I didn’t see a thread for waitlisted students so I thought I’d make one for our general questions/discussion. How soon do you all think that Rice will start taking people off the waitlist?
I was looking at last year’s waitlist tread and responses looked like they started popping up around end of April. That seems like so soon. It’s really important to send in those letters affirming continued interest. So, if you haven’t done so yet, do so soon!
I’m really dying to get in. Rice is the dream, right? Best of luck to everyone else out there!
Last year they started making calls in the last week of April. Good luck to all ! My advise will be to show your interest by sending email and updating your admission counselor with any additional information that may boost your status. Also, visit the school in person and meet with your admission counselor. That shows your utmost love for the school. Best of luck!
Yep, I sent in my letter of interest soon after I got my decision. I’m not expecting anything, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck everyone!
Has anyone heard anything yet?
Nobody is going to here anything Rice has been shut down for days due to the flooding in Houston
Son just declined his Rice admission, so another slot just opened up. Just wanted to give you some hope. Good luck to all!
According to the threads of last two years, they admitted students from the waitlist in late April. And as far as we’re seeing here it’s probably not happening this year. I suppose this means that in the last two years they already know in April that they wouldn’t make the goal of enrollment and in this year they’re still not sure. Maybe the yield is better this year? Maybe they’ll have less spots for us waitlisted students this year? 
I’m wondering… Has Rice ever taken international students off its waitlist?
Now that it’s past May 1st…I wonder if anyone has been taken off yet?
I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but my son is on the waiting list at Rice and on the list at 3 other schools. I was on the Harvard 2020 Waitlist Discussion thread and had mentioned it. I got two responses that Rice is oversubscribed this year and won’t take anyone off the waiting list. See posts #170 and #172 in Harvard 2020 Waitlist Discussion. It is very disappointing to me because it seems like one by one the doors are closing and soon we will find that none of the wait lists will move.
@m22boys This sounds horrible:(
@chingchingli Yes, it does sound horrible. I was not even asking for that information when they gave it to me. But at least we can prepare for the worst but still hope for the best.
@m22boys, I sincerely apologize for being the bearer of the bad news! I wasn’t trying to dash all hopes, just wanted to let folks know about whatever little info i had to make sure that maybe it was time to start loving the ones that accepted them.
My son is on the waitlists of cornell, caltech, columbia, harvard, and harvey mudd. Our situation is definitely better since he was accepted RD and committed to UChicago, but it is still painful to wait one of the schools to take him off the waitlist. The uncertainty of it all is simply torturous.
It just breaks my heart to see so many talented kids, including yours, on these forums waiting for their first acceptance at their top choice school. I can only imagine the pain they must be going through especially when they did everything they could and more the last four years only to see their hopes dashed.
I hope and pray that I was wrong about the info I passed on and that Rice will start dipping into the WL pool.
I sincerely wish you, your son, and all the other Rice WLed folks here good luck!
@TheReds, No need to apologize. We need to know the truth about what is going on. I would rather be realistically pessimistic than unrealistically optimistic. If I didn’t want to know, I would not be on this website!! I think the others on this site would agree. That is why I posted what I did on this thread.
I wish my son had one admission on or before Ivy Day. He was wait listed by Rice, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Tufts, rejected by Stanford, Yale and Brown. It isn’t ideal, but my son should be able to get significant money to go to a school that caters to National Merit Scholars. He has 2 acceptances and his top choice is ASU Barrett Honors College. If he goes there, we will wind up paying 1/5 of what we were planning to pay at one of the elite private colleges. Ironic that no school wants our money! We saved up all this money to fund his college education and he worked really hard toward that goal. He will have $250,000 that we won’t wind up spending on undergrad to use toward grad or professional school or even to use toward the purchase of a house or business??
This process has definitely been a painful roller coaster ride, but it does have me questioning whether or not this elite, Ivy League type education is worth the huge price tag. If we had no money, it is free. But because we can pay, we will pay full price. My husband, the Dartmouth grad, believes 100% all of his success today is due to his education and that Dartmouth shaped him into who he is today. I tell him that he has no way of knowing how things would have turned out had he gone to a college with a lesser reputation and lower price tag. We can’t go back and take the path not taken to see how things would have turned out. I believe the cream will rise to the top. At least a third of my med school class was from Ivy League schools. Then there were a lot of us from UCs. But one of the smartest kids in my class graduated from San Jose State. Definitely not an elite undergraduate institution!
I have a patient who is a guidance counselor at a different high school in our district. In her experience everyone winds up where they need to be. It may not necessarily be where they wanted to be, but there is a good reason for it. I know my son is a great student (the val of his class) but he is quiet and does not toot his own horn. Many of his Ivy bound classmates have no problems with self-promotion and are overflowing with self-confidence. If that is what it takes to get into one of these elite college, maybe he is better off not being there. I have to trust that it will all work out for the best. What else can we do, right?
I have a patient whose son got off the WL at Harvey Mudd about 4 years ago. It is possible, so don’t give up hope. I also think that if Stanford and Harvard are the hardest to get in and they are moving their wait lists, that might cause melt that trickles down. Maybe some of these schools that appears oversubscribed might have room later on? I won’t hold my breath but there is still some hope.
I have a question…I’ve been accepted to another school off the waitlist (haven’t heard about $$$ yet though, so that will factor into my possible decision) and because I only have a day to decide whether I want to keep the spot, should I call Rice and tell them that? Because I’d much prefer to go to Rice over this other school, if on the slim slim slim chance I can get off of Rice’s waitlist!! Would they be annoyed if I call?
@curiouswonder What do you have to lose? You have one day to make a decision. Unless you are willing to lose the spot you just got, you don’t have the time to wait for Rice. So you might as well ask. The worst they can say is that you won’t get in, which puts your mind at rest. You might also hear that the wait list is closed as suggested above, or that they won’t decide for days or weeks longer. All is helpful info to you.
I can’t imagine that your call could push them over the edge to cause them to reject you by itself. They will understand your predicament. But if it does cause them to reject you, that helps you make your decision.
@wandlmink thank you! I’ll call them this afternoon and we’ll see what happens.
@curiouswonder outcome?
@livinginLA left a message and they didn’t call me back. However, I got an email the next day that maybe everyone else got saying that the class is oversubscribed and only one person has been accepted so far off the waitlist. If you haven’t received it yet, it says
"In March, we requested permission to place your name on the waitlist as an alternate for Rice’s class of 2020. We were pleased by your positive response, and I am writing to update you on our current situation. To date, only one student has been admitted from the waitlist, and we are currently oversubscribed for the fall term. It is uncertain whether we will be able to admit any more students, but if we do, we will choose from those who continue to be interested in Rice and maintain their place on the waitlist.
In order to remain on the waitlist, or if you wish to withdraw from it now, please reply online through your Rice Admission Student Portal. We are requesting that you respond by May 20, 2016.
Thank you for your interest in Rice and best wishes for the remainder of your senior year."
So I didn’t bother calling again because I doubt a decision would come in the next week!