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Title implies my question. If it's good I think I'll take a visit to check out the school (its not too far, I live in Dallas, and my granfather, who lives in Houston, is friends with someone on the admission's board, maybe he can give me a tour or at least some info). I really know nearly nothing about what school I want to go to thoguh, except that I want to go to a top school with a good engineering program. I'm currently a junior. Not too much in the ways of ECs, but I'm extremely devoted to two of them (although I'm looking for more ECs to help me stand out).

Stats:

Rank: 23ish/500+
GPA: 99.6 (not sure what that all means on different scales, but that's what they have on the transcripts they've been giving us)

Projected SAT:
Math: 720-800ish
Verbal: 700-740ish

Planning on taking SAT IIs at the end of the year (will take Math IIC, Writing, and Chemistry, maybe I'll also take Physics, US History, and World History at some point too)

Junior schedule:
AP English III
AP Spanish IV
AP US History
AP Chemistry
Pre-AP Pre-Cal
Pre-AP Physics

Projected Senior Schedule:
AP BC Calculus
AP Physics
AP English IV
AP Government
AP Economics
AP Statistics
AP Computer Science (maybe)

ECs:
Robotics - Treasurer this year, will be President next year - EXTREMELY devoted
Mock Trial - team Member last year, final
team member this year - devoted
Mu Alpha Theta
Spanish Honors Society

Working on a lot of stuff for robotics club, very well performing club.

----

Ok, so what be my chances with theses stats for such a school? (It seems like a good school so I definitely want to have it as an option, and if I like it enough, maybe my ED). And of course I need the answer to the question: what abotu the engineering program?

Thanks in advance!

By Scetoaux (Scetoaux) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 11:20 pm: Edit

Hey, I'm applying this your for engineering. I'd say its pretty good as far as engineering. As good as lots of the schools that do engineering and science exclusively, only Rice also has other great programs and normal people and girls. I guess it falls under the category of Small Private Research Universities. I don't really know much about your chances, but it sounds like its pretty good and your in the running. Maybe sandy would dein to give you her 2 cents, she seems to be pretty knowledgeable about Rice and people's shots at getting in.

By Abz1986 (Abz1986) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 11:21 pm: Edit

Well Rice has a *all right* biomedical engineering program, (14th in USNews) which is what I'm interesting in... for the other engineering programs I assume it to be average for a top tier school... I mean many other schools (many with lower rankings than Rice) have better engineering programs, so if you're only looking for schools with good engineering programs, there are other better ones.

MIT will probably best fit your criteria. Its one of the most highly recognized schools in the nation, and undoubtably the most recognized for engineering. It is tougher to get into than Rice, however, you're GPA is borderline for such a school... but you still have a chance.

Here are some of the "Top" schools with top ngineering programs in specific fields:

Aerospace Engineering: MIT, CalTech, U Mich, Princeton, Cornell
Biomedical Engineering: Johns Hopkins, Duke, Northwestern, MIT (Rice is 14th!!!)
Chemical Engineering: MIT, Cal (UC Berkeley), Carnegie, Stanford (Rice is 21st in this category)
Civil Engineering: Cal, MIT, Stanford
Computer Engineering: MIT, Stanford, Cal, Carnegie
Electrical Engineering: MIT, Stanford, Cal, CalTech, Cornell, U Mich
Environmental Engineering: MIT, Stanford, Cal, John Hopkins
Industrial / Manufacturing: Cal, Stanford, MIT
Materials Science: Cal, MIT, Stanford
Mechanical Engineering: MIT, Stanford, Cal
Nuclear Engineering: MIT, Berkeley
Agricultural Engineering: Cornell

Yesh so this really isn't an advertisement for Rice lol... but maybe other factors will come in to play next year when deciding a college besides strength of engineering program...

By Abz1986 (Abz1986) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 11:22 pm: Edit

BTW Cooper Union is a great school especially designed for engineering

By Scetoaux (Scetoaux) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 11:22 pm: Edit

lol, "this year". That sounds pretty silly.

By Sandy (Sandy) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 11:14 pm: Edit

Hi,
I hesitate to evaluate people's chances (especially after seeing Yale reject/defer so many people with 1500s, 4.0s, and national awards this year) but since Scetoaux has already hired me, I will try my best. lol
As much as I love Rice, I have to say that engineering is not Rice's strongest point. It is good, but not out of the world. The question I would ask myself is "What do I want to do after a major in engineering?" A lot of people go from a biomed engineering degree to med school (*wink, wink Abz and Jenna*). Pre-med is Rice's strong point (96% acceptance rate & high % for first-choice med school acceptance). If this is where you are headed, Rice would be a good choice. If you are looking for world-class engineering program or reaction of "WOW" from people when you are working in Japan (lol), go for Caltech, MIT, and the other "tech" types.
In the end though, rankings may not matter much. For me, it was always more than just the academics. Of course, academics were part of my college selection but a lot of other factors like the environment, friendship, professors, city, ECs, etc. played a major role. I strongly recommend that you visit Rice. Come on, I live in Dallas too. It is so close you could go in the morning and come back the same evening.
"my granfather, who lives in Houston, is friends with someone on the admission's board, maybe he can give me a tour or at least some info"
lol----You have no excuse to not visit Rice especially since your grandpa lives in Houston. Plus, you don't need to be friends with someone on the admission board to learn about the school or get a tour. They have tours and info.sessions twice a day during this time of the year (on Saturdays too these days). Plus, adcoms, IMO, are the least aware of the life at a university outside the 4 walls of the admission office. Sure they would give you stats and encourage you to apply, but your best bet would be students, teachers, workers, and even Rice police. (lol)

As for your chances, they look awesome. You have a tough schedule. Just be sure to score 1450+ on SAT 1 and 700+ on IIs. Nothing can guarantee admissions though. And ya, since you mention your grandpa, I just thought I should say this: Don't let anyone force you into going to a school you don't like. I know you will make a smart decision, but I am just saying this because a lot of grandparents want their grandkids to go to their alma mater or to some school near them (*hinting to Gilmore Girls--don't like it anymore*). GOOD LUCK!

By Ionmech (Ionmech) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 12:58 am: Edit

Ya, actually MIT and CalTech are my first choices, but I can't find a "hook", so to speak to get in them, other than my huge interest in engineering (ROBOTICS). All my grades for these two schools are as Abz mentioned above: borderline. The best I could do is write some really good essays about how into engineering and robotics I am and get some nice recs. Any other suggestions for getting into the bigger engineering schools like those? I'm, still a junior, so I have some time, but not as much as I'd like to. Well, I'm off to sleep for now (Physics and Pre-Cal exams tomorrow). And thanks a bunch to Sandy about Rice, ya I figure next time I'm in Houston (I go a couple of times a year usually to see family), I'l try and schedule a tour, may as well. :-D

By Abz1986 (Abz1986) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Pretty late to respond... but if you somehow obtain resident status in Cali, your chances at Berkley is greatly improved

By Joshjmgs (Joshjmgs) on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 08:14 pm: Edit

Pre-AP Pre-Cal

WHAT?????

The only AP maths are AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, and AP Stat. Do you SEE a AP Pre-Cal????
Its pre-calc!

AP English III, AP Spanish IV, and AP English IV dont exist either!

By Dreadpirate (Dreadpirate) on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - 07:05 pm: Edit

Rice concentrates on undergraduate education, so the national rankings, which are heavily influenced by reputations of the graduate programs, are likely to underestimate the quality of the undergraduate engineering program. Cal Tech and MIT are clearly the cream for pure engineering. CMU is also very strong but has an entirely different environment comprised largely of hard core techies. I have friends and family who have graduated from the Duke program and went on to grad school, which is pretty much what the undergrad program is designed for--rather theorectical. Of the major research universities, Rice, Yale, Stanford and Princeton offer some of the best combinations of undergrad engineering, science and liberal arts; and their academic and living environments are a cut above.
I agree with Sandy regarding medical school preparation. Speaking from experience I concur that the top med schools have high regard for Rice grads.