<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I am going to be applying to colleges in the fall, and I have two top choices: Rice and Wesleyan. Which one would I have a better chance at getting into ED? Also, I know I am applying to some highly competitive schools… Am I dreaming or am I being somewhat realistic?</p>
<p>Advantages for Rice: Out of state, it is supposedly easier to get in. I am African American</p>
<h2>Advantages for Wesleyan: Supposedly not as difficult as Rice, (but still tough). I am African American</h2>
<p>Here is the list of schools that I am applying to:</p>
<p>Safety: UConn</p>
<p>Targets: Skidmore, Middlebury (African American is a huge advantage for this school), Macalester and University of Rochester</p>
<p>Reaches: Wesleyan, Emory, Tufts and Rice </p>
<hr>
<p>Here are my stats (They are brief because I don’t feel comfortable saying all this stuff on the Internet…)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.70 (Unweighted)
SAT: 1940
Courses: 1 AP and 4 Honors classes Junior Year, 4 AP’s and 1 Honors classes Senior Year</p>
<p>AMAZING College Essay and AMAZING Resum</p>
<p>Someone please respond? :(</p>
<p>I think Rice is a great school - my DD loves it, and my son will be entering in the fall also. However, I think you should not apply ED to either school unless it is your definite first choice! Don’t choose one over the other for the possible slight advantage it gives you in the ED round - and if you think that you might waiver in your decision come May, then apply RD to both of them. I think you have a good shot at getting admitted, possibly even with merit aid.</p>
<p>Wesleyan really likes minority students, but I think your stats are a bit low for both colleges. Rice seems to focus more on test scores (or for some reason they have extremely high test midranges) and I couldn’t tell whether being a minority and applying ED would be enough to push you over the edge. Bias aside, I think your ED would be better spent at Wesleyan because it’s slightly easier to get into overall and easier for minorities.</p>
<p>I’d agree with anxiousmom on this one, regardless of whatever slight advantage applying ED might give you, don’t commit to one school just because you think it might improve your chance of getting in slightly unless that school is actually your first choice.
I think that your test scores are on the lower end for Rice, but people have gotten in with lower - it all depends on what’s in that “amazing” resume and essay and whether or not the admissions committee happens to like it.</p>
<p>My son is a junior at Rice and he’s very very happy. I think over the years of reading CC and from his experience Rice does not put too much emphasis on scores. I’ve seen people with very moderate scores get in and people with perfect scores not be accepted. Rice looks for interesting students and they’re more likely to judge the whole “package”.</p>
<p>I applied to Wesleyan early decision and was rejected, then got into Rice through regular decision and will be a sophmore there in the fall. This post interested me because I hadn’t heard of anyone other than me who was interested in both schools. They are pretty different–Wesleyan is in the East and is a liberal arts college, Rice is in the South and is a small research university, Wesleyan is in a small town, Rice is in a big city, etc. I don’t really have any advice to offer in terms of chances about getting in because I think it’s pretty arbitrary. My grades and SATs were quite a bit higher than yours, but I’m not a minority and didn’t have fantastic EC’s, so who knows. I was pretty upset when Wesleyan rejected me, and was initially unsure about going to Rice. However, I should send Wesleyan a thank-you letter for rejecting me, because I really love Rice and am so glad I ended up there, however randomly it happened. I guess my advice, however vague, is to visit both schools, considering what you think about location, academic strengths, size, campus, etc., and keep in mind that admission to competitive colleges is basically a crapshoot. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>I am a minority out-of-state with similar tests scores as you, a better GPA, good essay too, good recs, and really good extra curriculars and I got into Rice (without merit aid).</p>
<p>I don’t think you should apply to either ED unless you are certain that is where you want to go. I like rice but I have also had an affinity to universities like wesleyan.</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Thanks so much for responding to my question, I really appreciate it! I have visited both schools and I did an over-night at Rice and LOVED it. However, I’m not 100% sure about going to college 2,000 miles away from my home. I need to do an overnight at Wesleyan too, and I think my experience there will ultimately decide it for me.</p>