Rice and UC Berkeley chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Some background info: I am a high school junior and a US citizen studying in India. I studied the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum in grades 9 and 10 and am now doing the AS and A-levels.

Subjects:
Physics (A-level) Predicted grade A*
Chemistry (A-level) Predicted grade A*
Math (A-level) Predicted grade A*
CS (A-level) Predicted grade A*
Eng. Lit and Lang (AS-level) Predicted grade A
Global Perspectives (AS level) Predicted grade A

Grade 10: 98% in the CBSE board exam, topped my school

Took the SAT once, scored 1570. NMSQT selection index is 225.

EC:
8 years violin training
A few zonal awards in science olympiads and spell bee
Active member of math and data clubs at school
Doing weekly astronomy activities with the junior science club at my school
President of a student-led initiative which does volunteering activities around the city
Member of the pulsar search collaboratory- involves analysing pulsar data plots
Will be taking a prestigious national scholarship exam later this year, will hopefully be shortlisted

I’d like to apply to the undergrad physics program at both universities. Chances, and any suggestions?
Thanks.

2

Stats wise, you’re in a very strong position. ECs are quite good too.
It will all come down to your essays and recos.

3

No financial aid for out of state students at Berkeley. Can your parents afford full pay or are they CA residents?

4

My parents will bear the majority of the fees, yes. I plan to work in college as well.

5

You have as good a chance as any high stats kid for these colleges (OOS for UCB). Put together the best application you can, and hope for the best.

You should probably expand your list of colleges. UIUC, UMichigan, UMD, and U Colorado all have top physics programs. Most are at least as good as Rice’s, and they have higher acceptance rates than Rice’s. Something about which to think, because, although you have good stats and ECs, but it’s always a crap shoot at colleges with low acceptance rates.

With your SSI, you’re a National Merit semifinalist (since it is virtually impossible that the cutoff for you would be 226), and most likely a finalist, if you remember to apply. That may help you get some merit funding in some colleges.

6

Thanks for your response! I was in fact looking for more safety schools to apply to, and I’ll do a bit more research on the ones you’ve mentioned.
Am I right to presume the NMS semifinalist/finalist status doesn’t make much of a difference to one’s application, since it’s based on PSAT scores?

Also, since I posted this, I’ve been doing quite a lot of self-study, including a couple MOOCs and attending a lecture series at the undergraduate level. Would things like this fall under the category of ECs, or should I talk about them elsewhere in my application?