I’m a mom, but my DD was waitlisted. She has virtually no idea of my presence on CC, but on the rare occasions I casually mention it, she rolls her eyes!
Scanning the thread, it looks like you’re a waitlisted student? IF so, and if a Rice waitlist is a big disappointment (as it was for my DD), my heart really goes out to you. I hope you’re doing OK and (because I’m a mom, I have to say this) please know that NO college acceptance, waitlist, or rejection defines you. If you applied to Rice, I’m sure your GPA and resume are solid. Whatever college you attend will be lucky to have you and the door is open for you to do great things there. I don’t mean to overstep. I’m still in consoling mode (obviously) and I wish you all the best.
Accepted. S23 is very happy…Rice is one of his top 3 schools, one of the schools that he visited and absolutely loved. Might be one of the best fits with his personality.
Some stats:
Int’l (LatAm)
1530 SAT
12 APs
4.0 UW, 4.5 W
Two math Olympic medals
NHS, Drama
Captain of the basketball team
Secretary General MUN, several awards
Contributor on a published medical paper
Thanks - my fam makes over 200k, but certainly not rich and my parents are very financially conservative - we live in big city, etc. I applied to expensive school for hope of merit scholarships plus I earned a $30k year private scholarship. Basically, it’s for the challenge of getting in, but certainly not realistic for us
Same. S23 accepted to Rice and UCLA (in-state). 2 very different schools but both are top of his list. Will need time to break it all down and decide. Going to both accepted student events, so that may be the tipping point. Tough decisions ahead! Congratulations on your success!
many paid for them. Idk how my child didn’t do research. What was the major your child applied for? I do know that schools are more about Institutional needs than stats.
Accepted!!
I had a 1420 sat but I went test optional
10 aps
4.21 gpa (all A’s but majority A+’s)
3 years of orchestra
4 years on three swim teams
100+ hours of environmental community service at an arboretum butterfly house
And then I was on my schools envirothon team where we placed 2nd at states my sophomore year and 1st my junior year and then 10th at nationals
Healthy planet book award
AP scholar with extinction
Some national French awards
My recommendation letters were from my physics teacher who’s had me for 3 years and my envirothon/Enviromental science teacher who’s gotten to know me the past 4 years extremely well
I think because I applied for environmental engineering, my AP classes and my extracurriculars+ recommendation letters reflected that I pursed things in school that I was genuinely passionate about and will help me succeed later in life. I also think I spent so much time making my essays perfect.
I know my stats aren’t amazing and I’m genuinely so amazed I got in. I’m so sorry to everyone who didn’t but other schools with acknowledge your hard work I promise.
Seems very low. I can’t find last year’s data but the Common Data Set for Fall 2021 shows 3,016 waitlisted, 2,118 accepted the waitlist spot, and only 2 admitted from the waitlist. : (
My son waitlisted also. I did read that some years they took as many as 100+. Also, the number admitted from the WL does not tell much about how many offers they made. By May-June when WLs move, there have to be kids who have moved on and decline the offer. Not sure those numbers get counted. The odds are low but not as low as the numbers imply. I think?!
@Sally16 : Sorry but best of luck. 1590 is IMPRESSIVE.
Adding @Katmar
Following is not bragging, but sharing since you asked.
My D did research mainly online due to COVID.
UT Austin - HSRA
UPenn - Biomedical Academy (I forgot the name)
Northwestern - On Allergies & Asthma
Yale - YYGS
She did Neuroscience courses from Harvard & Duke
She made it to ISEF internationals thrice. Based on the correspondences, I think ISEF helped her to get merit scholarship.
NOTE: Above is only part of research and a response to whoever asked question.
Her application has other elements. Main research was independently by done her and thats what was published.
Wait I’m sorry I’m a mood breaker but how can you count a preppy costly summer program as research?? YYGS costs 7000$ for 2 weeks and it’s not really research?
It seems like all your research opportunities are pay for play programs. I thought admissions frown upon them, and our GC has advised our students not to pursue these programs.
Clearly, it didn’t hurt your student’s acceptances. But please clarify that you did pay for play research programs. It is discouraging for those students who have tried to look for these research initiatives and weren’t able to participate in any due to the costly fees.
My daughter has been accepted into Rice University, but she’s still weighing her options between UT McCombs and Rice’s business programs as she’s highly interested in pursuing a major in this field. Can you provide any insight on which program might be the better choice for finance career?
My child already had an established relationship with his research mentor when Covid hit so they just pivoted to meeting online. The research was independent, didn’t require any special lab equipment, and his mentor was not affiliated with a university so that definitely made things easier. By the summer of 2022, pandemic restrictions had eased and he was invited to continue his independent research at a university lab.
I’m sure the rejection stings, but your child has excellent stats and is sure to have lots of great options. Because college admissions are opaque, it can be tempting to compare student profiles to identify presumptive “weaknesses.” But as outsiders to the process we don’t really know. I think all colleges are looking for smart, ambitious students. Research is one way to identify those students, but it’s certainly not the only metric.
D had a mentor at a local university and would access their lab. Last year she interned at a national lab through a competitive high school research programme.
All this experience resulted in two publications-for one of them she was the first author and received an award at a national conference.
