<p>As a Rice ED applicant, I wanted to go to Rice more than anything. I felt like I was a good applicant, and so when I received an email telling me that I'd been accepted, I freaked out. I was initially told that I was deferred, but I just assumed that they had made an error, and changed their mind. Later that day however, I received another email stating that I had NOT been accepted, and that I had, in fact, been deferred. Needless to say, I was a little peeved..</p>
<p>RD results roll around, and I still want to go to Rice more than anything... I don't even get waitlisted. I get straight up denied after them screwing me over with the false hope in ED. My friend, however, with slightly better stats got accepted, immediately turning down the offer because he didn't even want to apply in the first place.</p>
<p>At this point, I will be attending Middlebury in the fall, and I couldn't be happier about that. In fact, I think that many would consider Middlebury just as good of a school as Rice, and the fit fits me about as well as it could..</p>
<p>I just wanted to take the opportunity to vent...</p>
<p>Rice, in the future, do not impress false hope upon your applicants.. And when you accept or reject students, take interest level into account! Applying ED meant that I prized Rice over all other schools, yet that didn't even give me the push to get waitlisted... </p>
<p>I’m glad you’ve found a school that fits you, and hope that you have a wonderful experience at Middlebury. It’s really a shame that you got caught up with that accidental acceptance e-mail thing, and I really hope that doesn’t happen again in the future, because I imagine it was incredibly frustrating. Don’t let this rejection get you down, wavylays, and go make the most of your time at what I have always been told is a really great school.</p>
<p>aww im sorry you didn’t get accepted
what are your stats?</p>
<p>Rice was my number 1 choice too and i wanted to go SO badly, more than anything! so i understand how you feel.
but still, it’s not like they purposely did that. it was just a mistake. they processes so many applications and have to contact so many applicants that they will sometimes make mistake. the admissions people are human too, and being human, they’re bound to mess up sometimes. also, Rice does take into account interest level. but i guess you have to have “good enough” academic stats and essays first.
and as long as you’re happy with your current choice in school, it’s all good right? maybe the admissions people felt like you wouldn’t have liked it at Rice, even though you thought that you would have.</p>
<p>If you’re excited to go to Middlebury, Rice wasn’t the place for you. They are very different schools. On a side note, usually when people say “you can kiss this…” it implies there was a choice to take an offer up. You were denied from Rice, so it isn’t your choice not to attend.</p>
<p>Sounds like there was an offer, but it was subsequently rescinded due to Rice’s inability to master the art of only sending acceptance emails to those who were actually accepted. </p>
<p>^ ah but UCLA was in the news yesterday for sending out 900 unintended acceptances… it does happen. Not a fun ride to be on, that is most certain!</p>
<p>Hey, Wavy, thanks for posting. I’m glad to see you’ve made a final choice. Although I’m a bit surprised that you turned down that incredible offer from UT, Middlebury is great. </p>
<p>Owl2014: like most schools, Middlebury and Rice have a number of differences (e.g. location, residential system, etc.), but they are more similar than you think. They are both small, intimate, and undergraduate-focused schools with stately campuses. Both are prestigious institutions of higher education, with Middlebury being one of the finest and oldest liberal arts colleges in the country (~100 years older than Rice) and Rice being one of our finest research universities for its size. Both are private schools that are among the most selective institutions in the country (Rice- 18.6%, Mb- 17.2%), both boast the best return on investment of any school in their respective states, and both have excellent reputations for placement in grad schools. </p>
<p>Arcadia’s response is right on. Although I know it wasn’t done on purpose, the Rice admissions people are still totally at fault for screwing around with the emotions of people who chose Rice first among hundreds of other possibilities in this country. That really upsets me. People who are qualified and have Rice as their first choice should be the ones offered admission, rather than kids like the friend Wavy mentioned who applied and was accepted despite having no intention of attending. </p>
<p>The admissions process is not perfect, I know, but it surely couldn’t hurt to accept more ED students - especially when there are record-breaking numbers of them every year (twice as many this year as when I applied a few years ago!). Rice has been doing a better job with advertising itself, so more high-achieving high school students discover and fall in love with the school. I want those people here.</p>
<p>Enjoy Middlebury, Wavy! It’s an awesome place and will give you plenty of opportunities. I wish you all the best, man.</p>
<p>The problem that I have with saying that more people should be accepted from ED is that this is not a financial option for a lot people to apply and then have a binding offer with no guarantee of any financial assistance. I know this is why I didn’t apply anywhere ED, not because I wasn’t interested in the schools I applied to. I know that you can back out for financial reasons, but this is something that I felt seemed kind of shady and didn’t really want to go through. I agree it would be wonderful if Rice (and other schools) could accept only people who are super interested in coming, but it’s unrealistic. There’s no way that they can separate out interest from other factors (e.g. you can’t say people have to visit because this interacts with geographic and financial factors). And even though the people who are not really interested get admitted, if they don’t come here it’s not like that spot just goes away, someone on the waitlist gets it, so I don’t really see it as unfair process. I know it hurts not to get into your dream school, but at this high level, there are a lot of high quality applicants and by saying you should have been admitted over your friend who had not interest is also saying you deserved it over the person on the waitlist who got his spot, which you really don’t know.</p>
<p>Now, the false admittance sucks and I’m sorry that happened to you (and the others) and I hope you really do enjoy Middlebury.</p>
<p>Well, for what its worth, Vassar and UCLA messed up some email admissions/messages that had to be retracted this year as well. It stinks, but it happens. At least you are in good company.</p>
<p>Well, I’m a senior now so I don’t really have to worry about it, I was just pointing out the fact that many people who are very interested may not like the idea of backing out of what was supposed to be a binding commitment, even if it is technically allowed by the system.</p>
<p>Loved Middlebury. I would have seriously considered attending if they had given me any semblance of the need-based aid I desperately needed.</p>
<p>I’m glad you are excited about attending. It’s a great school. Sorry Rice’s accident screwed you over like it did. They didn’t intend for anything like that to happen. I wish you luck in your next four years and hope they are the best you could have asked for from a college/university.</p>
<p>My financial aid FYI from Middlebury was AWESOME!!!</p>
<p>They accepted my non custodial parent waiver petition first of all.</p>
<p>COA is about 58,400, and they gave me 52000 in grant aid, and offered me an extra 1800 in work study, so i’ll have to take out about 1000 in loans per year after my mom helps, assuming my income doesn’t drastically change.</p>
<p>I was QuestBridge, and they only gave me $7k total, half of it in loans. It was pretty pathetic haha. I’m really glad to hear they were generous for you! I’m sure you will love it up there.</p>
