I’m currently a junior in high school and am looking at colleges to apply to next year. Rice is at the top of my list right now. My unweighted GPA is 3.84, I took the ACT in the fall and got a 33, haven’t taken the SAT or SAT subject tests. I know that they’re recommended now for Rice and they say that if you don’t take them it doesn’t effect your chances of admission but is that really true? I’m not too eager to take them because I feel that I don’t do well with SAT formatting and questions so I’m not sure if it would be better to take them and get a bad score or to not take them at all??? Sorry lots of questions but any information helps!!
Rice used to require subject tests along with the SAT, but even then they accepted the ACT without subject tests. I guess the additional content on the ACT, i.e. the science section, was considered to serve the same purpose. You’ve already got a solid ACT score. If I were you I wouldn’t waste effort on the SAT or subject tests unless you need them for other schools. Rather, put the effort into prepping for a retake of the ACT. If you can improve another point or two you’ll have your standardized testing bases well covered, at least as far as Rice is concerned.
There is another thread on this forum that has the position that “recommended” really equals “required”. Look it up. I think it’s a valid point. I know that in the Georgetown presentation the dean said “now do you think recommended means that it’s optional? Because when we say recommended, we really mean it.”
My daughter’s college counselor said it is best to treat recommended/optional as required in order to stand out among applicants. However, as you know, the subject tests are not mandatory at Rice now. @Aquapt makes an excellent point about retaking the ACT to try to pull it up a bit. My daughter took the ACT and sent her SAT subject tests in to Rice before the requirements were relaxed. Rice now recommends certain subject tests be taken depending on what school within Rice you are applying to. My daughter applied as a humanities major and took subjects tests in humanities areas that she was very strong in at the same time that she was taking the AP courses /exams in the same subjects. She scored very well on the subject tests and got AP credit for the subjects when she entered Rice. She started Rice with a lot of credit hours which is allowing her to double major. She killed 2 birds with the same stone. Here is the link to the Rice subject test page. http://futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/standardized_tests.asp
My daughter was accepted in the ED round without SAT subject tests. She had a strong ACT score which much like @aquapt said, basically serves the same purpose. I will say we worried and worried about not having those subject tests and in the event she had not been accepted we would have always wondered if we had messed up by not having her take them.
Somewhat unrelated, but my son is considering Rice for his ED - as a Humanities major. He’s struggling between Rice and a small liberal arts school. I was wondering what the Humanities experience at Rice has been like for your daughter so far?
Most of the students at Rice are STEM majors, but the humanities programs are excellent also. Rice combines the social aspects of a small liberal arts school with the offerings of a research university. It may be a slight advantage to apply to Rice School of Humanities as there are fewer students taking that route versus the legions applying to the other schools. My daughter is double majoring in Psychology and English. She loves her English classes which are small but filled with incredibly sharp students. Historically Rice has not filled as large a percentage of its class with ED admits as some other peer schools. However, this may be changing this year and in the future. Rice’s recent initiative to lower tuition for middle class students may drive up the number of ED and RD applicants.
Does anybody know by when Rice or any other university needs to receive subject test scores or SAT scores? I haven’t sent mine in yet and am planning to apply Early Decision. Does this mean my scores have to get to Rice by November 1st?
Your scores should be at Rice by November 1 or as soon thereafter as the scores are available. The last test dates Rice accepts ACT and SAT scores for ED applicants are the October 27 ACT and the November 3 SAT. Rice has to decide on all of the ED applications by December 15. Get those scores sent to Rice asap. Rush them if you have to https://admission.rice.edu/apply/freshman
What type of SAT subject tests should I give in? I have a 750 in Biology SAT 2 and going to take the Math I, II, Chemistry, and maybe Physics. Is there a certain criterion I should follow or give in? Thanks.
Don’t bother with Math I if you’re going to take Math II.
Why? Isn’t it a good idea to take both and hand in the one that is better? Rice uses Score Choice, right?
The selective schools that care about SAT subject tests generally do not perceive the Math I test to be indicative of math accomplishment, nor will even a good score set the student apart from other applicants (which is the whole idea, right?). Perhaps an intended humanity major could submit Math I (still less than ideal), but certainly not a STEM major.
The SAT subject test scores you should submit vary depending on which school at Rice you are applying to. Applicants chose one school on their application. Of course high scores are a plus. I doubt many humanities applicants would submit a math score. Rice recommends but does not require that applicants to the Engineering School submit subject tests in Math plus a science, preferably Chemistry or Physics, applicants to the School of Natural Sciences submit math plus a science, applicants to the schools of Architecture, Humanities, Music, and Social Sciences submit any two subject tests. The level of Math is not specified for any of Rice’s schools. The key is that the subject tests should be related to the proposed area of study. https://admission.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs676/f/FreshmanApplication_Instructions.pdf