What are my chances of getting accepted?

I’m graduating high school next year and Rice is my dream school. My school only offers 2 AP classes and I did really well in both. I’ve been taking the most challenging STEM classes the school offers, however they’re all dual credit/college classes. I also plan on retaking my SAT and ACT.
Unweighted GPA: 3.08
Weighted GPA: 3.76
SAT: 1490
ACT: 31
EC’s

  • Violin 8 years
  • Music Theory 2 years
  • I run a K-Pop blog where I make gifs
  • I also run a study blog where I also post book reviews
  • I’ve been on 8 mission trips (I was a translator)
  • Volunteer Club 2 years
  • I teach violin to my friend and sister
  • Won a history competition
  • Runner-up for spelling competition
  • participated in several math competitions
  • Orchestra 3 years
  • Beginner in Korean (I’m teaching myself)
  • Elementary level Mandarin Chinese
  • Proficient in Bahasa Indonesia

Do I have a chance of earning merit scholarships or even getting in? Should I apply early decision or just give up now?

Rice only admitted 11 percent of its applicants last year so it is a very hard admit for everyone. If Rice is your dream school, you should apply and see what happens. However, be realistic and have other schools on your list which are affordable and not high reaches. Here are Rice’s admission statistics for the class of 2021. The statistics for the class of 2022 should be released any day now that the new class has officially enrolled. https://admission.rice.edu/apply/freshman/admission-statistics. Also look at Rice’s Common Data Set from 2017-2018 to see where your grades and scores fit in with the data. https://oir.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs1496/f/2017-18%202.%20CDS_2017-2018_WEBSITE.pdf

About 89 percent of those at Rice in the class of 2021 were in the top ten percent of their high school class (for those schools that rank.) Your GPA may be ok if your school has grade deflation and/or you are at or near the top of your class.

You should try to pull your scores up to be well within the 25-75 percent range or above. Rice expects you to take the most rigorous classes you can at your particular school, which it appears you have done. Rice has recently moved away from being an all test scores school to a score choice school. If your scores go up, send the best ones to Rice.

Rice meets full financial need but gives relatively few merit scholarships. Good Luck to you.

I would not try Rice.

3.08 Is not gonna work. You need to reevaluate where you are match, or even slight reach.

Good luck.