Rising Junior interested in Rice

Colleges & Universities Rice University
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My daughter is going into her junior year.
Current stats:
SAT: 1550 (800 M 750 R) Got that score early her sophomore year.
Rank: currently 1 out of almost 800. Upper middle public school in Texas.
Her EC’s are her weak point I think. I’m a full time single dad. I’m also an airline pilot and fly in the reserves. I’m about to deploy with my military unit. So my schedule has made it hard to get my kids involved in too many things. Her grandparents help when I’m gone.

She’s in a few clubs and tutors in math and
Spanish. She’s fluent in Spanish.
Robotics Club
Currently studying abroad in Spain.
Did service projects outside the States.

Wants to do engineering.

Any advice on how to attack the next 2 years welcome.

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Sure - ECs don’t have to be out of this world but they should be something that she can get tenure and quantifiable items.

It may be a part time job (that doesn’t need a car), it may be walking dogs at the shelter…or actually doing things in the club that can be described and quantified. Or taking a leadership role and she can say - I recruited 20 new members, etc.

So tutoring and robotics are great - and studying abroad is great.

It can be but needn’t be anything STEM related.

Rice or any other school - will be lucky to have her.

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Well, the good news is that she is a lock for UT-Austin, and I suspect she will have no problem being admitted to engineering. You are very fortunate to have that as a safety.

Her ECs will be evaluated in context of you being a single parent who travels all the time. Her essays should mention that, perhaps in the context of how she learned how to do things on her own.

Johns Hopkins used to have (and may still have) a web page called Essays that Worked. I still remember one from several years ago called Breaking into Cars, about a resilient and capable student who came from a rambunctious military family. I found that essay on a different site below. Perhaps that resonates with your daughter.

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Congratulations to your daughter on everything she has accomplished.

You stated that she is in a few clubs and she tutors. If she enjoys what she’s doing, she should absolutely keep doing it! Continue to be involved, take on more responsibility, etc.

It’s not quantity, it’s quality. A part time job is also great- babysitting, dog walking, etc.

You are a single parent who is often away from home due to your job. Grandparents are involved in your daughter’s life, and she sounds like a great kid who has accomplished a lot. Your family has a lot to be proud of, and I have no doubt that colleges will agree.

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She should keep doing what she has done to achieve so well.

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I suggest you carefully study the following webpage, which explains what Rice is looking for in its applicants:

Pretty much every highly selective college has a page like this, and there are some common themes, but I am always fascinated by the differences in detail.

And one of the things that stands out to me when it comes to Rice’s page is they are VERY focused on “knowledge of the Rice undergraduate experience”. In fact, they have an entire major section devoted to “ARTICULATING YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE RICE EXPERIENCE”.

And in fact if you look up Rice’s “Common Data Set” (another useful tool), they mark “level of applicant’s interest” as something they consider (not all colleges do).

So not to be cynical, but I am getting the sense Rice might get a lot of “Ivy Plus”/“T20” shotgun applications, and it is not thrilled about that. Understandably, Rice apparently wants to find the applicants who are specifically really excited about what they think makes Rice different from many of its generic peers.

In terms of action items, they say:

We hope that you will have spent time exploring the breadth of Rice’s offerings and community through our website prior to applying. Students who are able can visit campus or attend virtual or in-person Rice events such as information sessions, admission workshops, student chats, campus tours, high school visits and events in your area. An interview is another opportunity you may want to take advantage of. Remember to register or complete a prospective student form if you connect with us through these different options.

Sounds like an agenda you should be adopting.

But otherwise, as you do that you might start learning more and more about what Rice thinks is particularly valuable about its undergraduate experience, and you might get some additional actionable information out of that process. I would avoid the temptation to reduce this to generic check boxes of activities and such, but I think a thoughtful and mature person could reflect on ways in which they could exhibit that they share those values, even in the context of the things they already love to do anyway.

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I would establish a couple of safeties first.

Then, it’s up to you how many additional apps you prepare.

But if she would be happy at her safeties, go ahead and shoot for the moon.

In your case, as @hebegebe pointed out, she is a lock for UT-Austin. So if she would not mind being there, and if it is affordable for your family, it is a no-brainer app.

And jusssst to be on the safe side, she might choose another Texas public school, in case she doesn’t get into Engineering at UT. Maybe A&M or Tech, though it really can be any school you can afford and which she would not mind attending.

If she does not want to go to a big rah-rah public U, there are also small private options that could be considered safeties. The trick is to find one with ABET-accredited Engineering.

What is it she values in Rice? Those clues can help us find additional options that would suit her. Also, what is your annual budget?

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Agree @NiceUnparticularMan. Think of my (6) former students who are attending Rice now, they all had Rice as their top or second choice. Rice is a very close community, truly collaborative.

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I was accepted to Rice this year and plan to attend in the fall, so this is just my perspective as an admitted student. I would contact Rice admissions for more info.

I would say my extracurriculars were pretty unique, but I don’t think impressive/unique ECs are essential to acceptance. Based on your daughter’s ECs and background, I think she could have a compelling story to tell Rice. It all depends on how she frames her essays and fills out her ECs. If she can create a theme for her application-- maybe a merge between engineering and language (like a personal reason why she finds that combo exciting and how she acted on that passion throughout HS)-- then I think she has a good shot. When I wrote my essays, I made sure they all connected to my theme and explained my passion. My ECs backed up that info with measurable action. I would have your daughter brainstorm what her theme may be and look for any gaps between how she feels(her theme on paper) and her ECs(her theme in action).

Other than her personal theme, I would suggest your daughter also weave in her community building experience throughout HS in her essays. Rice values connection and community. I emphasized the connections I made in high school and how I improved my community a lot in my application, which is what I think made admissions determine I was a good fit for the tight-knit, motivated community at Rice. If your daughter can articulate in her essays how she used her experiences (ECs+personal life) to build connections/improve her community, then I think that will help her.

Here are a couple quick tips for your daughter from my experience:

  1. Practice writing essays early. Junior Year is a great time to practice. Unfortunately, I ended up writing my Rice essays the day they were due, and it was very stressful.

  2. Her stats are great, but she should continue to challenge herself, especially this year. This can be in a scholastic or extracurricular capacity (taking cc classes, self-studying for AP tests, creating new projects in ECs, etc).

  3. Apply for outside scholarships. Unfortunately, Rice is going to cost me much more money than I expected, and I regret not applying to more scholarships. If money is a determining factor in your daughter’s decision, then extra scholarship money can be a big help.

  4. Build relationships with teachers toward getting good rec letters. Letters of recommendation are important. I believe is especially true at Rice, as they value community, and rec letters are one of the best ways to gauge a student’s impact on those around them.

  5. Research Rice. When I applied, I thought I new enough about Rice to decide whether or not to go there, and that was nowhere close to true. After enrolling, I have learned so many more wonderful things about Rice. I would suggest your daughter start with CLIC+ the language certificates and the School of Engineering. She should be able to articulate not just why she wants to do engineering, but why she wants to study it at Rice specifically.

(Sorry if this was too long. I just came out of a hectic college application season, so all of this is fresh on my mind haha)

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Rice parent here. I can’t say enough good things about my daughter’s experience at Rice, and I’m glad to hear that your daughter is interested in attending. Grades and scores are right on track, so from this point I would focus on continuing with extracurriculars that she really enjoys (check-the-box activities aren’t meaningful) and trying to make connections in the community through those activities. I think my daughter’s community activities outside of school were critical for her, as she didn’t really have many school-based ECs. Also, as others have said, Rice is interested in understanding why you like Rice specifically. I would recommend addressing the residential college system in some way - it’s a little different than what you’d find at most universities and a key part of the Rice experience. If that part doesn’t seem to fit with what you are looking for, it may reduce the likelihood of admission.

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If you can swing it, maybe give this summer program a shot for her. It’s pretty much pay to play, and technically run by a third party, but, students get to live in Rice dorms, eat Rice food, and meet and spend time with Rice students (who actually teach many/most of the course sections).

My son went and enjoyed it quite a bit, found the coursework fun and interesting for the most part (though definitely geared toward a mix of rising juniors and rising seniors…as a rising senior some of the material was stuff he already knew). At the end there’s an admissions presentation, tour, etc (son also did the ones offered directly through admissions and found those that much more in depth). Anyway, point being that my son now feels like he has about as solid a sense for Rice as any other school. (The usual caveats about it being summer when classes weren’t in session, etc apply of course).

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I think it was the collaborative atmosphere, culture, and smaller size as well as the college system they have. I did a good job saving and I also transferred my GI Bill benifits to her so I think I can make more anything work.

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Thanks! I didn’t realize this but it makes sense.

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Interesting. She signed up for this before I read this. Lol.

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My daughter is currently a rising junior at Rice, and I agree 100% with what @NiceUnparticularMan said above. Here’s what I think appealed to the admissions folks in her case:

– She researched and found very specific things about Rice that intrigued her. For example, there is an art installation by sculptor Jaume Plensa on campus called Mirror, and it’s made of up of letters and symbols. One of her essays talked about discovering it while touring the campus, and why it was fascinating to her – she’s a linguistics major and loves all things languages. Another example is that Rice puts on a student-run show every four years called Hello Hamlet! that is a musical parody of Hamlet. The script is rewritten every time and updated to reflect current pop culture. It’s hilarious and ridiculous, and my daughter is a theatre kid, so she found old versions on YouTube and mentioned in an essay how much she wanted to be a part of this show. (Spoiler, she was cast in a big role this past spring and had the time of her life, lol.)

I want to stress, however, that it’s helpful to find things like this that are genuine for your child. My daughter wasn’t blowing smoke when she wrote about these things, nor did she try to be lofty or suck up and talk about why Rice was impressive. They already know how great their school is!

One application question asked whether she knew anyone associated with the school. I think they meant a relative or friend, but my daughter wrote that she was an avid fan of some Pokemon YouTuber who had gone to Rice. (This guy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUZj0xrzG5c)
I admit I facepalmed when I learned that she’d done that, but hey maybe they laughed, lol.

– Somewhere in the application, you must mention the residential college system and why it’s something you want. It’s such a uniquely Rice thing. My daughter is an introvert, and she’s really not fond of sororities and fraternities, so I think she addressed this somewhere.

– She got lucky with her interview, because the alum that was supposed to interview her had a last-minute conflict, so an admissions officer ended up doing it instead. Rice is known for its strong STEM programs, but my daughter was interested in linguistics, so she asked about whether non-STEM programs got a proportionate amount of resources, or whether it was all STEM all the time at Rice. She got the sense that the interviewer was impressed with that line of questioning.

Bottom line, the more interested your daughter is in Rice, the more it needs to come through in her supplemental essays. Mine had Emory, WashU and Northwestern in her top five, but I’m betting her interest didn’t come through nearly as well for WashU or Northwestern because she was waitlisted at both. (She had perfect grades and test scores and was qualified to go anywhere.) But she’d worked with an Emory professor on a year-long research paper as a high school junior, and she was accepted there. And she was deeply interested in Emory because we live in Atlanta.

I don’t know what the secret sauce is in admissions, but somehow they can just tell.

Oh, one last note, the application has something called the “Rice Box” – where the student is asked to upload a picture, any picture. No explanation or text. Most applicants tend to overthink this, but the admissions people just look at it to glean any small fun thing about the student’s personality. It doesn’t hurt your chances unless you upload something obviously offensive. (They get lots of pictures of…rice. And they do laugh about it, lol.)

My daughter considered a picture of herself taken while visiting an ancient theatre in Pompeii, which would have encompassed her love of Latin and theatre and singing, etc. But she decided, nah, that was too much. She ended up using a picture taken senior year of high school during homecoming, where they had a petting zoo on campus, and she is holding a turtle (she loves turtles) and has an earsplitting grin. It was also a 90s-themed day, so she’s wearing a Foo Fighters t-shirt and jean shorts with black tights and Docs, lol. I’m guessing someone in admissions chuckled at that.

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As the parent of a recent Rice grad I am going to chime in here too. As the other parents have said, my daughter had an amazing experience at Rice. I actually went back and read some of her essays recently and I can see how some of items she mentioned were very Rice-like in retrospect.

I agree that showing interest in and an understanding of Rice is very important. My daughter did not have an interview because she applied late and and they were full. But she did show she had done her homework on the opportunities and activities there that were of interest to her (and they made sense based on her background and goals). She expressed why Rice was a good fit for her, both academically and personally.

Looking at my daughter’s group of friends from Rice - they are all smart of course - but they are also all very unique. And not in a crazy way. Just the type of kids who did their own thing - did what was interesting to them instead of just trying to check all the boxes. In some cases they had pretty impressive stories. In other cases they just showed a passion in an activitiy or interest. In your daughter’s case it sounds like Spanish, studying abroad, international travel, etc might be her “thing”. (Side note: She should check out the Global Health Technologies minor at Rice. It’s a good fit for engineering majors and the program has an international internship along with students doing an Engineerign Design internship). I would also say Rice kids are ‘nice’ for a lack of a better word. Expressing this might help - maybe just by highlighting her service projects.

Good luck to your daugher!

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