Tulane, Brown, Rice, University of Texas, and TCU

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Alright, the beginning of senior year is coming, so it is time for a CHANCE ME. I will chance back if you respond. Any input is valuable to me.

I am a Hispanic male student from a middle-income family in Texas. I am not first generation to go to college. I am considering Tulane University, Brown University, University of Texas in Austin, TCU, and Rice University. ALthough I like the regular application process, the holistic admission is appealing as it provides me the chance to showcase my personality and characteristics that have shaped my life. If you have any other suggestion, I am open to hearing them.

Statistics:
ACT Composite: 31 (1st time: E:28, R:34, M:28, S:31 Essay:11) (2nd time: E:33 R:34 M:31 S:26 Essay: 10)
SAT II Subjects: I am planning on taking Chemistry, an English one, as well as Geometry
GPA unweighted: 3.87
GPA weighted: 4.47
Ranking: 28 out of 491 (top 5.7%)

AP Classes:
Ap Chemistry II
AP Physics B
AP Biology II
AP World Histroy
AP US History
AP Gov/Macroeconomics
AP Calculus
(I scored straight 3’s in everything above, so no need to turn those in)

College Classes;
English 1301/1302
English 2431/2432 (is that right?)
Anatomy and Physiology

Extra-Curiculars:
I have competed in Cross Country for 4 years, the latter 2 me as captain
I have competed in soccer, Varsity the last year
I have competed in track and field, captain of distance squad last two years
National Honor Society Parliamentarian
Over 60 hours volunteering at Cook Children’s Hospital
I do regular Adopt-A-Street clean ups
I planned and produced a community tutoring service for children with special needs which I oversee
I also work at Taco Bueno as a Sales Associate.

I am conflicted in my major choice. On one hand, I’m seriously considering a health major for my interest in the sciences. On the other hand, English and Writing come extremely easy to me, so a profession in Journalism is likely appealing.

Thank you and please respond!

2

“so a profession in Journalism is likely appealing.”

Yeah, until you see the paycheck. LOL.

3

High reaches:
Rice University: 10%
Brown University: 15%

Tulane University: 40%
University of Texas in Austin: 70%

Near Safety
TCU: 93%

4

choose Chemical Engineering, the University of Houston ChemE program is super beats the rest recently, makes you a hands on Engineer, it is notoriously tough though…

5

@NickFlynn LOL, I know. But if I enjoy doing it, I think I’ll find a way to manage. ANd thanks for the percentages. I think I need to find more match schools. Any in mind?

@luckybanana I thought about chemical engineering, but I’m not to interested in the engineering aspect.

6

I think you can get into Tulane and definitely into University of Texas and TCU! Brown I think is a high reach right now and maybe if you apply early to Rice you might have a better shot! Good luck!

7

Good enough for UT, not for Brown or Rice (get your score up)

8

Pick that ACT up to a 32-33 and you’d have a decent shot at Rice or Brown. GPA is good, Scores should be good, ECs aren’t amazing, but definitely not bad. You’re a URM but not low income or 1st gen… You would obviously get into UT as an auto admit, and you’d definitely get into TCU and Tulane. I would not be surprised if you got into Rice and Brown. I’d apply ED to either Rice or Brown, if you can redo your ACT in time.

9

@NickFlynn I was planning on a journalism major until I realized the sad reality of the paycheck. haha.

But anyways, at the OP, your URM status might help you a bit at Rice. I know someone form my school who was a hispanic first-generation male and he got into Rice this year with a 31 ACT, 1940 SAT, and about a 3.9 GPA. However, this is one isolated case, and you should take it with a grain of salt, because he also had outstanding ECs.

I would say that Rice and Brown are obvious reaches, as they are reaches for everyone. However, I think if you apply ED to Rice you should have a slightly better shot. ED to Brown probably will not boos your chances THAT much, because ivy ED is usually targeted towards the legacy kids. So if you were serious about Rice, I would say apply ED! Also, if you can take the ACT one more time, that would not hurt.

Tulane and the University of Texas at Austin are strong matches for you, UT will be a lower match than Tulane.
TCU is definitely a safety for you, Yay!

10

Since you live in Texas and your in the top 5.7% of your class, you should be auto admitted into UT Austin. For the other colleges listed I’d say you are in the competitive edge and you have around a average chance of getting in.

11

@bluepants Thank You. I’ve decided to go ahead a drop Rice and Brown as options. I had a heart-to-heart conversation with my parents and we figured even if I was admitted, I would be loads in debt (no money for middle class) and in the long run, I’d rather not be paying back forever.

@Dhruv97 I was thinking about getting my score up, because I know I can score high in all areas, but then again it is getting too late and I rely want to send in my applications before August 24th (start of school) so I do not have to worry constantly about applying. I think a 31 is competitive, and I hope it’ll get me through for some scholarships locally.

@JoseAMendez See above about me dropping Brown and Rice. I know I’m auto-admit to Texas.But you don’t know until you REALLY know, you know? That last sentence was too corny, sorry. My parents are trying to help me find another school to apply to, but actually that’s just them trying to push Texas A&M onto me (it’s not even in a town, jut a station). I’m considering Boston University, but at this point I’m just kinda reaching.

@neuprospect98 See above for Brown and Rice. Thanks so much for your input. If you need any help at all, with chances or essays, I am open to helping. I’m really good at editing, and writing is my strong suit.I did have that same realization with journalism. So sad to see that it is a dying field. That is okay, it will always be a passion. Bu I’ve decided to go with Pre-Med instead.

@Shadowsych Thanks for your response. I did have a question, Judging from your picture I am guessing you attend UT. I know that I am an auto-admit, but say I get accepted, and then later in the year I fall out of the top 7% (by that crazy, totally of chance). Would my admission be revoked? Thanks.

Sorry about making some of y’all wait on my response. I just got back on CC and realized I posted this thread. As with neuprospect97, If any of y’all need help editing papers or chances, just PM me and I will be more than willing to help. Thanks y’all!

12

Please don’t try to send your applications that early. These schools don’t have rolling admission so time of application sent doesn’t matter. It’s better to take time and revise every essay over and over again. Also, you have some more ACT’s left before December; take advantage of those

13

@wardroger000 I don’t go to UT Austin at all. It’s my dream college to go to the natural sciences field. (especially that honors program) I’m currently in the 10th grade at a high school lol. But I just know a lot about UT Austin because I try to do my best to get accepted.

14

Brown high reach, Rice low. The rest are solid.

15

@Dhruv97 Okay. I had that realization too. I guess its just the anticipation of applying I got kinda caught up in. I do need to make sure to have them in by at least October 1st though, well at least for UT Austin. That is when the deadline for College of Natural Science Honors Scholars applicants are due. ALthough I have a slim chance, I think that by applying their, I will have a lot of materials necessary to apply to individual scholarships, so less work later on. I’ve finished two of my essays though, and have sent them to my English professor at the local community college and my older sister who is an English/Political Science Major. Thanks!!!

@shadowsych My bad, I guess I inferred a bit too much. But anyways, yeah I would make sure to start getting involved now for the honor scholar program. I know they want to see lots of involvement (volunteering, classes, maybe even SAT II’s) in your particular filed. Thanks for your advice and GOOD LUCK!!!

@boolaHI Thanks for your input. See relier posts about Brown and RIce. I dropped them off and opted to add another state school, either UTD or A&M

16

I might still consider Rice, you are not totally out of the picture, plus if you did slip in, they usually would respond with great FA.

17

@boolaHI I’ll take that into consideration. Maybe it’ll just be one of my crapshoot schools…

18

Yup, that is how I would consider it…

19

How do you plan to pay for college by the way? I know UT has a ridiculously low tuition for in state which is an awesome value for top 7% students in Texas and an excellent safety. Plus I don’t think the Dean Scholarship is too competitive. Someone from my school applied and got it and all she had was maybe 30 hours of community service, a part time job, and a 1700 SAT. The Dean scholarship gives 20k, which is almost half the cost of UT right there. Plus, if you want to go into health science, UT has a great Health Science honors program. Just do your best to pick schools that

  1. You know you will thrive at
  2. Will be affordable
  3. You will like

Good Luck.

20

@JoseAMendez Well me and my parents have talked about it. They said they could help me for the first year, but my main bet was to apply for multiple scholarships to help pay for books, food, and room. But I was just hoping for loans and grants as i move along in the years. I didn’t know about that for the Dean’s Scholarship! It seemed daunting, but I will apply for that just because. Yeah, I was trying to prepare my resume and stuff for a chance at the Health Science Scholar Program, which be a ridiculous experience to be apart of.