<p>I would like to know the likelihood of me being accepted into Rice University based on these stats:</p>
<p>Intended Major: Bioengineering
Intended Minor: Mechanical Engineering
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Both black and white</p>
<p>-Weighted GPA as of sophomore year: 99.475
(This will go up significantly, as my school has not recalculated the GPAs and ranks of my class to include junior year. Junior year, I had a weighted average of 107.8.)
-14th out of a class of 396 at a public school in upstate New York
-SAT: 1940/2400 or 1340/1600
-ACT: 33
-SAT II in Biology freshman year: 700
-Senior year schedule: Enrolled in a program called New Visions Engineering located off of my high school campus. The program is made up of AP Calculus A/B, SUNY (State University of New York) English, SUPA (Syracuse University) Economics, Mercy College Physics, and a college-credited Engineering lab. I also take College Experience and AP Statistics at my home school.
-At graduation, I will have completed 5 AP courses: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Language, AP Calculus A/B, and AP Statistics. In May 2010, I earn a score of 5 on Biology, 4 on Chemistry, and 4 on Language.
-I have nearly 300 hours of community service with 4-H as a Teen Action Group Leader, helping run various family oriented events throughout the community.
- I have over a years worth of work experience as a cashier at my local grocery store. I worked an average of 20 hours/week during the school year. I do not work currently, as I wish to focus more on school.
-Received a perfect score of 100/100 at the 2009 NYS Fair for my project A Comparison of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Hypnotherapy on the Treatment Success of Patients Suffering from Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures
- Officer of 3 clubs for multiple years, involved with my schools mentor program, and a member of the National Honor Society
- Currently on a robotics team registered to compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge in January 2001
- My essay is about the first time I spoke up at a Nar-Annon family meeting. It doesnt talk about how much I hate my life, it talks about how my perspective changed once I was free to say how I felt without disapproval or judgment. I wrote it for AP English Language last year, and my teacher graded it in front of me. He was literally on the verge of tears by the time he finished reading it.
- I predict my recommendations will be good. My teachers approached me, asking if I wanted them to write me a recommendation, so I assume they really like me.</p>
<p>What makes me nervous is the fact that my scores are on the low end, and Ive never actually visited Rice because its in Texas and Im in New York. Theyve sent me mail several times and have offered to waive my application fee. This gave me the confidence to apply there, otherwise I would have assumed Im not a competitive applicant and I would just be getting my hopes up. </p>
<p>It’s hard to say. Your ACT score isn’t low for Rice, and you have some great extracurriculars and interesting experiences. With a colege as selective as Rice, though, it’s hard to tell. Getting mail from a scool usually doesn’t mean much, just that your standardized test scores were in their range, but it may mean something that they’ve offered to waive your application fee. If you apply, you’ll have a solid chance.</p>
<p>I think that highlighting that you worked 20 hours a week and still maintained such good marks will benefit. Like the guy above says, it’s really difficult to calculate chances since we’re not the admissions officers. My interviewer told me that the officers are looking for who you are as a person since they usually can tell that you’re a bright guy by your grades and test scores.</p>
<p>I’m weighing my chances on my colorful but non-academic extracurriculars. Hopefully, they’ll ignore my 3 B’s.</p>
<p>Janeyyet – it sounds like you’ve got lots of important material to write about in your essays, all well-supported by your achievements and what will likely be a very nice boost from your English teacher … Talented in the sciences with a strong English rec is an impressive combo as I, a Rice Mom, see it. Not to mention all your activities and work hours. I hope you set up a local interview, too. Keep it up!</p>
<p>Thank you so much guys! And I’ll definitely look into a local interview. Would it matter whether or not I did the interview before or after I submitted my application?</p>
<p>If possible, on-campus interviews with members of the admissions staff, plus the opportunity to tour the campus, make lots of sense and may “possibly” carry more weight. Years ago, there was a rule of thumb at some schools that if you lived within a certain distance, applicants were expected to schedule campus interviews. I haven’t heard about this rule for years – but would suggest that if a trip to Rice is possible and not costly – go! On the other hand, local alum interviews are fine – but you won’t get a taste of the campus!</p>
<p>I’d love to do an on-campus interview, but I live about 1700 miles away. If I were to have an interview with a local alumni, would they just report how it went back to the admissions office?</p>
<p>Yes, that’s quite a distance, I’d opt for an alum interview, and please alert Rice before December 1. The alum interviewer will write up his/her impressions and pass them along to the Admissions department as part of your application file. From the website:</p>
<p>Interviews</p>
<p>Take time to shine! Although not required, we strongly encourage freshman applicants take advantage of this opportunity. An interview is our chance to get to know you as a person rather than just a collection of papers. And it enables you to ask questions and learn more about Rice.</p>
<p>We understand that not all applicants can arrange a trip to campus for an interview, so interviews are conducted both on campus with Rice Senior Interviewers or admission staff members and off campus with Alumni Interviewers. A dedicated corps of Rice alumni conduct interviews in all 50 states and in many foreign countries, and no distinction is made between on- or off-campus interviews. </p>
<p>Interviews are offered to seniors and rising seniors only and are not offered for transfer applicants. It is your responsibility to request an interview by the posted deadlines below if you wish to have one.
Decision plan Interview requested by Application deadline
Early October 1, 2009 November 1, 2009
Regular December 1, 2009* January 2, 2010</p>
<ul>
<li>Note that on-campus interviews are not offered after December 12, 2009.</li>
</ul>
<p>I’ll be sure to set up an interview! I’m shaking just thinking about it, ugh. Usually I have no problem with interviews, as I have plenty of public speaking experience and I’m used to talking to complete strangers because of my experience as a cashier. But I would be the one to screw up an interview when it really counts.</p>
<p>And I already submitted both my SAT and my ACT. Will they only consider the ACT since that was the test I did better on?</p>
<p>Just be yourself – you’ll do just fine. Cruise the website and find some interesting classes or activities to ask about … You’ll do beautifully, Janeyyet!</p>
<p>And to everyone else about to be interviewed, this is like adding the last piece to the college search puzzle – for you and for Rice. You’ve done your best in school, completed your standardized exams, followed your interests, written your essays, and now, at last, you can say hello. Whether you meet up on campus or at a coffee shop or in someone’s living room, this is where the learning begins.</p>
<p>I really don’t think that an interview on campus will help that much more. I mean, they cannot expect someone to drop everything and come all the way.</p>
<p>An interview is an interview and it demonstrates interest. It lets you learn about rice and Rice about you. IF you do visit, do it for the campus and getting a feel of the place and not just to interview on campus.</p>
<p>From the perspective of an alum interviewer for another school, I think interviews round out the applicant profile and allow the student to shine – to borrow a word from the website. No doubt, their importance has greatly dropped over the years – they’re no longer even required! That says a lot – but when I’ve met students who really impressed me, I can’t help but imagine that my enthusiastic write-up made a small difference.</p>
<p>Interviews not being required probably say a lot about their meaning in another way. it helps distill those who are very interested and those who aren’t. There was no alumni interviewer nearby when I was applying, but I did request one. Maybe they use them as a barometer to judge an applicants interest</p>