Transfer to Rice. Is it worth trying...?

austinpotter
Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:36:08 +0000

Howdy! I am a student at Texas A&M University in College Station Texas. I have 30 total hours with a GPA of 3.285. I had a rocky start my first semester getting a 3.071 but got a 3.5 my second semester and am now taking summer classes (speech and art history) that I should get a 4.0. even with this improvement over time I will only end up with a 3.4 at the end of the semester. I love A&M but I really want to go to Rice as it has always been my dream to be a doctor and 90% of their students that apply to med school get in. I know my GPA is decent but not good enough to get me in by itself I was wondering if some of you admissions gurus could let me know if my extracurricular/work is enough to give me a good shot at getting in.
These are my Stats…

Major: molecular and cell biology
GPA: 3.285 (will be 3.4 by the time I apply or I don’t deserve to go there anyway)
SAT: Math 630, Reading 660, writing 650

Athletic:
TMBRA XC mountain bike state champion 2008.
Currently Professional UCI license holder racing the pro circuit on my mountain bike.
Won some other cycling things but those are my two big accomplishments.
May be contracted to race with Pro Adventure race team (90% chance)

Work:
2.5 years at large retail company working almost full time
Top salesperson in company (22 stores and over 200 salespeople) –in my division bikes/outdoor
Promoted to Sales coordinator in charge of training and helping to recruit salespeople at the age of 17 in store of 30 employees
Will work this summer 90% chance will gain another coordinator position (sales/outdoor)

Other:
Eagle Scout
Published writer ( Poem small L.A. magazine and Book of Editors favorites) and winner of A&M FYP poetry jam contest
Wrote and Taught leadership program (JLTC) for the Boy Scouts of America
Volunteer regularly (nothing specific just random things whenever I can- don’t worry I have
all the hours on record)

There are other things but these are the main ones that I am most proud of…

So assuming everything goes to plan (3.4 gpa and 90% chance stuff) will my extracurricular experiences that I have worked so hard to achieve overshadow my mediocre gpa and SAT scores. Does anybody have advice for what I need to do to balance my application or things I should try to do to give me a better chance. Thank you for reading and please help me, I’m busy just like you guys and applying will take up a ton of time so I need to know if its worth it.