Rice University is a highly competitive school and its admissions statistics make Rice University one of the 50 most competitive schools for undergraduate admissions globally. Similar to the trends across all top schools, Rice University acceptance rates have continued to decline over the past 8 years and will almost certainly continue to do so into the future.
The Class of 2024 was one of the most challenging years to be admitted to Rice University ever. For the Class of 2024, 23,443 students applied to Rice University of which 2,346 students were accepted, yielding an overall acceptance rate of 10%. Overall applications decreased by 13.4% over last year (2023 to 2024) from 27,084 to 23,443.
For the Class of 2019, 385 students were admitted through the early admissions process. Total early applications totaled 2,042, yielding an early acceptance rate of 18.9%. Early applications decreased by 22.3% over last year (2023 to 2024) from 2,628 to 2,042.
In 1891, the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature and Science was chartered and dedicated as a gift to the city of Houston, Texas, by William Marsh Rice. The work on the new institute only began after Rice’s death and had its official opening in 1912. Today, Rice University is the nineteenth ranked university in the country by U.S. News & World Report and the eighteenth in Research Universities by Forbes.
Rice has schools that are very well respected in the areas of the natural sciences and social sciences, business, public policy, music, architecture and the humanities. Rice University also has eight graduate programs that rank in the nation’s Top 20. The bioengineering program is in a three-way tie for the number seven spot; a computer engineering program is in a three-way tie for the eighteenth spot; an environmental engineering program is tied for nineteenth; and the Wiess School of Natural Sciences is tied at the number ten spot for its specialty in physics.
Notable alumni from Rice University in the areas of science include at least ten NASA astronauts; James A. Kahle, IBM Fellow and chief architect of the POWER4 and Cell microprocessors; and Robert Woodrow Wilson, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of cosmic microwave background radiation.
Rice University hosts more than 3,000 undergraduates annually and offers valuable learning experiences both in the classroom and out with the intent of giving students “more than just a world-class education”. Currently, the five most popular majors at Rice are Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Psychology, Economics, Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
Rice University has a number of different traditions, many of which revolve around “Sammy”. In 1917, a large canvas depicting Rice’s mascot (an owl) went missing, so Rice students hired a private detective to find the missing piece. It turned out that students from Texas A&M had kidnapped it. The private investigator coded a telegram back to Rice which read, “Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o’clock”, hence why Rice University’s owl mascot has been called “Sammy” ever since.
RICE UNIVERSITY: CURRENT STUDENT POPULATION
- Total Enrollment 6,224
- Undergrad Enrollment 3,755
- Freshmen 1,000
- % Male/Female 52% / 48%
- % From Out of State 49%
- % Freshman from Public High School 74%
- % Undergrads Live on Campus 72%
- % African American 7%
- % Asian 20%
- % Caucasian 42%
- % Hispanic 13%
- % Native American <1%
- % Mixed (2+ Ethnicities) 5%
- % International 10%
- # of Countries Represented 51
RICE UNIVERSITY: FRESHMAN STUDENT PROFILE
- Range SAT Critical Reading 660-750
- Range SAT Math 700-780
- Range SAT Writing 660-760
- Range ACT Composite 30-34
- Minimum Paper TOEFL 600
- Minimum Web-based TOEFL 100
- % Graduated Top 10% of Class 90%
- % Graduated Top 25% of Class 97%
- % Graduated Top 50% of Class 100%
RICE UNIVERSITY: ACADEMICS
- Academic Rating 93/100
- % Students Graduating within 4 Years 84%
- % Students Graduating within 6 Years 92%
- Calendar System Semester
- Student/Faculty Ratio 6:1
- Professor’s ‘Interesting’ Rating 87%
- Professor’s ‘Accessible’ Rating 90%
- Most classes have 10-19 students.
RICE UNIVERSITY: MOST POPULAR MAJORS
- Biology/ Biological Sciences
- Economics
- Psychology
