<p>I was hoping that people out there would tell me what my chances were at Rice and if I should bother applying. Also I would appreciate any advice. Thanks so much. </p>
<p>Here are my stats</p>
<p>From a tiny town in Alaska (Their has never been anyone from my town that has applied and only a very small number from Alaska applies each year)</p>
<p>I have a very unique background. In fact I spent the first 15 years of my life living in the wilderness doing homeschool with my parents. </p>
<p>Ranked 1st in my class of 200
5 on AP History
800 on SAT II U.S. History
700 on SAT II Literature
27 on ACT (this is my greatest weakness i think)</p>
<p>Several Academic Awards</p>
<p>Senior class Vice president
Key Club Vice President
National Honor Society Vice president
Key Club treasurer (Junior year)
Student Council member</p>
<p>Since Softmore year I have done over one thousand hours of community service and have chaired several different committes</p>
<p>I have worked every summer as a commercial fisherman since 8th grade</p>
<p>I have spent every winter working and volunteering in the public library</p>
<p>I still feel week since I have never played sports and since I have such low ACT scores. Also my school only offers three AP classes so my transcript is obviously not loaded up on those. </p>
<p>well, if I were you, I'd try and find a way to retake the ACT, put in a little bit more time on the essays, which I call sob-stories, ask for the rec letters now (choose the teachers wisely), and contact the school via email, phone, mail ...(even if just to say hi, follow up on your app. because they do have a system of grading ) see if you can do an interview, or if you know an alumus. Make yourself memorable and distinguished, show your commitment to the school, I'd advise for you to do ED if you really want to go with Rice. Don't panic, and freak out. Email me if you have question, I'll find out from my friends whatever I don't know.</p>
<p>That is awesome. I already have a great sob story about how I grew up without modern marvels such as electricity and what not. I am not worried about the rec letters but I still don't know about the ACT. I want to apply early decision which is nov 1 but i can't retake the ACT until oct 22. I would even like to have my application in sometime in the next few weeks just to show them that I really want to go to their school. Where are you applying and do you have friends that are going to Rice?</p>
<p>I got in with a 26 on my ACT and a 1300 SAT. My SAT IIs were 660, 650, and 620 (or something like that). I had a good class rank (fourth in my class) and high gpa (4.32) and great letters of rec so I think that helped a lot. I liked my essay too. I used my essay for a whole bunch of scholarship applications and all my college application essays. Using this essay for scholarships helped me fine tune it so that when I did finally use it on my college essays, it was really good. I had a lot of extracurriculars (good ones, not just a lot of extracurriculars. Like I was president of three clubs my senior year and like five hundred community service hours [that doesn't really come close to your amount of community service hours]). </p>
<p>One last thing, you said that your school only offer three APs. My suggestion to you is to self study some APs. I would suggest self studying Micro/Macro economics and AmericanGovernment and Comparative Government. These tests are generally the easier APs. I wasn't even in a Comparative class and I didn't read anything about the countries that are tested (except the night before) and I got a three (granted I didn't get credit for it at Rice, but I bet that I could have received a four easily if I had started reading up on the countries like a week or two before the test). I wish that I had self-studied more APs. The APs that you take this way aren't going to boost your GPA but by taking these tests you could be completely done with your Distribution II graduation requirements before you even come here. Ok so this last part went on pretty long. If you do decide to self study (I don't really think that you need to do it soon, like maybe two or three months before the tests; maybe even like the month before the tests) I would recommend getting the Barron's AP books for the Econs and Am Government. I don't think there are any good books for Comparative but do a Google search for it. I think you should definitely take advantage of APs while you can.</p>
<p>I've only applied to Rice, ED, last year, my stats were horrible, did I say that already? Anyhow, I got in, my school's valedictorian didn't, and she has way better EC and classes, I didn't start honors/AP until 10th grade. Just be yourself, and if you're a good fit for Rice, you'll get in.</p>
<p>I think that I may have botched my chances a little bit since I just dropped AP calculus! Only lasted two days but even if it means not getting into Rice it was still worth getting out. I am taking AP Human Geography through correspondance and AP English through my high school. I am also taking Stat and Prob which is not an AP class but he is teaching to the exam with the expectation that we all take it at the end of the year. My psychology teacher from last year has also told me that if I take the AP psychology test that she will change it to AP on my transcript. I don't really know if that will matter since I am applying to Rice ED and it won't be changed until May after I have taken it. I am also going to retake the ACT this October but since i have not studied at all for it I doubt that it will go up. Hopefully it won't go down... Otherwise I am just struggling along in Physics which is going to take me a lot of work since I just failed the first quiz because I forgot about it. Oh well I have an entire two months before the quarter ends to get my grade back up. What is Houston like? I have only spent a little time in Dallas but I really liked how friendly people were in TX (in AK people will never hold doors or offer to help if your car breaks down it is actually sort of funny). Are there any more school in TX worth checking out? I am looking at UT Austin and UT Dallas which I think that I can use as safety schools but I don't really know anything about the educational system in the state.</p>
<p>UT Austin isn't a safety school for out of state applicants. I think 90% (I think more than 90 actually) of the freshmen class is reserved for Texas residents. So you have a lot of competition for the 10% of the spots left. I think UT Austin has one of the largest student bodies in the nation so that is a huge difference between Rice and UT Austin. Austin is supposed to be an awesome city though. So I just looked on the UT website and it said that 81% of the freshmen class is from Texas, 9% international, and the ten percent is out of state. I don't know anything about UT Dallas. Texas A&M is really good too, but really big as well. Some other schools that other people apply to and sometimes prefer are: Washington University in St. Louis and I would think Vanderbilt. Both of these are similar in educational quality to Rice, but I think the cities differ a lot. But they are still in the south so you get that Southern hospitality still. Look at UNC-Chapel hill too. That is extremely hard to get into out of state, but it is a great school and a beautiful campus. </p>
<p>Houston is.... big and humid. Traffic is horrible. I haven't really left the campus very much since starting school here. There is a Target down the street that is popular with the Rice kids and the Rice Village where there is a lot of overpriced clothes but really good food. So I kinda feel like Rice is in a small town that is located in the fourth largest city in the world. There are plenty of places to eat (that is the biggest understatement ever), afterall, Houston is the fattest city in the nation.</p>
<p>I did not really think that it was a safety either but i was very surprised when the Princeton Review site, my guidance counselor, and several of my teachers told me that it was. I think that it is mainly because hardly anyone from Alaska will apply to UT Austin and they might be interested in me because I will be a novely to them. Also I will be considered a legacy since several of my family members have gone there. Anyway I don't really know but I am not that worried about going to a big school. If Rice rejects me than I will most likely end up going to University of Washington which only has about six thousand or so fewer students than UT. I think that Texas is as far East as I want to go since all of my close family lives in Washington, Alaska, and California and I want to be able to go and see them for holidays.</p>
<p>we have similar stats...pretty high test scores, valedictorian, unusual backgrounds and we're both applying for humanities, but you applied ED. Now im a little freaked out because i applied ID..but i guess its too late to do ED. i had no idea rice is as competitive as it seems to be. personally i think your a shoe in for ED but who knows i could be wrong. i know this guy who had like 1200 something on his SATs and he got into Rice b/c he was recruited for football. go figure. thats one thing about Texas that might take some getting used to seeing as youre from Alaska...we LOVE our football so much its not even funny. </p>
<p>Thank you. I guess I will see. Everything has been sent now so I will know by December 15th I hope. By the way I want to major in History or English. I also sent in two letter of rec so I hope that that isn't a bad thing.</p>
<p>Whoa... I don't know what you're worried about. I didn't take the ACT, I didn't have a high score on the SAT, i wasn't in a sport at the time i applied. and I got in..
you also have the advantage of being out of state. Rice likes out of state people. :) good luck! and calm down, man .</p>
<p>Sorry, but I have to interject one comment made by Torrestower. Houston doesn't have a lot of restaurants BECAUSE "Houston is the fattest city...." Men's Fitness Magazine named Houston the "Fattest City" based on the number of fast food restaurants per capita, NOT based on actual weight. So actually, Houston was named the fattest city BECAUSE Houston has a lot of restaurants. And after all, isn't that a good thing as a college student?</p>
<p>Also, I don't know how long you've been in Houston, but it's not hot and humid all year long. Stick around and you'll experience some gorgeous weather! Enjoy Houston.</p>
<p>I thought that is what I said. Well that is what I meant at least, thanks for clarifying my statement. I didn't mean to sound so negative about Houston, I know that the weather isn't always bad. Right now we are experiencing some unusually cool weather. I really like it outside right now.</p>
<p>Seeing as you're from Alaska, I wouldn't be worried. I don't think colleges get many Alaskan applicants, and they love to increase diversity. I would try to take the ACT again or the new SAT, just in case.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better about my chances now. At first I felt like I didn't even have a possibility of getting in but now I am o.k. with whatever happens. Is this waiting period driving anyone else crazy? I keep thinking o.k. two months until i know two months until I know. October is going way to slow.....</p>
<p>If you stay at the top of your class, you can probably expect a pretty hefty merit scholarship from UTD. My son and his girlfriend are both 3rd year students there on an Academics Honors Scholarship. It pays 100% of your tuition for 8 years (regardless of how high it goes!!!). They also get a cash stipend of $1500/semester for all four years. If you live on campus, they will also supplement your rent for $1000/year. They gave up on Waterview after two years and finally moved off campus. Even without the rent stipend, they are paying less for rent now than they did while on campus. They didn't like the roaches that came standard in the apartments. Other than the bugs in housing, it's a great school. My son is fast-tracking there and will be able to start his Master's next semester. In his 8 semesters there, he'll earn both his BS and MS in Computer Science. Best part....no debt at all!</p>
<p>UT Austin does not reserve 90% of their space for students from Texans. It happens to be a very popular school in the state. Austin is a beautiful city, and everyone wants to be a Longhorn. Texas enacted a top 10% admission rule several years back. In order to give students across the state somewhat equal access to the good schools, Public Universities here must accept applications from any student who graduates in the top 10% of their graduating class. It doesn't matter what their SAT scores look like, or how competitive of a school they attended. So, the dilemma for UT is that everyone across the state graduating in the top 10% of their class want to attend their school. They have been forced to turn away far more talented students in order to make room for those top 10 %ers.</p>
<p>My son was going to apply to UT and most likely would have been accepted. The application fee was $50. About the same as most other schools. My problem with UT was that we also had to submit a $100 deposit for on campus housing several months before finding out if he'd be accepted or not. If accepted, the $100 was non-refundable if he chose not to go there. Since UT was 3rd on his list after MIT and Univ of Illinois, we chose not to pay that much money for an application to a school that he didn't have his heart set on attending. He didn't get accepted to MIT, and decided to turn down Univ of Ill once he figured out how far in debt he'd be after 4 years as an out-of-state student.</p>
<p>Best recommondation if you've got your heart set on attending UT is to apply as early as possible. You have a much better chance of being accepted.</p>