Committed to Rice over Vandy and UT Plan II, first-gen low-income pre-med

Demographics: - Male, Hispanic - Texas, public school - First-gen, low-income - No major hooks Academics: - GPA: 3.82 UW / 4.3 W - SAT: 1410 - 8 APs (mostly 4s, two 3s) - AP Scholar ECs: - Retail job, junior and senior year, 20+ hours/week - Volunteer tutor at local community center, 150+ hours - Science club officer - Debate team, made district - Hospital volunteer, 100+ hours Awards: - School leadership award - Community service recognition Acceptances: - Rice University (merit scholarship) - Vanderbilt - UT Austin (Plan II Honors) - Texas Tech (full ride) - SMU Rejections: - UT Austin McCombs Going to: Rice, pre-med track Reflection: Essays honestly carried me. My stats aren't crazy but my counselor and teachers wrote about the work ethic and what first-gen meant for me. Rice felt right the second I visited. Plan II was tempting but pre-med at Rice just made more sense. Working through high school meant I couldn't do research or fancy ECs, but I think admissions saw that I was doing what I had to do. Excited to be a Owl.