What are my chances of getting into Rice?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi there my dream school is Rice University and I already applied ED for the fall of 2018. I’ve looked at Cappex and an old thread of ED results from class of 2010 but I can’t find any more recent threads. I thought I would follow what other current prospective students are doing and post a question. Hopefully, closer to December, I can make a thread for ED results as they roll out.

Here are my stats in the mentioned thread’s template:

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1380 C; 730 M; 650 W
ACT: 32 C; 34 W; 32 M; 34 R; 28 S
SAT Subject Test: (I will take the ones mentioned for Rice’s Engineering major)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
Weighted GPA: 4.0/4.15
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 56/235 (or 238)
Senior Year Course Load: Comp Sci H; Civics I H; Physics I H; Calculus H; English v H
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Academic Olympics 1st place Comp Sci in 6th grade (against 6/7/8th)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Beach Volleyball, World Culture Club, and Pen and Sword (Newspaper).
Job/Work Experience: Founder of tech start-up, intern at software development company, and intern at real estate firm.
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital volunteer and Mosque youth leader.
Summer Activities: Networking and contacting VC’s for start-up and developing prototype.
Essays: Strong and personal (mentioned my adoption)
Teacher Recommendation: Strong
Counselor Rec: Average
Additional Rec: None as of now, probably will get a strong one.
Interview: Yes

Other
State (if domestic applicant): Louisiana
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Catholic, all-boys
Ethnicity: Asian (Pakistan)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Above $250K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing

Reflection
Strengths: Ambition, essay, adoption, demonstrated interest, and ethnicity.
Weaknesses: GPA not being super high, no APs, (Forgot to put my award in Comp. Sci but mentioned it in interview)

2

They have admitted people with lower stats. Rice is hard to gain entry like many schools even with great stats people get passed over.

3

It’s going to be a reach, as Rice likes high standardized test scores. You might be a better match for Tulane.

For your ECs, Academic Olympics should be taken out since it was done in 6th grade. It won’t be any help since your ECs should be for ones done since high school.

If your school doe not offer APs and you took the most rigorous classload, then that is fine.

Does your school have Naviance so you can see how you compare to others?

4

I mean I applied ED and I am taking the ACT again to reach for a 34. I am just scared because of my GPA. I can tel they know I am unique because of my startup and how I mentioned I want to start a non-profit after my startup gets acquired soon. I showed evidence of my startups current progress so I don’t seem like a young kid putting the cart before the mule. I mentioned how their current work with a new type of pacemaker and their alumni David Hyatt have really attracted me even more. Also for my Box submission I gave them a picture of me and Sal Khan (Khan acadamy) because he is a family friend.

5

Actually update: I actually have 3.75 / 4.0 GPA (according to naviance, idk how i messed that up)

6

Dude Rice is a reach for almost everyone your GPA and scores at best are average, you’ll either get in or you won’t just have a back up plan because you like 85% of people likely wont get in.