<p>So I am assuming from the wording of your question that you attend a HS inside Texas, since you mention geographical diversity as a factor negatively affecting decisions at your school. I would like to add that I go to a HS in CA (so geographical diversity probably would help us), around a dozen people applied from my school with varying levels of “qualification” (I absolutely hate that word in terms of admissions). Out of these dozen people I was the only one to get in, and I am ABSOLUTELY sure that at least 4 of the other applicants were much higher ranked than I am (I am a little outside top 5% at a fairly large school, whereas some of the other applicants were in the top 10). I do not think that when a large number of students from one school apply that Rice only admits from that group of people by seeing who was ranked highest. Rice’s app is very comprehensive including multiple essays, and I really do think they take a well-rounded approach to admissions. It is unreasonable to assume that everyone who applied from your school is exactly equally talented or wrote equal essays or had the same interview or had the same teacher recs. </p>
<p>Sorry for the lengthy reply but I just don’t think your concerns are warranted.</p>