i’ve watched and rewatched your videos so many times at this point, you give such good insight and tips for someone who’s 110% set on Rice. I was just wondering, how much community service did you do throughout high school? I do some tutoring but i’m really worried it’s not enough especially since it has been mostly during my junior year. I feel like if i had done more meaningful community work it would have increased my chances by a lot... Any advice?
Hey ariana! First off, thanks so much for the support! To answer your first question, I did do a decent amount of community service mainly from these two activities: 1. My time as president of the alzheimer's student association where we volunteered at alzheimer's houses and spent about 4 hours volunteering every other week. 2. Volunteering as a math/reading tutor for a club where I tutored children in a smaller community for a couple hours a week. I also did volunteer work at my local nature center, garden, and library. But I really don't think the last bit made or broke my application. From my experience, what they're looking for is committed, long-term activities (volunteer or not) so you don't have to worry about pilling on more, random volunteer work. For your second point, obviously doing more meaningful community work will increase your chances. But tutoring is a great activity (especially if its volunteering) where you can demonstrate not only leadership, but academic skills. I wouldn't try to add random acts of volunteering in your application if it's not really substantial. Instead, focus on other activities that you've done and really bring out other points if you think you're lacking in volunteering. Hope this helps!
Gerald Wang That really is helpful! i think it’s too late to start a long term meaningful community service activity, so i’ll just have to continue volunteering to tutor and focus on other extracurriculars. Thank you!
Hi! I'm in college now and I want to transfer to rice could you explain me what to do please and how can I get a scholarship. I really want to study in rice university. Thank you
Hey isa! I don't know too much about the transfer process but rice has a page dedicated to that: admission.rice.edu/apply/transfer From the looks of it, I think it's similar to the normal admissions process where you submit certain documents and then they'll either accept you or not after the deadline. For scholarships, rice offers either merit ones or financial aid ones (which you can find here: financialaid.rice.edu/apply-aid/applying-aid ). As for merit ones, you don't have to apply for any. You are automatically applied to them and they'll review your application and determine whether or not to give you merit awards. If you have any more questions then feel free to ask them! Good luck with everything!
Hello Gerald! I'm currently a sophomore in high school. My class rank is 4/882, I'm currently a straight A student, and my weighted GPA is a 6.7143 on a 6.0 scale. I feel like I'm academically on track to get into a school like RICE, but I'm curious as to your opinion on something. If I'm almost finished with my sophomore year and I haven't earned any honors, I haven't done volunteer work, and I haven't taken on a leadership position within a club; will getting into a position to be accepted into Rice be near impossible at this point?
Hey Kelvin! It's definitely not impossible. As you've said, academically you'll be fine. You have one more year so really try to do some sort of ec. I will say that it will be hard since everyone I know at rice has done some incredible stuff ec wise. But if you can write some really strong essays and find some ec's (do you have any hobbies?) then it's not at all impossible.
Gerald Wang I have a few ec’s, only problem is I’m not super involved in them, except for track and xc. Do you think being less involved will hurt me, or could i just “embellish” and make it seem like a made a large contribution?
I know there's an event called owl days where new rice students (including international students) are invited to rice and learn a lot about the school. However, I don't think there's any formal process for international students to meet current students before they are accepted. If you want to do a campus tour you can probably just sign up for it and go but rice also has some videos that show the campus.
@@GeraldWang Which country you hail from? Do you live in Shanghai? If you are Chinese, then let me tell you I love Chinese Culture and tradition and people.
Rice has “Current or Most Recent Year Courses” but do they have that feature for 9, 10, 11 grade? because if so, 9th and 10th will definitely hurt me as I got a 3.3 GPA on both those years.. but I do have a 4.0 GPA in both 11th and 12th with amazing EC’s along with amazing AP Testing, SAT Score?
When applying, you'll have to send Rice a high school transcript and they'll look at all 4 years. But you should be fine still since they take a holistic look at your academic records. They'll see that you've improved a lot and that's always a good sign.
@@GeraldWang That's unfortunate. I guess we are bound to part ways with our instruments eventually. But it's nice to have music be part of your life. One day, you will find your instrument and remember the fun memories of the past!
Hey! i’m a freshman in highschool and i just want to know if i’m going down the right path.. you know?so far i’m in choir and in this prosgram called avid that’s basically an elective for college preparation and extracurricular for community service.in addition, i’m also part of student council and my goal is to become an officer in it.my gpa at the moment is a 5. something (i can’t recall). overall, i just want to know if you have any recommendations or just feedback in general of the path i’m going down on so far.thank you in advance!!😊
Hey sandy! It definitely seems like you're going down the right path. I would make sure you try to do tangible things that help your community when you're volunteering and when you're in the student council. Something that you can put down in your applications and show schools that your time there was used to actually do something impactful. Choir is great if you're really passionate about it! I'm sure the avid program is also beneficial since it's designed as a college prep class so keep going with that if you find that interesting. Overall though I think it looks good! Make sure you're enjoying life too!
Hey Gerald, I have been looking everywhere for samples of other students who have written the Rice supplemental essays (& got accepted), but I can’t find any! Could you please tell me where I can find those samples? I’m in desperate need of inspiration. I’m currently in the process of applying as a transfer from a CC. Anyways, sorry for this late comment and thank you again for these videos! They have been extremely helpful for me. 😊
Unfortunately I don't think Rice releases any student written samples (as far as I know) so I can't really be of more use than just trying to google for them. When I was writing my essay the main resource I used was this: blog.prepscholar.com/successful-harvard-application-common-application-harvard-supplement Sorry I couldn't provide much more, but good luck on your application!
@@GeraldWang Oh okay, that’s understandable about the school to be honest. It’s most likely to avoid plagiarism, but also thank you for your advice! I appreciate it nonetheless and I will definitely check up on the link that you shared. Thank you again! 😊
Hey! Another person asked a similar question on the other video. Basically, you want to try to be open and outgoing in your interview. They'll probably ask you general college stuff like: 1. Why do you want to go to Rice? 2. What extracurriculars do you do? 3. Name times where you demonstrated leadership. 4. If you have unlimited resources, how will you change the world? Just be sure to know in and out the things that you are interested in and prepare for these questions!
Your videos are definitely helping me get out of confusion on what top schools look for, thank you.
Hey thanks simrat!
We recently had a webinar with Rice Admissions Officer. Such a nice man... Mr. Athkins. And your video is amazing.. Hello from Turkmenistan 🇹🇲
That's great to hear and thank you!
Seeing him with a near perfect application really makes me decide whether I should even try
You definitely should!
Rice university is my dream school! I want to go there for music !!
Good luck!! Rice's music school is incredible!
Good Luck!!🍀
i’ve watched and rewatched your videos so many times at this point, you give such good insight and tips for someone who’s 110% set on Rice. I was just wondering, how much community service did you do throughout high school? I do some tutoring but i’m really worried it’s not enough especially since it has been mostly during my junior year. I feel like if i had done more meaningful community work it would have increased my chances by a lot... Any advice?
Hey ariana! First off, thanks so much for the support! To answer your first question, I did do a decent amount of community service mainly from these two activities:
1. My time as president of the alzheimer's student association where we volunteered at alzheimer's houses and spent about 4 hours volunteering every other week.
2. Volunteering as a math/reading tutor for a club where I tutored children in a smaller community for a couple hours a week.
I also did volunteer work at my local nature center, garden, and library. But I really don't think the last bit made or broke my application. From my experience, what they're looking for is committed, long-term activities (volunteer or not) so you don't have to worry about pilling on more, random volunteer work.
For your second point, obviously doing more meaningful community work will increase your chances. But tutoring is a great activity (especially if its volunteering) where you can demonstrate not only leadership, but academic skills. I wouldn't try to add random acts of volunteering in your application if it's not really substantial. Instead, focus on other activities that you've done and really bring out other points if you think you're lacking in volunteering. Hope this helps!
Gerald Wang That really is helpful! i think it’s too late to start a long term meaningful community service activity, so i’ll just have to continue volunteering to tutor and focus on other extracurriculars. Thank you!
@@arianam558 No problem! Good luck with your applications!
these videos are really good, so much good info thank you
haha thanks so much emma!
Hi! I'm in college now and I want to transfer to rice could you explain me what to do please and how can I get a scholarship. I really want to study in rice university. Thank you
Hey isa! I don't know too much about the transfer process but rice has a page dedicated to that:
admission.rice.edu/apply/transfer
From the looks of it, I think it's similar to the normal admissions process where you submit certain documents and then they'll either accept you or not after the deadline. For scholarships, rice offers either merit ones or financial aid ones (which you can find here: financialaid.rice.edu/apply-aid/applying-aid ). As for merit ones, you don't have to apply for any. You are automatically applied to them and they'll review your application and determine whether or not to give you merit awards. If you have any more questions then feel free to ask them! Good luck with everything!
@@GeraldWang Thank you so much
My extracurriculars are quite weak
Hello Gerald! I'm currently a sophomore in high school. My class rank is 4/882, I'm currently a straight A student, and my weighted GPA is a 6.7143 on a 6.0 scale. I feel like I'm academically on track to get into a school like RICE, but I'm curious as to your opinion on something. If I'm almost finished with my sophomore year and I haven't earned any honors, I haven't done volunteer work, and I haven't taken on a leadership position within a club; will getting into a position to be accepted into Rice be near impossible at this point?
Hey Kelvin! It's definitely not impossible. As you've said, academically you'll be fine. You have one more year so really try to do some sort of ec. I will say that it will be hard since everyone I know at rice has done some incredible stuff ec wise. But if you can write some really strong essays and find some ec's (do you have any hobbies?) then it's not at all impossible.
Gerald Wang I have a few ec’s, only problem is I’m not super involved in them, except for track and xc. Do you think being less involved will hurt me, or could i just “embellish” and make it seem like a made a large contribution?
Did u get into rice?
@@OfficiallyNiyo I applied early decision and was denied. I was admitted to and currently attending UT Austin as a CS major. Good luck!
Have my Interview this friday!!!!
Good luck!
Hey, Gerald just tell me that can international students meet Rice students? If yes, how and what is the process? Can they do a Campus Tour?
I know there's an event called owl days where new rice students (including international students) are invited to rice and learn a lot about the school. However, I don't think there's any formal process for international students to meet current students before they are accepted. If you want to do a campus tour you can probably just sign up for it and go but rice also has some videos that show the campus.
@@GeraldWang Which country you hail from? Do you live in Shanghai? If you are Chinese, then let me tell you I love Chinese Culture and tradition and people.
@@shubham1999 I was actually born and raised in America but I'm glad to hear that you like Chinese culture!
@@GeraldWang can you suggest me where I can watch those videos of Rice University m Do you have any link?
@@isabellaantony5732 Hi Isabella! Which videos are you talking about specifically?
Rice has “Current or Most Recent Year Courses” but do they have that feature for 9, 10, 11 grade? because if so, 9th and 10th will definitely hurt me as I got a 3.3 GPA on both those years.. but I do have a 4.0 GPA in both 11th and 12th with amazing EC’s along with amazing AP Testing, SAT Score?
When applying, you'll have to send Rice a high school transcript and they'll look at all 4 years. But you should be fine still since they take a holistic look at your academic records. They'll see that you've improved a lot and that's always a good sign.
I play clarinet too! Just curious, do you still play the clarinet or is it collecting dust in the corner?
(pulls out clarinet) (blows)
SQUEAK
Haha, I played it a bit in college but now that I've graduated I don't really have the time anymore. So sadly it is collecting dust currently 😅
@@GeraldWang That's unfortunate. I guess we are bound to part ways with our instruments eventually. But it's nice to have music be part of your life. One day, you will find your instrument and remember the fun memories of the past!
@@DaddyOab Well said, totally agree!
Got my Interview this Thursday !
Good luck!
Hey! i’m a freshman in highschool and i just want to know if i’m going down the right path.. you know?so far i’m in choir and in this prosgram called avid that’s basically an elective for college preparation and extracurricular for community service.in addition, i’m also part of student council and my goal is to become an officer in it.my gpa at the moment is a 5. something (i can’t recall). overall, i just want to know if you have any recommendations or just feedback in general of the path i’m going down on so far.thank you in advance!!😊
Hey sandy! It definitely seems like you're going down the right path. I would make sure you try to do tangible things that help your community when you're volunteering and when you're in the student council. Something that you can put down in your applications and show schools that your time there was used to actually do something impactful. Choir is great if you're really passionate about it! I'm sure the avid program is also beneficial since it's designed as a college prep class so keep going with that if you find that interesting. Overall though I think it looks good! Make sure you're enjoying life too!
Hey Gerald, I have been looking everywhere for samples of other students who have written the Rice supplemental essays (& got accepted), but I can’t find any! Could you please tell me where I can find those samples? I’m in desperate need of inspiration. I’m currently in the process of applying as a transfer from a CC. Anyways, sorry for this late comment and thank you again for these videos! They have been extremely helpful for me. 😊
Unfortunately I don't think Rice releases any student written samples (as far as I know) so I can't really be of more use than just trying to google for them. When I was writing my essay the main resource I used was this:
blog.prepscholar.com/successful-harvard-application-common-application-harvard-supplement
Sorry I couldn't provide much more, but good luck on your application!
@@GeraldWang Oh okay, that’s understandable about the school to be honest. It’s most likely to avoid plagiarism, but also thank you for your advice! I appreciate it nonetheless and I will definitely check up on the link that you shared. Thank you again! 😊
Is it too late to request an interview?
I believe for rising seniors it is since applications were due on the 1st. But you should check their website just to be sure
I'm just waiting on my interview, any other tips for it?
Hey! Another person asked a similar question on the other video. Basically, you want to try to be open and outgoing in your interview. They'll probably ask you general college stuff like:
1. Why do you want to go to Rice?
2. What extracurriculars do you do?
3. Name times where you demonstrated leadership.
4. If you have unlimited resources, how will you change the world?
Just be sure to know in and out the things that you are interested in and prepare for these questions!
Gerald Wang thank you so much!
Also, bring a resume! The interviewers don’t know anything about you other than school, contact info, and general areas of interest.
Got defered from Duke ED. Ughhh I hope I get in somewhere
Aww, I'm sure you'll get into another great school!
So ? Did u get in?
bless you
Thank you :D
What a nice guy
Thanks!
Check out eliteuniversityadmissions.org to get help getting into elite universities?
I never used that resource but it definitely seems helpful!