<p>I was accepted ID but I didn't get any merit scholarship. Is it possible to send Rice new information/scores/awards in hopes of recieving merit award with the Regular applicant kids?</p>
<p>I doubt if anyone here knows the answer. I suggest you call or email the admissions office and ask. Good luck.</p>
<p>And post whatever answer you get, please!</p>
<p>Please do, post!!</p>
<p>I called Rice yesterday about merit scholarships because I didn't get any and here were my questions and their answers:</p>
<p>Q: Does Rice have any merit scholarships I could still be considered for?</p>
<p>A: No</p>
<p>Q: I thought I was well qualified for some of the awards, is there anyway I could be reconsidered for the merit scholarships with the RD applicants?</p>
<p>A: No, merit scholarships decisions are final, we have a set number of awards to give out each round, only about 10% of students are on scholarships. She went on a long spiel making it sound as if only extremely unusual child prodigies who had "published books and applied for patents" were offered money and how most people were in my position.</p>
<p>Q: Does Rice have a co-op program that would allow me to pay for Rice in between semesters?</p>
<p>A: No</p>
<p>Q: What about a work-study program?</p>
<p>A: Yes there are many on campus jobs students can take to help pay for Rice.</p>
<p>Q: About how much money could I expect that to cover?</p>
<p>A: Well, on campus jobs usually pay from 8 to 10 dollars an hour.</p>
<p>Q: Is there any chance I could be awarded one of those scholarships for accepted students during my sophomore or higher years at Rice?</p>
<p>A: No</p>
<p>At this point she decided to transfer me to the financial aid services people even though I told her I probably wouldn't qualify for financial aid. She told me that the people in financial aid would help me figure out how to pay for Rice and were, in her words, "very resourceful in making Rice affordable".</p>
<p>Q: I was just transferred from the admissions department and was wondering what advice you had on making Rice possible for me, I'm in a tough financial position and although I will not be qualified for financial aid, my parents have decided that, with two more children in the future to pay for college, they cannot contribute more than 20k per year to my education, especially when I can attend gatech for less than 10k per year. </p>
<p>A: What is your name so that I can locate your financial aid application, maybe you do qualify[I give them info]...Well from what i see hear you will not qualify for need-based aid.</p>
<p>Q: So what course of action do you suggest I take to make Rice possible for me? </p>
<p>A: Well, the two main options for you are outside scholarships and loans...Rice can offer you up to 3500 in loans freshman year, 4500 sophomore year, 5500 junior and senior year. The rest would have to be made up of private loans or outside scholarships.</p>
<p>So, looks like unless you are much more persuasive than I am, merit scholarships are unavailable from Rice if you did not get them when you were accepted.</p>
<p>wow! thats a bummer! I am also in this situation and it looks like i am not going to rice anymore. Unless if something miraculous happens to my parents and they get a million dollars. :D $$$</p>
<p>That really stinks - although, scholarship winners are certainly not all "book writers and patent winners" - I know a couple people who got some that seem pretty normal to me.</p>
<p>I do know that financial aid can always be appealed, and if you're really persistent you can get more, but...yeah. Good luck, though!</p>
<p>Has anyone looked at <a href="http://www.Fastweb.com?%5B/url%5D">www.Fastweb.com?</a> I believe they list many scholarships that are available.</p>
<p>I sort of got the vibes that merit scholarships were common. I applied to some big name schools (Rice is obviously big name but I mean bigger names) and the fact that I didn't merit at Rice is making me question how successful my other applications are going to be.</p>
<p>D did not get any merit money despite a 2360 SAT (first and only sitting), all A's throughout high school, #5 out of 500 in senior class, SAT 2's of 770 and 780, 9 AP classes, state level music awards, etc. She even received an email from an admissions officer telling her that her essay was one of the best the AO had ever read. D was admitted ED and when we asked why she received no merit money, we were told it was because she hadn't done anything special.</p>
<p>yeah, I don't have anything spectacular either but also thought I was a pretty strong applicant, I worked my ass off in high school, 2390 sat, got that award for most science APs in state, eagle scout, am working in a research lab at gatech. The only thing I can think of is that I didn't play the "college game." I never joined a club to pad my resume or one I didn't really want to join, so I only had like four serious continuous activities. So basically my choice is Rice and come out with 80k in debt or gatech and probably come out with 20k in bank account. I'll probably still go to Rice if I can figure out some way to get total loans down to about 30k.</p>
<p>Sorry guys, we had the exact same no scholarship story last year, only with a 35 ACT, NMF, etc, etc. The scholarship office told me on the phone that Rice could fill up their entire freshman class with Valedictorians who had near perfect test scores, perfect grades, NMF, etc, so you had to "stand out" in a crowd like that in order to get the merit money. There was a clear implication that you had to do something like have scientific research published in a peer-reviewed journal while in hs, win the international sciecnce fair (state's not enuf, just going to intl not enuf), publish a book, etc, to get it.</p>
<p>OR......you could be some type of data point that Rice is looking for to stand out. I have a cousin who used to be a hs principal in Houston and he said that Rice uses the merit scholarships to "tweak their profile". In other words, they are creating a picture of their freshman class and looking at a pie chart they've made and will use the merit money to fill holes in the pie chart.</p>
<p>Realistically speaking, Rice probably could fill the class with val/sal, top score NMFs 4.0s, so in their view everyone is qualified and they can give the merit money to whomever they want for whyever they want. Everyone merits money so they have to look at some other factor to parcel it out.</p>
<p>One possible reason to give someone money might be to keep them from going to MIT, Caltech or Harvard. If they don't think anyone else "big" is after you, then you might be less likely to get the money. This approach also allows them to say things like "kids turned down MIT to come here", etc.</p>
<p>Who knows what the stategy is, but I can give you some characteristics of three of my students (and I have several) who earned scholarsh from Rice:
1. A young man who was quite good at math and physics. He did university number theory classes in high school, good on AMC etc, and I remember he took AP Physics C from me during my prep (10th or 11th grade) where he had his head set on, paged through the book and after three weeks said he was ready to take at est. I gave him a real one. He wrote in pen, no calculator, and missed one point. He could do related rate problems in his head and I think he must have written some interesting essays. He earned degrees in math and philosophy.
2. Young man who with perfect PSAT/ACT/SAT. Had 5's on 14 AP's and also was a math wiz: 800 SAT math in 7th grade. Ended up at the S school out west. Starring there in CS.
3) Young lady who skipped a grade. Perect SAT/ACT. Swimmer,pianist and flute also. RSI, semi -inalist in Siemans, 14 AP 5's I think. Now at MIT.
Others were similar. Do not know about novels etc. Kids who did those, at least the ones's that I knew, did not apply to Rice.
As far as EC's go, these kids had few if any. None did anything to pad the app. Most kids I know who got into Rice, even without scholarships, tended to have one or two long term things they were passionate about as far as ec's e.g big brother, special olympics or somthing.
The 10 percent number is consistant with what they told me last year.</p>
<p>Umm, no offense, but students usually don't tell teachers when they're only doing something for college. Maybe I'm just a little bitter (ok I am) but the valedictorian at my school plays an instrument, runs cross country, and does debate (won state) just for college. He has gotten accepted to MIT and several other top places.</p>
<p>that they usually don't tell teachers when they're only doing something for college and that they are usually only doing something for college are two different things even though i guess you relate those two? btw sorry about the way your conversation went and i hope you don't feel bad about that conversation and the fact that they cannot "help" you. being re-considered is would probably happen in very few situations so the whole effort was a slim chance at best. don't be disheartened or think that this is a shortcoming particular to Rice.</p>
<p>So when a person begins piano at age 6, or starts running track or doing competive swimming in the 6th grade or joins debate is it assumed it is just for college? Well what is taking the SAT or getting top grades or taking AP courses for? Often people do debate because they just like to argue and compete. Certainly some do it just for college but a lot of kids just do things they like to do and are passionate about. Does that mean it can't have a dual purpose? Of course not. Does that mean it is bad? I think not. I had astudent who was in AP English, French etc in 10th grade. One could say he did that just for college. Of course he also composed a symphony in 7th grade, won national competitions and won a Grammy. One could say he just did all the academic course work to look good for college, but in his case it was not what got him into HYPS.</p>
<p>"So when a person begins piano at age 6, or starts running track or doing competive swimming in the 6th grade or joins debate is it assumed it is just for college? "</p>
<p>Not necessarily, but I know several students who did just that. I'm not telling you that your students did, but you seem to be sure they did not. I am however giving you one data point that for certain did those things just for college, and was successful in convincing adcoms that he was passionate about them.</p>
<p>"Well what is taking the SAT or getting top grades or taking AP courses for?" They are just to get into college, yes. But there is no deceit involved because no ones claims they took the SAT for fun, unlike with ECs.</p>
<p>I apologize for my last post though, like I said I'm just a little bitter, I get cynical, and it will pass in time (i'm experienced with my bitter mood swings that come with rejection).</p>
<p>well, like i said, that "one data point" was taken to support that students usually only do something for college even though you claimed at first that students usually don't say when they do that. so criticism for that, but actually i agree with you. </p>
<p>olddad, if i had it my way to do it all over, i would take all the APs i took in high school. in fact, i would take more. but why would i care how high my grades are? teachers constantly give students opportunities to improve their grades through easier assignments, extra credit, correcting tests, and so on.. why would i do things like those? it's not disobeying if the main goal is for the student to learn. i certainly would not do those mindless assignments with the same motivation as i did before. i am thankful i am no longer a part of that kind of system. here is reading (no political affiliation intended) <a href="http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4866%5B/url%5D">http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4866</a></p>
<p>and this is not to mention clubs in high school, which without funding are completely pointless. this is mock adulthood at its best (or worst). my point is that there are many things about high school education that lead students to be disingenuous, and to point these same things out as a good achievement by students is to miss the point.</p>
<p>Nalcon, reading your post made me feel terrible. I wish I could give you my scholarship, it sounds like you deserve it more than I do!</p>