<p>haha, imiracle911, I'm in a similar boat as you. Waitlisted at Rice, accepted to Brown. There's was a risky essay that I included in my application that I think is partly responsible for the decision :-p</p>
<p>And I'm too lazy to type up the whole stats thing. It's under Brown's "official decisions thread" if anyone is interested enough, though I doubt it haha.</p>
<p>Decision: Waitlisted</p>
<p>Location: Atlanta
Type of School: Prestigious Private
Gender: Male</p>
<p>Stats:
[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 800 M, 760 CR, 790 WR
[</em>]SAT II: 800 IIC, 760 IC, 780 Chem, 770 Phys, 790 Writing
[<em>]GPA: 91.5 W
[</em>]APs: 5s on Bio, Euro, BC Calc, Chem; 4s on both English
[/ul]</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
[ul]
[<em>]10-12: School Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief 12, Copy Editor 11)
[</em>]9-12: Science Olympiad (VP Events 11, Team made nationals 10, 12)
[<em>]9-12: Varsity Cross Country (letter 12)
[</em>]9-12: Theater (Student Director 12)
[<em>]Volunteered at two summer camps
[</em>]9-12: LifeTEEN, Catholic Church of Saint Ann
[<em>]9-12: Nosh (Jewish Group)
[</em>]12: Young Democrats of America
[/ul]</p>
<p>Other Factors:
[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Once good, one great
[</em>]Teacher recs: probably really good
[<em>]Counselor rec: ditto
[</em>]Hook: N/A
[/ul]</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted Architecture</p>
<p>One thing the entire process has taught me as a parent is this: no one school is the ONLY place for you. Each school that you applied to had enough good characteristics and I believe that you determined that if any particular school was the best school that accepted you, then you would be happy or satisfied in attending that school (and this rule should have been applicable -- if not then you should not have applied to certain schools).</p>
<p>Now when I hear people get into one great school and not another -- and they are upset. I ask that they not for one moment be upset. You got into a great school -- no matter which school of your list it was. I say this because whoever accepted you has already been determined by you to be good enough for you. That is why you applied. You have determined that to be a school in which your educational needs would be answered, and determined that such a school included a campus environment to which you could easily acclimate.</p>
<p>So you did not get into EVERY school. I am glad of that fact. I always wonder how the kids of today have obscured the system with 12-15 school applications so that the universities must determine which applicants (of a large pool of very qualified students) truly want to attend as opposed to hang the acceptance letter on the wall.</p>
<p>I do not place all the problems on 17-year old applicants. The adults have been much of the cause. My children's e-mail boxes begin to be cluttered with spam from various universities, including prestigious ivy league colleges, inviting them to apply. The result of the internet solicitation is that the schools proclaim each successive year to be "another bumper year" where th applicant pool surpasses any previous year's number. In fact, the solicitations forced upon my sophomore son well surpass what I witnessed of my senior daughter. The aggressive stance by the admissions offices is getting worse. And what happened to my senior daughter's e-mail was grotesque in my persepctive. I probably will be more disgusted by the process -- as it will then exist -- for my son.</p>
<p>Congrads to those who got in.</p>
<p>Not all is lost for those who did not get into this school.</p>
<p>One thing the entire process has taught me as a parent is this: no one school is the ONLY place for you. Each school that you applied to had enough good characteristics and I believe that you determined that if any particular school was the best school that accepted you, then you would be happy or satisfied in attending that school (and this rule should have been applicable -- if not then you should not have applied to certain schools).</p>
<p>Now when I hear people get into one great school and not another -- and they are upset. I ask that they not for one moment be upset. You got into a great school -- no matter which school of your list it was. I say this because whoever accepted you has already been determined by you to be good enough for you. That is why you applied. You have determined that to be a school in which your educational needs would be answered, and determined that such a school included a campus environment to which you could easily acclimate.</p>
<p>So you did not get into EVERY school. I am glad of that fact. I always wonder how the kids of today have obscured the system with 12-15 school applications so that the universities must determine which applicants (of a large pool of very qualified students) truly want to attend as opposed to hang the acceptance letter on the wall.</p>
<p>I do not place all the problems on 17-year old applicants. The adults have been much of the cause. My children's e-mail boxes begin to be cluttered with spam from various universities, including prestigious ivy league colleges, inviting them to apply. The result of the internet solicitation is that the schools proclaim each successive year to be "another bumper year" where th applicant pool surpasses any previous year's number. In fact, the solicitations forced upon my sophomore son well surpass what I witnessed of my senior daughter. The aggressive stance by the admissions offices is getting worse. And what happened to my senior daughter's e-mail was grotesque in my persepctive. I probably will be more disgusted by the process -- as it will then exist -- for my son.</p>
<p>Congrads to those who got in.</p>
<p>Not all is lost for those who did not get into this school.</p>
<p><em>Congrats (sp.)
</em>Syntax.
**Double Posting.</p>
<p>Decision: Rejected, arts & sciences</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>SAT: 2310</li>
<li>ACT: 36</li>
<li>SAT IIs: 800 math2c, 760 chemistry</li>
<li>GPA: 4.3W, 3.5UW</li>
<li>Rank: 35/240</li>
<li>Other stats: NMF, Presidential Scholar nominee</li>
</ul>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<ul>
<li>Essays: Very good</li>
<li>Teacher Recs: Very good</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: did not see</li>
<li>Hook (if any): Enjoys drama, actor in three school plays/musicals</li>
<li>ECs : compared to most on here, not many</li>
</ul>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<ul>
<li>State or Country: Louisiana</li>
<li>School Type: magnet high school</li>
<li>Ethnicity: white</li>
<li>Gender: male</li>
</ul>
<p>Other Factors: No interview, did campus visit in summer of 2005
General Comments: Accepted at Rhodes, Centenary (Louisiana), LSU, waitlisted at Wash U, still waiting on Emory</p>
<p>I honestly think Rice looks at the GPA as a very very important piece of info. That and the class rank if available. Because of that, I was rejected since my GPA wasn't in the top five percent of my class. All of my other stuff was strong and very good, but its something as simple as one B that can reject you. Yet, Father of Boarder is quite right; wherever you go, it's more important in the end what you do and who you become than where you went for college. We will all be successful if we work hard at our chosen college.</p>
<p>At my highschool (Houston, Texas) from the few top ten people that apply...incredible scores...different EC, etc ONLY the VALEDICTORIAN was accepted. Our school is about 80 years old...and not once has some one else gotten accepted. only valedictorians...and if a valedictorian did not apply...none got accepted. .</p>
<p>man. i feel really bad for some of you guys. i am so glad i got in. i really did spend a lot of time on the little things though</p>
<p>at our school last year, the valedictorian was the only one to be deferred and rejected, while two others were accepted. This year, the valedictorian and a guy ranked #4 were accepted, and all others were rejected.</p>
<p>i really don't think the emphasis on GPA and ranking is as important as some of you say. I go to a private all girls school which only has 90 people in a class. I definitely am not in the top 10% or even 20% of my class, though I have above a 4.0 GPA weighted, and I got accepted. I really think Rice looks at the whole package: extracirriculars, interests, recs, personality, uniqueness.</p>
<p>I am shocked about the alphamicro message.</p>
<p>The more I read, the happier I am that this process is all well behind me.</p>
<p>What will it be like for my son in two years is the question I care not to ask.</p>
<p>Class rank is not as hyped as people make it out to be. I am like...33/215 and was accepted. Of course, this is coming from a class that had 10 Upenn acceptees, 1 Harvard EA, 2 MIT EA, 1 Yale, 1 Princeton, 1 Dartmouth, a few Columbia, Cornell, and Brown, and basically every university in the top 20 schools. The top 10% of the class was NMF...and 30 more were commended. So class rank is only relative...</p>
<p>i think trying to put a label on how rice looks at an application is silly. there was a kid from my school with a higher rank than me (4/350; i am 8/350) and a higher sat than me by like 50 points. he was rejected while i was accepted with the trustee scholarship. i put a lot more time into my application and was really detailed with everything i wrote. i sent in two additional recs and a video of some commercials i have produced. i also sent them an update for the month of march. i think a big thing has to do with effort. most of the kids on this board who were accepted are really passionate about rice and worked super hard to get admitted so father of the boarder, dont say that their admissions process is ridiculous and unfair</p>
<p>yea rank does not guarantee admission. out of the top then people in my school only the valedictoria and me (number 4) were accepted while the other people where rejected. Also, last year the number one person was rejected and a lower ranked person was accepted.</p>
<p>You wrote, "i think a big thing has to do with effort. most of the kids on this board who were accepted are really passionate about rice and worked super hard to get admitted so father of the boarder, dont say that their admissions process is ridiculous and unfair."</p>
<p>I think you have seriously misquoted my statements. I said I was happy it was behind me as I am not able to deliver any rhyme or reason for some of the decisions. That is not the same as proclaiming the decisions to be "ridiculous or unfair." </p>
<p>I know I am an amateur to this process, and I can tell you that the end results are not completely formulaic.</p>
<p>If you read Rice's March entries, you will see that I have written on earlier occasion that the methods must have reason, but I cannot decipher the process, the formula or what makes admission reach "the decision." As I earlier wrote, "everything happens for a reason." </p>
<p>But, I know the reason is more than "really passionate" applications. There are many criteria, and passion -- albeit a factor in the formula -- is not the exclusively determinative factor.</p>
<p>If you were accepted, great. But, do not believe the accepted were necessarily more passionate that the wait listed or rejected. Many hearts were broken recently, many with extreme passion. </p>
<p>I can only analogize this to the Olympic gold medal athlete who says at the end that the medal was the result of a great work ethic. That does not mean the losers had any less of a work ethic. Each worked as hard and cared as much for the win. But, there is only room for a few.</p>
<p>I very strongly agree, Father. And I don't buy the lack of interest excuse made by some posters. I had plenty of interest in Rice, interviewing with an alumna, touring campus, and even sending extra pieces of information about myself. I thought my essays were solid and grades/ACT were good. Recs were good as well, and I came from out of state. It should have been a good shot for me, but I was deferred and then rejected. </p>
<p>This year has been an incredibly random, competitive year, and I greatly regret not applying to Rice ED. I really liked the school and wish I could have had the chance to study there; however, I know everything happens for a reason, so I have to believe the adcoms saw something in me that they felt was better suited to another school. In any case, it's more important HOW you do rather than WHERE you go. How you do and what you do with the opportunities you are given are, in the end, the most important predictors of your success.</p>
<p>As an example, I know one student who went to his large state school (ranked lower than the top 30 schools) because he was a full ride scholar. He worked hard and took advantage of all the resources provided (research, study abroad, volunteering) and has the enviable dilemma of having to choose between the following medical schools:</p>
<p>Harvard Medical School, Duke Medical School, Cleveland Clinic Medical School, Case Western Medical School, Washington University St. Louis Medical School, University of Michigan Medical School, Northwestern Medical School, and University of Chicago Medical School.</p>
<p>On top of all that, he also has several full tuition scholarships to MEDICAL SCHOOL, one of the most difficult accomplishments made doubly so since getting into med school (especially the ones he did) is incredibly difficult. Believe me guys, if you have the potential and work ethic, you will succeed wherever you go -- even if the name of your college isn't HYPS or Rice. Good luck.</p>
<p>I got waitlisted. Oh well, my heart is elsewhere now. :)</p>
<p>Ridpat - </p>
<p>Try to make lemonade out of the lemons that were given you. In the future your story will warm the hearts of those you cross paths with. If you are bitter and angry, you will only turn them off. Good luck!</p>