<p>And I need a candid assessment as I hate doing essay questions on applications ... Here are a few of the vitals:</p>
<p>Can you lend some perspective for admission:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mid-Atlantic male student</li>
<li>33 composite ACT (34 m 30 E)</li>
<li>top 10% in average h.s.</li>
<li>3.8 gpa, 20 college credits taken (all A's, one B), mostly science</li>
<li>engineering interest (systems, industrial, elec, mechanical)</li>
<li>like everyone there, lots of extra-curriculars ... NHS pres, 5 school letters in 3 sports, 3 in the band</li>
<li>play 3 instruments</li>
<li>Governors School, Science</li>
<li>Boys State</li>
<li>several other honors/recognitions</li>
<li>hundreds of community service hours; mostly with food bank, church</li>
<li>several significant science projects/papers</li>
<li>couple of summmer work experiences</li>
<li>5'11" white guy who isn't very fast, can't jump, absent of police record</li>
<li>can (but don't) do own laundry and cooks a mean grilled cheese sandwich</li>
</ul>
<p>All sounds pretty ok, but I also know Rice is one of the great schools in the country. How is it obviously different from Ivies? </p>
<p>Looking for a candid assessment on my chances and on Rice.</p>
<p>Are you apply to Rice just to apply to Rice?....or do you feel passion for the school? It doesn't sound like you really care about it...no offense or anything</p>
<p>"I hear Rice is a neat place ... </p>
<p>And I need a candid assessment as I hate doing essay questions on applications ..."</p>
<p>Perhaps look at schools that you LOVE...not just think have a good rep.</p>
<p>Rice is smaller than the Ivy's (2800 undergrads). Undergraduate engineering is on par with Princeton and Cornell. Academic environment most like Princeton and Yale, though somewhat less liberally dogmatic and more tolerant. Residential college system similar to Yale's. Endowment per student is fourth in US, behind HYP. Admission is more competitive than all except HYP.</p>
<p>Rice's Residential college systems is stronger than at Yale. I know because my son is in Rice and his very close friend is at Yale. At Yale you may live in Freshmen dorms, so it's not as cohesive as Rice. At Yale they also have Frats, so again allegiance is broken. There are no Frats at Rice. You get all the joy and closeness of a Frat/sorority (all are coed) with NO pledging, exclusions, hazing etc..and the ties last for a lifetime. Once you're assigned you are always listed with your college. There is a real reason why Rice was rated number one for Quality of Life. People love it there.</p>
<p>If you look at SAT ranges, you'll see that Rice would fall right in the middle of the Ivies. I think saying Rice is as selective as the Ivies other than HYP is very accurate.</p>
<p>there is something that is being outlooked, and the Rice admissions office sure has to deal w. this, YIELD FOR OUT OF STATERS IS LOW</p>
<p>they thus accept a higher percentage of us out of states, i got flat out rejected by Duke, Penn, Brown, Columbia, and I got into Rice, Cornell, Northwestern, Chicago, and a few others, but it goes to show u something</p>
<p>Do you actually have any data on that subject? I'm not saying you're wrong, but it seems that your only evidence is anecdotal. The real question, though, is what makes this a valuable topic for discussion? I'm really not all that interested in how selective Rice is when compared to peer institutions; any way you look at it, they're still most definitely peers.</p>
<p>Of course it's anecdotal, but not necessarily of little or no value. Like virtually every observation on this forum. It may lend insight to refining one's efforts, and could be a very valuable piece of information. I suspect ... with no evidence aside from anecdotes ... there is truth and value in the observation. </p>
<p>And I'm sure Rice admission officers and beyond have some clear, non-anecdotal pictures of this.</p>
<p>No matter how nice, Texas ain't perceived as sexy as Boston, Chi-Town, the Research Triangle, uptown NYC, Providence, etc. etc. </p>
<p>Unless you like cowboy boots and calf-roping. I do. ;)</p>
<p>And as one genuinely enlightened New Englander once told me, "These kids in Izods and khaki pants think the world ends at the Hudson ... going West. They think they know the world, but they're as provincial as they come." </p>
<p>Still, as the Bush-Gore election revealed, most of the folks live in a few places. Which I'll bet a whole bunch of Texans are pretty darn glad about ...</p>
<p>But you begin to piece together the anecdotes to put together your own puzzle.</p>
<p>Well if you like cowboy boots and calf-roping, you might be disappointed. Houston is a cosmopolitan city with a large ethnic mix. The only calf-roping you might find is in February when the Livestock Show and Rodeo is in town.</p>