Does anybody know any college in or out of state, that has a good name that i have a good chance of getting into?
In many ways it is still very laid back. The very lax alcohol policy and the overall level of responsibility that the university entrusts the students with allows for a lot of freedom that other schools could never provide. Honestly, the pre-meds and some of the really competitive students didn't really impact me while I was there since I wasn't taking the same classes. The engineering students were very laid back and not competitive about grades and class rank at all. I had a lot of fun while there.
Trinity is supposed to be good UT Austin your guaranteed to get into so that shouldn't be a concern You could try like Berkeley or something i wouldn't know
What year did you graduate? Engineering people are usually the coolest ones. The coursework is a b!tch, though. I couldn't handle it. (well, I could, with lots of work and mediocre grades, but it wasn't any fun, so I decided to pour lots of work into getting mediocre grades in natural science instead... not sure if that one was worth it either, but it gets you jobs) The university, unfortunately, is getting more politically correct. (examples that alums will recognize: cutting down on profane cheers during Orientation Week, such as the Lovett cheer, and no more of those "NOD decorations") The freedom is still probably better than most places. If you're not into drinking... believe it or not, Rice is also a good place to not drink. There are a lot of people who don't and have a good time anyway. (some can be real "nerds" though... just in terms of their interests and such ) Overall, I do think it's lost a lot of its fun, laid-back qualities, because they have been trying to become an Ivy league type institution. The coursework is so hard nowadays, and the types they let in are so intense and driven. It's hard just to keep up once you get in there. They can be just as intense about extracurriculars sometimes... including ones that shouldn't be a big deal... just so they can channel all that drive.
As a more recent graduate (2001) from the Houston area... Your list of extracurriculars initially looks bad. My guess is you're not a leader in any of those activities. Run for an office in one or two next year and focus on those. In one of them, attempt to do something totally new - make the group branch out. Make sure your group's advisor knows you well enough by November to write an awesome letter of rec. Who's Who is trash. You should know that by now. If your SAT is indeed equivalent to an old 1350, you're okay on that front. (I think bigtexx is wrong - the average stuff is hokey - friends who worked in the admissions office told me that it is indeed true that after a certain point a 1300 vs. 1400 vs. 1500 is really not that big a deal). Whoever said you need to be ranked really high or from a powerhouse school is right. From what I saw, there were a ton of people from places like Bellaire in Houston, some school in Dallas, some school in Virginia (Thomas Jefferson, I think?)... You know Galveston Ball doesn't have a good reputation as an academic school in the Houston area - that means the 26 will likely not look as good. Oh, also, if your science fair results are good or worth further research, that could be good. If you have someone from the project who can write a letter of recommendation, that may also be good. Final pieces of advice - never never trust your school counselor. Follow up with everybody you ask for letters. Make sure you ask this year's seniors who the good letter writers are.
Very good advice. And if you can get someone who's an alumni to write a letter for you (or more than one) it wouldn't hurt either. Search for any influence you can get. If you know a prof, or know someone who can introduce you to one (and he/she is a friend of that person) who could put in a word, that wouldn't hurt either.
Isn't 1350 more like the pre-re-centered 1250? That did not get one into many places, especially Rice, back in my day. But the real killer is your rank. I knew 5 people from my class year who went to Rice. None of them did too hot on the SAT's (~1400+) except for one who got over 1500, pre-re-centered, but ALL of them were in the top 2% out of a class of 600+ (well, except for the one who got 1500+, who was in top 5%). But fret not. College is just crap shoot. For example, if you're "pre-med" (is that still the "in" thing?), all the Rice ppl. I knew graduated and went into consulting, and most of the UT ppl. I knew who were "pre-med" and stayed with it got into one of the UT med schools (again, except the Rice person who got 1500+ SAT score, who went on to a top-5 med school).
I'm a sicko, let's hear some more about the assault and sunsequent boot out As far as Rice, if you don't get in it doesn't matter, you are Indian so you probably have to go grad school anyway which essentially eliminates the significance of your undergrad. Backup plan to get into Rice: If you are desperate, what you do is this, you hack the list of students who got accepted, go to various web sites and log in as those students and check the status, make sure to leave a trail, then notify a bbs that students can check their Rice acceptance status, then notify the school that students are checking their status in mass, an elite school like rice demands ethical actions, as evidence by brightsides story, so they will kick out those students who checked their status, sweet, now you're set, and you will be the only Indian left for them to accept. Backup plan to the backup plan: Start dating the secretary whose job it is to mail out the acceptance letters. snap. Now all you have to do is steal the mail the day it goes out. Steal the exact percentage you need to get off the waiting list so as not to arouse suspicion. The lack of responses will get you in. Backup plan to the backup plan to the backup plan: Get the data entry job at rice in the admissions office. Simply open a student account for youself, quit, and then start going to classes. Who's gonna know.
I was like top 3% in a good school in an underrepresented state, and had a good SAT score. (The SAT does not predict how well you will do at anything else. ) I got in right before Rice started getting really, really competitive. It's harder now. What is it about the consulting? The Career Services office at Rice seems to know about nothing but consulting jobs, which is why everybody is steered into them. It seems to be the automatic default for everyone not going straight to grad school. I got better job leads from random people at church and in my neighborhood. Actually, a few years ago someone did sneak into Rice. He was never admitted officially, but managed to talk his way into getting a student ID. It took them several weeks to catch him. He hung around campus, living the student lifestyle, and was even going to walk onto one of the athletic teams.
Good luck, sourav. I'd pitch in with my two cents on how to get in, but I honestly don't know. I enjoyed my experience at Rice, and hope you do too if you get in, but if you don't, don't fret. The college you end up attending will certainly impact your experience and direction, but your work ethic and focus will have far more influence on your long-term goals, in my opinion. Try to do well (and have a good time) wherever you end up, and you'll be fine. Interesting. One thing I really liked about Rice was being surrounded by people who cared about academics, but also contributed to an atmosphere of camaraderie rather than competitiveness. Unless they were pre-med, most of the students I knew were not caught up in trying to prove they were better than everybody. Of course, if you're pre-med, then you might be subject to that.
That's ridiculous. When I went to high school there was 1 valedictorian. Our grades were calculated on a percentage basis, ie 105.423345985 - not everybody with straight A's had the same GPA. Having 19 valedictorians really dilutes the name.
You could always get a job there as a janitor or something then enroll. My brother work there for a 2yrs in there Art dept. and they had a policy stating that an employee and immediate family member is automatically accepted to Rice.
19 Valedictorians...umm...what? Is it a blanket 4.0 for all A's or something? To be honest, you will definitely need to work on your extracurriculars to get into Rice...Retaking the SAT wouldn't be a horrible idea either.
