To apply or not to apply?
Hi, I'm currently a junior and as of right now my dream school is Rice University. My current weighted GPA is a 4.01 (kinda average), idk my unweighted GPA currently. I just recently took the SAT, and I haven't got the scores back, but I am planning to retake it and also take the ACT. Over the course of high school so far, I've taken 6 honor classes and 10 dual credit classes (2 of which I'm planning to retake in the summer to get a better grade). I am also ranked 39th out of 510 juniors. I've participated in about 5 different extracurriculars and I hold leadership positions in 2 of them.
Also, if anyone knows of any schools that are similar to Rice, please tell me because I would love to know.
Hi @mya2024!
From the current trends in admissions, even if you were ranked 1/510 or had a 4.5 weighted with 14 dual credit classes, Rice would still be a reach. Lots of people are getting rejected from schools they considered safeties, but then end up getting accepted at a T50. It's pretty random, so you should apply to Rice if that's your dream school.
If you're a Texas resident, try improving your class rank (you're currently top 8%). Top 10% gets you into any public university in Texas except UT Austin, which needs you to be top 6%. UT Austin is the next best place in Texas after Rice.
Some schools similar to Rice are Duke, Vanderbilt, WashU, Northwestern, UCLA, and UCB.
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much this helped a lot, also thank you for informing me of similar schools. I’ll be sure to check out those schools as well.
I think the type of ECs that you've been doing plays a huge role as well, since great stats are pretty much expected from students applying to such high reach universities. What are your ECs?
As @Anonymous123 said, the whole process is pretty random, so try your best with your Essays, keep up with your stats, and try to make as big of an impact as you can with your ECs. I would say shoot your shot, but prepare for the worst. Since you're already Top 10% you already have a good back up plan with getting into any public university of your choice, so that's great!!
Good luck!! :))
My ECs include student council, vice president of the junior class, historian of black student union, a member of my school's color guard team, a member of national honors society, and also I was briefly involved in my school's multicultural club.
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