Nice son looking at Rice, Stanford, MIT, and Princeton

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I fell upon CC earlier this year. I was surprised at the sheer volume of activities many students have. My son has much fewer activities than most on site, but is dedicated to those he does.</p>

<p>Like most students applying to college, he is interested in many things and is well liked by his teachers.</p>

<p>He will be a senior in the fall and is currently looking at four schools to apply to in the fall. He is interested in math and science, but likes other subjects, particularly history.</p>

<p>He is a friendly and inquisitive person and will be a good room-mate when in college. </p>

<p>I am interested in his fit for the schools he is looking at right now: Rice, Stanford, MIT and Princeton. From the literature sent, I know they all turn away many very good students. He does like the residential colleges at Rice and we have relatives in Houston. Has a cousin who really enjoyed Stanford for math and physics.</p>

<p>We will need financial aid for these types of private university. (Will have 3 in college.) </p>

<p>While I don't think much of standardized tests, I do recognize that he is good at test taking and has taken the following tests:</p>

<p>PSAT -- 236.</p>

<p>ACT -- 36 (36, 36, 36, 35)</p>

<p>SAT-- 2,280 800 CR, 770 Math, 710 writing</p>

<p>SAT II -- 780 Math I, 770 Chemistry, 760 English Math II in fall</p>

<p>AP tests: Calculus BC -- 5 English -- 5 and Chemistry--5</p>

<p>His Senior year classes are:</p>

<p>2nd year calculus at the state university
AP Physics
AP Statistics
AP English
AP French
Psychology
Mandarin Chinese</p>

<p>His primary activities are:</p>

<p>1) 4 years varsity swimming 20-30 hours a week in season Nov - March.
Also June - July (summer training)</p>

<p>2) 3 years Varsity/jv water polo 20 hours a week August - November. </p>

<pre><code> Club water polo in April - July.
</code></pre>

<p>(He doesn't plan to swim in college, although he likes the discipline and team aspect for high school. But would like to play club water polo.)</p>

<p>3) Cello -- played in school orchestra, until conflicted with swimming.
Now plays solo and at church.</p>

<pre><code> (Would like to play more in college.)
</code></pre>

<p>4) Volunteers at local elementary school with students having trouble in school</p>

<p>5) Church and religious activities</p>

<p>6) Math and Science Olympiads</p>

2

<p>He also has good grades:</p>

<p>3.96/ 4.0</p>

3

<p>Your son is certainly a good student but you need to add schools. The majority with his stats are rejected by 3 out of 4 of these schools every year.</p>

4

<p>Good point. He is pretty realisitic about the difficulty to get in to these schools. His high school is very large and competitive. He is pretty laid back about the process but not over confident.</p>

<p>He is still in the looking stage and will probably add one or two sure bets that he would be happy to attend.</p>

5

<p>He’ll get in without a doubt at Rice, the other three are a bit more of a question, not because there is anything wrong with your son’s profile but because there are too many kids like him applying to Princeton, MIT, and Stanford. Try adding a few more ‘lower Ivies’ or other top schools to increase your chances of getting into a few, like the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Duke, etc.</p>

<p>Depending on how your son feels about school size, he may want to check out CalTech–its not any easier to get into than the other schools you mentioned, but for the right student, it can be a great experience.</p>

6

<p>His counselor also suggested U of Chicago and Washington University as possible fits for him. So he is looking around.</p>

<p>He had some concern about size for CalTech. But clearly a great school also.</p>

7

<p>Academically, the University of Chicago is every bit as outstanding as HYPS and is often overlooked by CC visitors. I recommend it as well.</p>

8

<p>Harvey Mudd may be a great fit, check it out! It’s great for math and science. It’s smaller but more one on one attention. Also, it is in a totally different area and he may like a different location. Here is what is says from the website:</p>

<p>“A private liberal-arts college focusing on mathematics, the physical and biological sciences, and engineering.”</p>

9

<p>I would not say that he would get into Rice without a doubt. People forget that Rice is a very selective university as well… 22 percent overall acceptance rate this year, with the RD acceptance rate probably being slightly lower (18 percent). Sure, not as tough as getting into HYPSM, but almost just as hard as getting into Duke, WashU, UChicago, and Northwestern. Your son’s chances are good at Rice. However, if your son does not clearly demonstrate how he will contribute to Rice in the application and Rice supplement or if he doesn’t write insightful essays, then he may not make the cut. Rice has a very HOLISTIC admissions process… test scores aren’t everything. However, if you are out of state (Texas), your son may have a slight advantage in the admissions process because Rice is in the midst of creating a truly national university.</p>

<p>If you have any questions about Rice’s admissions process through the lens of a student who just went through it, I will be glad to answer them. Feel free to PM me. Best of luck to your son!</p>

10

<p>I agree with early_college! Check out the Claremont Colleges! Specifically: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, and Harvey Mudd</p>

11

<p>slik nik. He is an articulate writer. We are also from Midwest. So perhaps a plus for Rice. I think he is interested in going to new area. Although plenty of good places in the Midwest.</p>

<p>nealJ2K-- he has a cousin at Pomona who is having a great academic experience.</p>

12

<p>If he likes the idea of residential colleges so much, he ought to apply to Yale. Moreover, that gives you another opportunity to to receive a financial aid offer that should make college easily affordable.</p>

13

<p>Since he is from the Midwest consider Carleton (excellent financial aid, no merit aid) and Macalester in Minnesota. Very good schools.</p>

14

<p>

I would add Emory and Tufts to that list of suggestions. Possibly Rochester as a safety/safe match. Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Reed, Amherst, and Davidson could work if size is not a significant issue.</p>

15

<p>The beauty of the Claremont colleges is that students can cross register if their college does not offer a course[ history at HM, for example] that another in the consortium does[ Pomona] . Also HMudd offers merit $$ for top scoring students. As for Stanford and your S’s chances, statistically he has as good a chance as any top student applying there does, which does not sound too comforting, but they DO love their scholar-athletes, so I think he has a strong chance! But you do need to spread a wider net if you need FA. There are other very good universities who pass out merit $$ to entice top students- U of Southern Calif for example. My S had very similar stats as yours 3 years ago, and was denied at Stanford [ he was a legacy too] but was accepted everywhere else he applied including 2 Ivys, Wash U, Chicago, [which, although it is a fabulous U, has a well deserved reputation for very uneven and often times meeger FA]. Son ended up at USC with a full tuition merit scholarship. I suggest your S apply early to schools like USC that have early deadline dates for merit scholarship eligibility, [ Wash U is another] just in case he is not lucky enough to be accepted at a school with FA deep pockets [a la S,MIT,P,Y]</p>

16

<p>He is spending some time thinking of some other possibilities. He has been contacted by a number of schools with merit aid.</p>

<p>He may visit some schools this summer.</p>

<p>He will add some geographical diversity to some of these schools. Although I’m not sure that is really a factor at this level. A Blonde Midwesterner is not that novel, although he has worn a beard since 10th grade, just because he felt like it.</p>

17

<p>He is spending some time thinking of some other possibilities. He has been contacted by a number of schools with merit aid.</p>

<p>He may visit some schools this summer.</p>

<p>He will add some geographical diversity to some of these schools. Although I’m not sure that is really a factor at this level. A tall, blonde Midwesterner is not that novel, although he has worn a beard since 10th grade, just because he felt like it.</p>