<p>I am a going to be a high school senior and my first choice school is Rice University and really have no idea of my chances of getting in. Just to give myself an idea I decided to post some of my stats on CollegeConfidential. </p>
<p>Anyways,</p>
<p>unweighted GPA: 4.0
all ap/ib courses
SAT: 800 CR, 800 W, 760 M
SAT II: yet to take Physics, Math II, and Biology. possibly literature as well
Senior year courses: ap lit/ib eng hl, ib spanish sl, ib history of the americas hl, ap calc bc, ib theory of knowledge, ib biology hl, and possibly ap macroeconomics
ap scores: 5s on euro history, american history, biology, calc ab, eng lang</p>
<p>extracurriculars:
hospital volunteering (by far the most important area of volunteering)
various other areas of volunteering
research paper done at the local university during summer after sophomore year
lab work at a genomics laboratory summer after junior year
debate club (won awards at local tournaments)
local mathematics competitions (won awards)
karate for 4 years
track team; cut short by injury</p>
<p>I'll also probably be a National Merit Semifinalist.</p>
<p>It's better to post on the Rice board. I'd say your chances are good, though. My stats weren't as good, and my extracurriculars were only slightly better, and I'm going to Rice next year. A general bit of advice, though: I don't like chances threads. They're pointless. You have a general idea of your chances to begin with, and the college admissions process makes zero sense to begin with, so you may as well apply if you're interested in the school. I applied to Yale despite the fact that my chances of getting in were slim. It's the only school I was straight-up rejected from. Just make sure you apply to a few schools where you know you'll be happy and you're almost assured of getting in.</p>
<p>Thanks for your answer. And yes, I realize that these "chances" threads probably are of little value, but I absolutely cannot gauge my chances of getting into different schools, besides my safety ones. The way I see it, any little bit of information helps, as long as it is not misleading.</p>
<p>Do you think I could make it into Rice/Baylor? Am I interested, actually, though I hear it has only 15 available slots. I don't know how familiar you are with the program, but if you are, I have two questions:</p>
<p>Do I have to apply ED to Rice, or can I apply Interim Decision?</p>
<p>My academics are good, I realize, but are my extracurriculars?</p>
<p>yea u can either ed or id to rice. im sure u'll get in...unless u screw up ur essay. ur extracurriculars don't matter if ur academics r good.
academics count for 2/3 of ur application.</p>
<p>You have good chances. Unless you are in-state. In that case, I'd still say about a 1 in 3 chance. And for Rice/Baylor....it's very tough to get into, but definitely is possible.</p>
<p>Rice already has almost half the class from Texas. Especially since Rice is big on diversity, they are forced to be very selective with Texas applicants in order to not let the in state figure grow anymore. This happens to Rice because it is in such a big state population-wise. Stanford has similar problems.</p>
<p>So I saw in an article by the Rice paper about a year ago that said the in-state acceptance rate was 19% - about 6% below the overall rate. Out of state is in the 30's% I believe. If it's like that for Texas - think about the level Houston itself is on.</p>
<p>I don't mean to discourage you - you should apply. Your stats are very very good and you still have a good shot. But the numbers don't lie :(</p>
<p>The difference between the instate and outofstate acceptance rates could be because the outofstate applicant pool is more self-selecting. I'm sure Rice is A LOT more well known in Texas than any other state, especially the northern states, which may encourage more Texas applicants. For example, if you're from Maine and you've actually researched Rice, chances are you may be more intelligent/ambitious than a Texan who has just heard the name Rice many times and so decides to apply. But if your stats are up there, I don't see how your chances can be affected much if your instate. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>I heard there was a request by the founders that about 50% of enrollment always be from Texas. If that be true, that would make the out of state candidate in a larger and more select pool.</p>
<p>Does anyone know about the truth of the 50% rumor.</p>
<p>It's not true. It may have been true a long time ago, but not anymore. I think there is a requirement that the Board that governs the school be 50% Texan though.</p>
<p>Rice, Georgetown, Tuffts, Stanford, and other top private schools have a ton of competition from the near by population. There is a simple reason: they are amazing schools close to home. These schools are also national universities and do not want to be seen like state schools where half of the population is from the area. If you are an amazing candidate in Houstin (which the OP is) then you have a great chance at Rice. If you are in the middle 50% for SATs, GPA, and have typical ECs then Rice is harder to get into from instate than out of state. And to the OP, if you couldnt do any ECs freshman and sophomore year, then explain that to colleges through your essays. They wont penalize you for putting family first.</p>