I am writing here in the hope that some of you will share your thoughts on Rice University. My eldest S is a senior and is in the middle of his college APPS. Rice and U of Chicago seem to be bombarding him with postcards one after another - “talk to us” - “visit us” - of course there is no interest in U Of Chicago being that a nephew went through there with stellar grades and got not a penny in Financial Aid.
Today he received an email from Rice mentioning that they would waive their application fee - while a little bit of saving (I was hoping that he would apply there with/without receiving the app fee waiver), what are the perceptions here when a college writes offering a waiver of the application fee? What is the perception of schools that target students in this manner?
From a standardized testing perspective, he had a 2180 & 2170 on his SAT (old version), and 1500 on the new version. Grades are consistently high and he will probably place in the top 2% of his class and thus be guaranteed admission to the business school @UT - Austin. We have friends who have told him not expect admission/aid in his dream schools (Stanford and Wharton) - and pretty much pooped on his parade - what I think of those friends is entirely a different matter.
Any opinions shared on this topic are very much appreciated.
My daughter also has gotten similar emails. We are from an area that Rice is not well known or represented, so that may be the reason for the emails. I am also curious what others think.
I think the Rice one went to many today. My son received the same fee waiver offer, with opening line referencing his subject test scores. I don’t think you can read anything into the email.
Rice does have some (highly competitive) merit aid. https://financialaid.rice.edu/scholarships.aspx If your son is an URM or in an underserved area I can see the app fee waiver. I would also agree with your friends about not “expecting” to get into Stanford or Wharton but I hope I’d have the good grace not to tell him.
If Rice is one of your S’s target schools, go ahead and apply, since financially it costs nothing.
But based on my experience, or to be exact, my D’s experience, there is no relationship between applicant recruiting and actual admission. I think, no… I know that people in recruiting department don’t talk to people in admissions.
And this is for any school, not just Rice.
I don’t know about Wharton, but I happen to think your friends are correct when it comes to admission to Stanford.
Also, I’m not sure whether you mean need-based aid or merit-based need, but IMHO, no one should expect merit-based aid from Stanford.
I’m just being realistic. I’m sorry if you think I’m “pooping on your S’s parade.”
This I think is key. Some students assume that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. Admissions and Recruiting have different incentives, different priorities and different perspectives on what they want. In the end, Recruiting doesn’t decide whether you get in or not. Admissions does, so repeated contacts mean very little in terms of predicting probability of getting into the school, specially if it is a very selective school
My D was accepted to Rice as a freshman this year (just started a couple of weeks ago and loves it, btw). It is an amazing place. For what it’s worth, she never received an invitation for an application fee waiver last fall, so hopefully, you’re a step ahead of the game! She did, however, get a very generous merit scholarship, so in the end, it appears that there may not be any correlation between recruitment and admissions/financial aid. Best of luck to your S, mathewjn!
Schools buy list of test takers. The goal is to stimulate interest.
Rice is a very tough admit and the top of the pool can get merit.
Gotta be in it to win it.
Perhaps your friends know your income and realize you won’t receive aid?
And / or recognize Stanford / Wharton don’t give merit
Are you seeking a higher “ranked” school than UT at the same cost? Two paths to that goal are either schools that meet 100% need (if you qualify) or schools where your child can win significant merit awards.
@ClarinetDad16 - I don’t want him to ‘settle’ for UT - albeit knowing fully well that UT is a much coveted school by those seeking admission to the business school. So in a way, maybe I am looking at his chances of getting into a higher ranked school at the same cost.
Your son is not guarenteed admission to McCombs. Being top 7% guarentees him admission to UT, but he doesn’t get automatically admitted to whatever major he wants.
Concur with @GSMan and @ClarinetDad16. There isn’t a relationship other than that the recruiters are sending to a whole slew of people above a certain threshold to drive a larger number of qualified applicants. My daughter was also accepted into this year’s class and loves it. She had stellar SAT scores in the high 2300s and a perfect 4.0 with lots of APs, but she received no merit aid presumably because she lacked a “wow” factor in the extracurriculars. OTH, she was offered the fee waiver based on her SAT Subject Test scores which were relatively not as impressive as her SAT, ACT and GPA. So you can read into the fee waiver what you will, as long as it isn’t too much. I know of others who got the fee waiver, but weren’t accepted.
Can you link me to where on the admissions page it says that? I went to UT and have been on this site for over 2 years and I’ve never heard that.
EDIT - A quick google search tells me that this is probably just a rumor among high school students. I can’t find anything on the McCombs website about it. You can contact the admissions office but I’m fairly sure “top 2% = automatic admissions to McCombs” is patently false.
BTW, while ED admit@Stern and pre-admit@Ross are much easier to get than an admit to Wharton or Stanford, both would cost a lot more than UT-Austin at in-state prices. And much easier still means its pretty tough given what we know of your kid. They’re certainly not guaranteed.
Are there any specific questions you have? I loved my Rice experience. The unique student-run residential college system gives you an instant community and home away from home. Beautiful campus. I felt I received a great education and I got into my number one choice for grad school.
Rice perennially is at the top when it comes to student satisfaction with their college.
Student got the Rice waiver email as well. When I mentioned I had seen it, she said the counselors at school told them colleges send those to get their application stats up. A bit of rain on the parade, I was thinking it’s still a good thing. But interesting how many on here are saying they received it so they must have sent a bunch. Just for data, we are not URM and full pay unless merit involved.