Can I get into Rice University, UCLA, UT Austin, and/or UC Berkeley?

My guess is yes for UT Austin, Rice will depend heavily on the outcome of your SATs (I'm sorry, but I don't remember how PSATs are scored). I think you stand a good chance of getting into UCLA or Berkeley if you are a Californian (if your SAT is high enough), but maybe not if you are from Texas, since both are public schools which give preference to California residents. I was at an alumni event at UCLA on Friday, and they told us that they got 56,000 applications this year! Schools like Columbia are actually somewhat less competitive than UCLA and Berkeley, so again, depending on your SAT scores, you have a possibility of it. I am a little troubled by the 14% ranking, which suggests either that you are at a school with a lot of outstanding students, or that their grading system is too loose.