Remember Rice has a very large athlete population as expressed as a % of the student body. There are roughly 80 football players alone and only 2700 students. As a result, the bottom 25th percentile really isn't indicative of the overall student body. When you are talking about an Indian applicant, in reality you need to be in that top 25th percentile. 1500 and above. Even that is no guarantee. Affirmative action/Diversity policies really take their toll on Indians and Asians.
There may be 80 football players, but not all of them have scholarships. I would say that they only give out between 10-20 full football scholarships to incoming freshmen. The walk-ons have to get into Rice by their academic achievements just like everyone else.
I agree with the general sentiment that Rice is liberal, but definitely less so than your typical four-year university. I also second the apathy point. Part of that, however, is there really isn't that much free time if you give a d*mn about not dropping below the mean. FWIW, I consider myself liberal, or at least left of center. I wish that I could still be in Texas in November, so I could vote against the same-sex marriage ban.
I am also doing a Pre-Med type program at Trinity. It is pretty reputable and like others have said, the GPA might not be friendly. However, according to the head of the health professions, a 3.5 GPA and a 27 MCAT pretty much gets you into med school. A pretty high percentage with those numbers get in.With that said, the classes are pretty difficult. For example, our general chemistry I is actually I and II combined. Instead of taking general chemistry II, we take inorganic chemistry, which is more than you ever need to know ever. To wrap it up, if you are doing pre-med, then I would recommend going to Trinity. If it's business or something, I would go somewhere else. Again, let me know if you have any other questions.
Rice is probably more liberal than it used to be. In my day, a lot of us were "apathetic" - rather, we just 1) weren't that interested in political activism as one of our major daily activities, and/or 2) felt that neither party represented us and both of them were just out for their own selfish interests. If you were liberal, or conservative, you could get with a small but enthusiastic group of others like yourself and be fine. There wasn't a lot of pressure either way. I suspect it is more liberal now... but not so much so that you can't be conservative and succeed. sourav - Trinity is a good school. In a way, it's like what Rice used to be - challenging, creative people, etc. slowmustang is right about the chemistry. They start you in Organic Chem second semester freshman year, which is really unusual. They have a really good summer research program for undergrads. I don't know what the grades look like (in terms of how easy it is to make an A). The coursework is pretty challenging. My friend had to write an 80-page thesis to get out (with a Physics major). Everyone who has gone there likes it, though. Might want to visit and see if it's anything you would be interested in.
I graduated from Trinity last year. If you don't join a fraternity, then the place really sucks socially. Seeing that you want to go into medicine, a fraternity would not be a good idea. The problem with Trinity though, is that it doesn't have any other activities to do outside of class, other than greek life or playing in a sport. That being said, you would EASILY get in. They're desperate for minorities. (I heard they started flying in African Americans and Hispanics that are considering their school) You'd prolly get offered a scholarship too, because the school is very white and they are seeking to diversify as much as they can. Other than that, I liked the school, but if I had not joined a fraternity, I am sure it would have sucked pretty bad, because people not involved in the greek life just have nothing else offered them cause the school is so small. Anyways, I don't know much about their science courses, but I do know that their engineering program sucks. They have great English and Philosophy departments but their political science department is a sham. It's hard to get an A (depending on the department you are in), but I'm pretty sure it's hard to get an A in those science courses you plan on taking and that stuff affects your chances in getting into med school) The attendance policy also sucks. Classes are like 10-15 people and they notice when you're not there, and they'll drop your grade if you don't attend even if you are doing well. I'd recommend applying to see if you can grab a scholarship cause they hand out a lot of those, but I'd also recomend applying somewhere outside of texas. San Antonio is just like Houston, except they don't have the Rockets. And Trinity community feels like you are in high school (the amount of students is around 2,500 and they all act the same way) One last thing, if you are going to graduate school anyways, then I agree with an earlier poster that going to the top ranked school isn't important, you should pick the school that would be the most fun while you go to classes. Basically, what I am trying to say is.... in your situation, I would not go to Trinity. You would have a better experience, going out of state, and going to a bigger school. In my opinion, the college education is not about the classes you take, but the experiences outside of class and meeting different types of people, and Trinity doesn't have that. If you have any questions about what I am trying to say, feel free to ask away. P.S. If you do go to Trinity, try to take Dr. Kimmel at the Philosophy department, and Dr. Victoria Aarons in English Department (Advanced Writing). Hard classes, but they teach you a lot and they care about teaching.
Oh and another thing....if you plan on doing pre-med at Trinity, I would recommend majoring in something non-science (unless you are really really good at it). Most of the people I know regretted majored bio and chem since their grade in turn suffered. At the least, you should minor in business to get pretty much all A's. Like the someone else had said before, Trinity is not the place if youre looking to party alot, but being pre-med wouldnt allow that anyway. I play sports at Trinity so I'm awfully busy. You should come for a visit and see if you like it.
