[ color=green][ b]Decision: Rejected**[/color]
[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[ *] SAT I:
[ *] ACT: 33
[ *] SAT II: 760 Chem , 750 Math II
[ *] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7-3.8
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 31 Top 5%
[ *] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on AP Chem, 5 on APUSH, 4 on English Language, 4 on WHAP
[ *] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[ ] Senior Year Course Load: Lots of APs
[ ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): United States National Chemistry Olympiad Top 150 Honors, Waterloo Chemistry Competition Top 5%, State Qualifier for Science Competition , Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Keys
[ b]Subjective:
[ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars: piano for 11 years, Chinese for 11 years, art
[ *] Job/Work Experience:
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer over 100 hours at museums and for school hours
[ *] Essays: I thought they were good… demonstrated passion in chemistry
[ *] Teacher Recommendations: They should be good… but I have my doubts 
[ *] Counselor Rec: She knows me well
[ ] Additional Rec:
[ ] Interview:[/list]
[ b]Other
[ list]
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant): U.S.
[ *] School Type: Public
[ *] Ethnicity: Asian
[ *] Gender: Male
[ ] Income Bracket: 150,000
[ ] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): science accomplishments
[ b]Reflection
Wow, I thought Rice would at least waitlist me[ list]
[ *] Strengths: Science and Math
[ *] Weaknesses: Asian male
[ ] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have absolutely no idea; first rejection letter; I’m just confused; wasn’t even waitlisted WHY?
[ ] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/list]
[ b]General Comments:
I thought I had a decent chance in. My essays were beautiful and passionate. Can I do something about this? Rice was my number one school! Please HELPust wanna blow up
All my options are sealed except for one more private college (with an acceptance rate of last year of 3.1%). If I don’t get accepted, I’m going to UT Austin (auto) WHICH I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO. HELP
1 Like
I can’t remember if they have an appeals process. I feel the same way as you; Rice was my top choice and I was waitlisted… Best of luck
I have similar stats; 32 ACT, 3.75 GPA and have been rejected as well. Rice is a prestigious school so I guess they’d want GPA’s that are 3.9+. UT Austin is a top school so I’m not sure why you’re upset with it. I was rejected from there and would love to be accepted
^DUDE you got into a good school like Vanderbilt! I haven’t gotten to any good private schools yet! And I can’t even get into schools that have 10% acceptance rates; I so doomed
Plus you got waitlisted, I was rejected; what happened to my application
I don’t know what happened; I’ve been going to Rice since I was nine years old for piano contests; Can I like email Rice to see my application review??
I feel the same way because I’ve been accepted at only Purdue, UCSD, and instate UTK. Really hoping for a better choice but chances feel almost impossible with my rejections from the last 6 schools.
But my stats mann look at my “major awards” section! I thought I could have gotten merit scholarships with those things!!! Instead, I couldn’t even make it past the first round
I’m sure you’ll get into another school of your choice
What state are you from? On top of being a very competitive school to get into in general, a majority of applicants are from Texas, meaning that it is particularly competitive between Texans to get in. You have great stats, but sometimes it just depends on what the college is looking for. Once you reach a certain threshold, it is VERY subjective. Just remember that there are other opportunities out there and if in a year, you are not happy where you are, you can transfer. I received lots of rejections in the past week, most likely with more to come, but at a point, it is no longer anything you could have done. You cannot change your race, your gender, or anything else. So feel proud of your accomplishments (which are awesome btw!) and focus on the future. I promise that you are going places and will find your place in the world 
Rice considers demonstrated interest – did you visit/interview/anything like that?
I did do a visit in the summer; college admissions is so unpredictable
Two things:
- you could have used another point or two on the GPA,
- Rice seriously limits the number of Texans. As a Texan, you - and my D - are at a disadvantage
- Absolutely call and ask very nicely if they could critique your app so that you could improve.
UT Austin is a fun, energetic, rambunctious school. The students you meet in Math and Engineering are as good as anywnere in the world. And many of the professors are world class and teach undergrads. Ive known some top scholars that went to UT and thank the Gods that they did. They have that autoadmit that lets in people with SAT scores like 1150 but there are lots of 2360+ too.
Best of luck
For the class of 2018, the % of Texans was 45%, which can be good or bad.
@lifeishard4222‌ Perhaps your ACT score could have been a little higher. And those are some nice awards! Congratulations! As far as rank, it might be an issue, but I have a friend who’s about the same rank and he got accepted-another of my friends is probably even lower and he got accepted too.
What did your workload look like for the past 3 years?
I’m sorry to hear about your rejection, and I understand because I’ve been rejected from Stanford in the fall and from Berkeley, JHU, and Duke these past 2 days. It’s very frustrating 
Your scores and GPA (which they really look at) could have been higher, but that’s only a part of it. Overall, you seem like you were really banking on your awards, and while they are great, Rice compares you against many other outstanding applicants as well. They likely have similar awards but possibly with stronger things in other parts of their applications. Being Asian probably didn’t help along with your seemingly “cookie-cutter Asian” extracurriculars (I’m in the same boat). Nevertheless, you still have a lot going for you and definitely would have deserved an acceptance/do deserve one at other top schools.
Also WL at Rice (my top school). F White 35 ACT, NMF, STEM gal, several levels above Calc BC in math. Geo. diverse. Such a bummer. Visited 2x–even flew in for an interview (which turned out to be with a student, not an AO).
I wasn’t sure if the interview had any effect, so I didn’t go. An admissions counselor visited our school and I attended that. I also made an unofficial college visit.
Rice’s interview system is weird–they try to make everyone come to them.
Waitlisted: Similar stats as @Bugspecial‌ : F, White, NMF, 1520 SAT, STEM and art heavy, linear algebra & diffQ post Calc BC, Northern Midwest, MIT’s WTP summer program… however I didn’t visit nor interview. By the time Rice was on the radar, the interview deadline had just passed. So it is what it is, as disappointing as it is! Good luck to all!
@Lifeishard4222 Daughter had 34 on ACTs, top 2.5% of class, lots of AP’s, 2nd degree black belt, extra curriculars, volunteering, work experience, some awards, we’re from the northeast. She got rejected. It was her first choice. Like you, she was very disappointed, but she has moved on. Lots of great kids don’t get in. With your stats you will excel no matter where you go.