MIT or Rice? Admittance chance estimates greatly appreciated

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>First a bit of necessary personal background:</p>

<p>male
living in TX, USA
half English, half Japanese
lived and went to school in England for 4 years (1st - 5th grade in American terms)
Attended a Japanese school from 1st - 6th grade - therefore I can speak Japanese I believe very fluently - but I look very white and I will be marking myself as white on any application (stated just to avoid any misconceptions that I’ll be put directly into the probably more competitive 100% Asian pool).</p>

<p>Academic/Work background:</p>

<p>On the threshold of top 5%, #40/800
School ranked in the top 500s of the U.S. (meh)
assumed 5 on all AP tests so far
(WHAP, APUSH, Biology, Calculus, Language and Comp, Microeconomics) - no results on the last few but I spent due time studying on all of them and I have generally been right in my test predictions. I can say with certainty I will get no less than 4s.
Competed in Academic Decathlon, of course made my school’s team, and placed 18th in my state (which I added because I believe the stat is fairly respectable for the fact that I competed as a junior, I believe I am within the top 8 juniors in the state, which I would add is the most competitive for AcDec).</p>

<p>Real Estate Internship in London for month</p>

<p>100hrs of volunteering that are just all over the place</p>

<p>President of smartphone-application club at my school</p>

<p>Ran varsity track and field (100m/200m/400m) for 4 years</p>

<p>2330 SAT score</p>

<p>With just the mentioned parameters I’d understand my chances would be perhaps not even slim (largely because of where my GPA puts me in a subpar school, though if it’s worth stating, I’ve been moving up ever since my MIDDLE SCHOOL blunders put me at rank 200) but essentially the main thrust of my question here is how much would the fact that I own a 10-man business, which makes 400$ net/day (I make $2,000/month myself) add to my chances? I own an app-making business for the Android and iPhone platforms and I really believe my business plan is quite innovative- I was the first in the application market to do such a thing. I shouldn’t disclose it here but think of what Henry Ford did for the automobile, except of course much less impressive, but comparable and in practice very successful nonetheless.</p>

<p>I’ve of course had feedback from my friends and family but it’s very hard for them to give me a completely unbiased opinion.</p>

<p>Big thanks to anyone who can give me a justified answer, negative or positive.</p>

2

<p>bump…</p>

3

<p>The app making business could help your application significantly - you should definitely make sure to write one of your essays or short answers about your experiences through it.</p>

<p>Obviously your chances of getting into Rice are higher than MIT. Simply look up acceptance rates online. I would still apply to both and see what happens.</p>

<p>As a former Academic Decathlon participant I am not really sure if colleges care too much about your standing in this extracurricular based upon my prior college admissions process. I think it will help a lot for schools easier to get into (maybe for getting more financial aid) but more selective schools really want research and very impressive awards. (I was first in region 2x in a row, plus many state awards and top 10 overall twice but was still rejected to MIT and Rice, although I have a full scholarship to UTD)</p>

<p>Your SAT score is very good. You just have to make sure you stand out in your applications - I think a good way to do that is to talk about your app business - make sure to show passion for what you are doing and how you are eager to learn more.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>You definitely have a very solid shot at rice. MIT is lookin very slim because of a lak of math an science achievements and class rank, but your business can help you tremendously but no one here can really say how much it will help you.</p>