I heard that the second hand (so this is not official) that the ED acceptance rate was around 16%, and that Rice accepted more than usual for ED. Applications were up significantly.
*sorry for wording!
@bkhstips I didn’t apply separately–all of Rice’s merit scholarships are automatic consideration. My acceptance letter didn’t mention the scholarship, but when I scrolled down, I saw a link to a scholarship decision.
I was /not/ expecting to get a scholarship. Like, at all.
@jmeryllman & @awesomepolyglot …If RICE dont give you seat, HYPSM will be waiting for you . God bless your kids. 
I’m sorry if this is the inappropriate place to post this, but I have a quick question regarding financial aid. I was recently accepted into Rice, however, I did not receive my financial aid package. I am aware that students who submit their files past the deadline should expect the possibility of receiving their package after their acceptance day, but I was wondering if it’s possible that I haven’t gotten it because I do not have the statement of assets completed. How exactly can I get this completed? I’m quite positive that I submitted everything—excluding the Parent IRS Data Retrieval. Could I potentially be missing something in the other files that I submitted? Also, my acceptance letter says that I need to accept by Jan 1 to secure my spot at Rice. Does that mean I lose my acceptance if I don’t accept by this date? I’m very concerned because I can only accept if I get good financial aid, but I can’t accept without knowing my aid info. Anyways, thanks!
Congratulations @papercone. The financial aid information may be posted in Esther. Rice probably sent you an email with a link to set up an Esther account after you applied. if you can’t find it, call or contact the financial aid office (not admissions) on Monday. https://financialaid.rice.edu Esther is the main IT platform Rice uses for grades, financial aid etc. It is separate from the portal admissions uses.
If you are awarded a merit scholarship there is typically a link at the bottom of the online acceptance letter. You should get a packet in the mail in a few days that will also have a letter from financial aid describing what, if any, financial aid you received.
I got Deferred 
yet Rice is still my dream school. The letter says “We encourage you to provide the Committee on Admission any updates to your application since its original submission. Tell us about your continued interest in Rice along with details of any new awards, accolades or accomplishments. Additions to your file should be directly from you and received in our office by March 1, 2019.” Is there anything else I should do? Do I need to re-submit the common application for RD and rewrite essays? I am clueless…I don’t know how many got deferred today? What’s my chance?
hey guys, I know this won’t apply to a lot of people. but for those who got accepted ED, did anyone receive their decision for the first round of the rice/baylor medical scholars program? thanks!
Congrats to her! If you mind, does a 102% GPA mean she literally got over 100%s in all her classes? That’s absurdly impressive.
@lightshock23 Thank you! My daughter was in love with Rice. I am glad she got in, because to be honest she was all in. We went to HYPSM briefings but she was all about Rice. She loves the culture.
@MDsmartguy123 I am not sure how classes are weighted in their system, but I believe the lowest final grade she had on subject was 98.
Son accepted !
ACT: 36
SAT subject - 800 on both Math 2 and physics
GPA - 3.9/4.4
Computer Engineering major
English and physics teacher Recs
I received an email today that said " Your application status has been updated. To view your new status, please log in to your Rice Admission Student Portal. If you have not yet activated your account or you have forgotten your password, please use the “Forgot Your Password” link to reset it.
Please do not hesitate to contact us at riceapps@rice.edu if we can be of assistance."
The email was so brief, solid, and serious. Did accepted applicants receive a different email? I’m so scared I haven’t even checked my portal yet…
if accepted in ED, any chance of getting Merit Aid later ?
@RocketsAstro you do not ned to resubmit your common application. Sometime in January or February send them a letter of continued interest with any new information such as awards, sports accomplishments, internships, honors, etc. since you submitted your application in the fall. You should use this as an opportunity to set out why you are a great fit for Rice and what you would add to the Rice community. Say you will definitely attend Rice if admitted. Get your school counselor to look over your letter before you submit it. Search CC for letters of continued interest, LOCI, or deferred, and you will see lots of helpful commentary on this. Here is an example. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2100088-how-do-letters-of-continued-interest-work.html
A Rice alumni friend who interviewed students this year got an email from Rice telling her that over 2600 students applied early to Rice this year and that the ED admission rate was 16%. Last year 1916 applied early so there was a significant increase in the number of ED applications this cycle. Rice probably admitted a little over 400 students ED this year, which would also be an increase over the numbers admitted ED in past years. Last year Rice admitted 371 early. The admissions office will probably issue a press release with the exact stats early next week.
@suacon I didn’t get an email, but that could be because I checked my portal at 4:01. I think that email is pretty standard. You should check your portal!
@RocketsAstro If you were deferred then the admissions committee doesn’t currently see enough in the materials you provided to warrant admission. I’m sorry about that and wish you’d gotten better news! Prospects for deferred students vary by year but generally aren’t great unless the RD pool turns out to be weaker than expected. Your best bet is to do exactly what Rice suggests: provide new information about yourself that is strong enough to prompt a reassessment of your prospects. If you can’t (and most can’t), then your best bet is to prepare for the worst and start applying to other places RD while keeping your fingers crossed that Rice will work out.
@suacon I got the same email, albeit a day early. Decisions weren’t even out yet when I got the mail lol