How generous is the Rice Investment realistically? It seems almost too good to be true compared to other similarly-ranked schools.
Also, would asking for financial aid at Rice affect chances of getting in? I saw a Reddit thread in which someone wrote that middle class students asking for financial aid are less likely to be admitted because colleges believe they won’t attend without getting a lot of financial aid. Is this true? Thanks!
The Rice Investment is mostly a repackaging of existing financial aid programs. It did provide $7 million in new financial-aid money according to the Thresher, but that probably isn’t an especially large boost in percentage terms.
As for your financial aid question, Rice follows the standard practice of top universities by admitting domestic students on a need-blind basis. That means asking for aid has no effect on your admission prospects. However Rice also receives a huge number of applications from people who would love to accept a spot if you decide to go elsewhere. So if you are actually wondering whether a middle-class applicant has enough bargaining power to ask for more aid than their FAFSA suggests is appropriate, the answer is generally going to be no, unless you happen to fall into a group where Rice is trying to boost representation.