Is the scholarship reward detailed in the acceptance email or is there a link in the potral?
@Ladadof3 Financial aid is decided for ED applicants now because you have to send in a deposit soon. If you have questions about the aid package, contact financial aid asap.
I got admitted. International student; test-optional; UWGPA 4.0, WGPA 4.35 (US High School); submitted 7 aps: Cal BC &AB sub-score, Chem, US Gov, Micro, Macro - 5, Stat - 4, (bio - 3 did not submit); SAT sub: math2 800, chem 780; major poli science/public policy (may change)
My stats aren’t stunning. But my ps and supps are sincere and, in my opinion, pretty solid.
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I was admitted- neuroscience major
3.8 UW, from a selective nationally ranked private school in Texas, no ranking
34 ACT
8 APs
760 Math 2
not insane stats but impressive ECs and essays
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Just curious to those accepted. Is everyone going? As a parent it’s hard to recommend my child go into 6 figures of student loan debt. Regardless of the school.
Thanks
Rice’s early decision is binding on the applicant. I don’t personally recommend applying ED if resources are an issue, but the time to have that discussion is BEFORE deciding to apply ED, not after.
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RICE happens to be the cheapest (& smallest) among the top 20 schools. That being said - we are going for it despite not having the money and no scholarship help from RICE.
Rice does not give out many merit scholarships, but it claims to meet financial need. If your financial circumstances have changed recently due to a job loss etc., get in touch with the financial aid office perhaps Rice can help.
For those that didn’t see the separate posting. Record number of students apply for early decision at Rice - The Rice Thresher
Well doesn’t look like my son will be going. He doesn’t want 110k in student loans. He can stay instate (Louisiana) and graduate with no debt. As a parent I’m torn, very proud of his accomplishment. Rice is a great school, however agree that it is too much debt regardless of the school. I’m sure Graduating from rice will open doors for grad school and employment but there’s no guarantee. And there’s no guarantee he’ll make more to offset student loans.
I’m curious - and I don’t mean this in a snarky way - did you run the Rice cost estimator before he applied ED? I wouldn’t want 110K in student loans either but was the financial aid offered significantly different from the cost estimator?
@DCCAWAMIIAIL
Hello. Yes we did. Actually got more aid than the calculator said.
But for us being 4 hours away we were going to apply regardless. Knowing they give merit to roughly 20% of the students it was a no brainer to give it a shot
So given that your son received more aid than the calculator said how can he turn down the ED admittance? He applied to binding ED with an expected amount of financial aid and received more.
From the common app - not Rice specific: students admitted under the Early Decision option may be released from this binding commitment only in cases of documented financial hardship.
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@Ladadof3 Where did you get the idea Rice gives merit to roughly 20% of students? Rice is generous with need based aid through the Rice Investment, but my understanding is they give very little in actual merit aid.
I agree with @DCCAWAMIIAIL. The whole point of applying ED is that it’s binding. School’s accept more kids ED than RD because the applicants are committing to attending if they are accepted ED. To apply ED you (and your child’s counselor) had to sign something stating you understood this. If you ran the calculator that should have given you a pretty good clue of what you’d be expected to pay. If you couldn’t afford that amount then you shouldn’t have applied ED. Every college that we spoke to that had an ED admissions cycle was very clear about this. The fact that you actually got more does not support your decision to not uphold your end of the binding agreement.
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@PrdMomto1 You were more blunt than I was!
The 20% number comes directly from the school. When we did our tour back in February. Also it does state if the financial package does not does not meet the families ability then you can back out. And I talk to his point person for financial aid as well.
Here is the relevant sentence from Rice’s early decision agreement, which the applicant and the parent are both required to sign during the application process:
“I understand that all admitted students are automatically considered for merit awards and acknowledge that admission as an Early Decision candidate binds me to attend Rice University whether I am selected for a merit scholarship or not.”
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Disclaimer: I am not an insider. D ended up not applying to Rice, despite our gentle pushing. Got accepted into her awesome LAC. BUT when we run Rice’s NPC, it showed much more financial help than any other college in the US, including Princeton, Harvard and Stanford. While your individual circumstances (and therefore, outcome) may vary, please run other NPCs very carefully before you turn down Rice. And don’t assume that other schools will also be more generous than their NPCs indicate. Most are not. So while getting out the ED shouldn’t be that hard at a school that has 10 people ready to enthusiastically accept your spot, getting a better deal in a school of a similar caliber may be impossible.
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Anyone know how the Rice campus is managing with the extreme weather Texas has been experiencing? Hope all are safe and taken care of.
The students on campus were fine. Rice has its own power generators and well water that is not on the Houston city water system. Rice did not lose power during the storm. Some students living off campus came to the campus to take shelter in the dorms. Classes were cancelled all of last week. https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2021/02/23/universities-damage-winter-storm.html?ana=TRUEANTHEMTWT_HO&csrc=6398&taid=6034fc56e954d300013c81e1&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
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