I L.O.V.E. RICE--Do I stand a Chance????? Please help!! [Chance Me!!]

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>Hey everyone,
I love Rice University, its small-ish campus, gorgeous Spanish architecture on campus, and its accepting student body.</p>

<p>After getting a Stanford rejection, I'm wondering do I even stand a chance here RD??</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2260 (CR 790, M 720, W 750), Trial two: 2200, Trial three: 2140
SAT I superscore: 2310 (CR 790, M 720, W800)
SAT II: Chemistry (730), Math II (780)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96/4.0
Weighted GPA: like 4.65?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank.
(I go to a very competitive public High School--we send around 13 kids to Ivies every year).
AP (place score in parentheses): AP US Gov (5), AP Chem (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Spanish (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP ComputerProg 2, AP Physics B, Hon English 12, Intro to Engineering, Honors Modern World,Newspaper
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
*no intel, but finalist (and runner up) in this prestigious annual competition in my area for businesses run by students under the age of 18.</p>

<p>Additional awards: AP Scholar with Honor, National Merit Commended, Honorable Mention essay prize in literary competition & published in the city magazine.</p>

<p>Subjective:[list] [li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): [/li]-President of Government Club at my school, Head CopyEditor on my school's prestigious newspaper, got into the official NIH SIP (Summer Internship Opportunity) for summer after Junior year!,</p>

<p>*I also create and manage websites for local businesses and organizations in my area</p>

<ul>
<li>I also do computer programming and created a comprehensive website with quiz questions (by unit) and a search engine of terms for students taking a certain AP class--i run a Business out of it and made a few thousand dollars from those who buy subscriptions to the website (national as well as local customers). The money is donated to charity. I was the finalist & runner-up in the prestigious area competition detailed above.</li>
</ul>

<p>-I also tutor struggling students in Government class, and i'm also a part-time language tutor.</p>

<p>[li] Teacher Recommendation #1: An old teacher (from sophomore year) who loves me for the website i created for his class (which his students also use!) and he offered to write me a rec! should be really very nice </p>[/li]
<p>[<em>] Teacher Recommendation #2: A science teacher from Junior year who likes me. Should be good. (AP Chem teacher)
[</em>] Counselor Rec: should be okay/good.
[li] Additional Rec: NIH private investigator i worked for during summer after junior year--should be pretty good =]</p>[/li]
<p>Other
Country (if international applicant): not an international applicant
School Type: competitive public high school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
it sucks that I'm applying as an Asian, but I am a
FEMALE interested in going for Engineering and Computer/Information Technology major in college (under-rep),</p>

2

<p>Yes, of course you stand a chance at Rice! There is life after a Stanford rejection. My son, a recent grad of Rice, also was rejected SCEA at Stanford and ended up getting into all but 2 of the other schools he applied to (as well as receiving substantial merit scholarships at most of them, including Rice). Best of luck to you!</p>

<p>By the way, one of his Rice professors who used to teach at Stanford once told him that she found Rice to be like Stanford “without the attitude.”</p>

3

<p>Do you have any idea as to what decile you are in?
Did you take Calculus BC?</p>

<p>Your stats and resume are solid and you have a good shot. Being a female, intending to major in Engineering, will help your chances. The only “negative” may be your SAT I math score (720). Many Engineering majors receive a higher score, but overall your SAT scores are good. If you didn’t take BC Calc, your course rigor may come into play.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>nope, didn’t take Calc BC—i took AB. am i at that much more of a disadvantage now?</p>

5

<p>your profile looks quite good.</p>

<p>What state are you from?</p>

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<p>At selective, highly ranked schools course rigor is a big factor in the admissions process-- particularly one that is tied so directly to your major. I’m not suggesting that you can’t get accepted, I’m only pointing out that it lessens the strength of your application.</p>

7

<p>I took AB and not BC and I’m here now. I know many people who were in the same boat. One class won’t ruin your chances, as long as the overall course load is very rigorous.</p>

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<p>out of state resident yo.</p>

<p>and eff that, Calc AB is so similar to Calc BC.</p>

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<p>OOS from where though.</p>

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<p>FallenAngel9, Just curious-- are you an Engineering major?</p>

11

<p>out of state as in, East Coast</p>

12

<p>East coast - pretty good chance. - the further away from Texas, the better…</p>

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<p>jshain - No, but a good number of people who were in my MATH 102 class (indicating they took Calc AB but not BC) were going into science or engineering, so I know it’s not uncommon.</p>

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<p>^Isn’t Math 102 a class that is more a blend of science (pre-med track) and BME majors? I am betting that many more Engineering majors, including computer science majors, have taken Calc BC than not. (At UC Berkeley, where my son is an Engineering major, most freshmen Engineering students are taking Multivariable Calculus not Math 102.) If this is true, I stand by my original statement that having not taken Calc BC “lessens” the strength of an application for most Engineering majors. Yes it is “only” one class, but it is a critical one in most engineering applications and therefore MATH course rigor in high school will be looked at very carefully for its Engineering applicants.</p>

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<p>MATH 102 is Calculus II. And yeah a lot of freshman I know going into engineering are already in DiffE, but virtually everyone I know in MATH 102, across all sections, are going into science or engineering. I’m one of the few who will be in the social sciences.</p>

<p>Naturally, having Calc BC on your record looks better than Calc AB, but Rice won’t look at a person’s app and say “Oh, he/she wants to do engineering but only took AB, guess he/she isn’t up to par.” There are a lot of other factors involved, and one small step down in rigor on one class won’t be the end of the world at all. Another important thing to consider is the quality of the teacher and rigor of the school in general. Some schools don’t have students taking BC each year.</p>