Admissions Factors
What Rice Looks For
Rice rates 9 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability and character and personal qualities.
How Rice rates each factor
Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.
Very important
Considered
Not considered
The numbers behind the class
Overall admit rate
8%
2,948 of 36,791 applicants
Early decision admit rate
11.3%
Early decision admits equal 51% of the class
Admitted from the waitlist
3%
66 of 2,204 who stayed on it
90% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.
Frequently asked questions
What does Rice look for in applicants?
Rice rates 9 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability and character and personal qualities.
Does Rice consider legacy status?
Rice rates alumni relation as "considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
Does Rice track demonstrated interest?
Rice rates the level of an applicant's interest as "considered".
What is Rice's waitlist acceptance rate?
2,204 students stayed on the waitlist and 66 were admitted, a rate of 3%. The number changes a lot from year to year because it depends on how many admitted students enroll.
What is Rice's early decision acceptance rate?
Early decision: 647 of 5,748 applicants were admitted (11.3%), against 8% overall. Early pools include recruited athletes and other students with a strong tie to the college, so the gap overstates the boost for an ordinary applicant.
Source: Rice’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.
