, I don't get the impression that Rice has difficulty attracting humanities people either. Basically, Rice seems to be fairly well-rounded (great in almost all areas). I think the main reason that they have you choose a specific school is because they can only accept a certain amount of students in each field. (Malheureusement) they have more than enough applying all around. Sorry if that didn't help much!</p>
<p>From what I have researched thus far, the philosophy department at Rice possesses a high caliber faculty and a plethora of resources for those majoring in the aformentioned field.</p>
<p>If you want to get an idea of how talented some of the professors are, I recommend reading one or two books by Dr. George Sher on ethical philosophy; his books are superb, though I do not agree with them.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the responses. :) I didn't mean to imply that the humanities aren't excellent at Rice, it just seems that their reputation has more to do with the sciences (though I could be totally wrong about their reputation; most people around here in New England don't really seem to know about Rice).</p>
<p>Also, a sort of random question, but I don't want to start a new thread: Is it possible to get in with a 3.2 GPA? I'm not asking "What Are My Chances?", I'm just wondering if that's so low that nothing else can really compensate.</p>
<p>Although, of course, a relatively low GPA is something they'll take into account, I don't see why it should hurt your chances that much if you're really strong in other areas. If all those college admissions brochures can really be trusted, extracurriculars are as if not more important than grades and test scores. As long as you emphasized the qualities that make you unique... But I wouldn't worry about it now, because you can't change anything. (I made the mistake of looking over my application again after I had sent it, which only depressed me because of all the errors I noticed.)</p>