I got an email from Rice today saying that they’re waiving my $75 application fee. Did anyone else get this? Is it a common thing?
If so, how do I access it? The email instructs me to respond to any fee waiver prompts on the Common App, but those all ask if I qualify for a waiver based on finances, which doesn’t apply to me.
Thanks for any input!
Yep. It’s Rice does this with good students. A member of my family received the same offer and really really worked hard on the application. Never had a chance though; we later learned this was a tactic to artificially inflate application numbers. Others do it to. I don’t recall any difficulties with access to the fee waiver. It was straightforward for us. Maybe email them and ask.
I am no Rice expert, but my daughter was accepted last year. As we researched Rice leading up to her application, I recall seeing that last year, as part of its effort to increase its national presence and reputation outside of Texas, Rice sent out fee waivers to some students in California and other areas of the country in an effort to attract more out of state applicants. While it may be somewhat about getting applications numbers up, I think it is also about getting more qualified out of state applicants and increasing its nationwide name recognition.
Whoops, I found where to put the fee waiver on the Common App! I just can’t read, apparently. Thanks for all your responses. I was applying to Rice anyway, so the fee waiver is just a nice bonus. Fingers crossed now!
If your school is laid back and not a popular east coast destination, it helps to get OSS students interested to improve your geographical diversity. Colleges get SAT/ACT/PSAT lists from college board and obviously they don’t have full resume so not everyone with a waiver gets accepted. It’s not a likely letter.