Rice University

First-year admission

Applications are made through the Common App with the Rice writing supplement, or through QuestBridge. The application fee is $75, nonrefundable. Required items are an official high school transcript, a school counselor recommendation and two teacher recommendations. Interviews are optional and recommended. Minimum course expectations are 16 credits: English 4, social studies 2, mathematics 3, laboratory science 2, one foreign language 2 and 3 additional credits; science and engineering divisions require trigonometry or pre-calculus and both chemistry and physics. Rice recommends but does not require SAT or ACT scores (test-optional); the highest section scores are combined. Rice's College Board code is 6609 and its ACT code is 4152. Class of 2029 middle 50%: SAT 1510-1560, ACT 34-36 (deposited students). Architecture applicants submit a portfolio and Shepherd School of Music applicants complete additional materials by December 1.

Deadlines

Early Decision I (binding): November 1. Early Decision II (binding): January 4. Regular Decision: January 4, with decisions by April 1 and enrollment deposit by May 1.

Credit

AP scores of 4 or 5 and IB higher-level scores of 6 or 7 (IB Diploma holders) may earn credit; A-Levels and other international exams with a grade of A or B may receive transfer credit.

Transfer admission

Transfer applicants have completed at least 12 semester hours of college credit after high school (with at least a 3.2 GPA in recent work). Deadlines are October 15 for spring and March 15 for fall; transfer students complete at least four semesters (60 semester hours) at Rice. The fee is $75.

International applicants

International designation is based on citizenship or residency status. The $75 fee cannot be waived for international applicants. Transcripts and documents must be in English or officially translated, with final exam results (for example IGCSE/GCSE, CBSE) submitted. Applicants whose first language is not English must show two years of full-time study in an English-language curriculum or submit TOEFL (minimum 100 for tests before January 21, 2026; 5.0 on the updated scale from that date), IELTS 7, Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 185, or Duolingo 130. All international applicants complete the International Student Financial Statement.

Graduate admission

Apply through gradapply.rice.edu; applications generally open around September 1 and deadlines are set by each department. The fee is $85 (waivers available for some doctoral applicants). The GRE is generally not required but may be recommended or required by individual programs. Documents typically include transcripts, recommendation letters, statement of purpose and, for international applicants, TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo scores.

Rice University is located at 6100 Main St. in Houston, Texas, in an urban setting on a 300-acre tree-lined, forested campus. The campus sits between downtown, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center, close to Hermann Park, the Houston Zoo and Rice Village.

The campus has more than 4,300 trees, including some of the oldest live oaks in Houston, and has been recognised as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Facilities and institutes on campus include the Moody Center for the Arts (opened 2017), which curates a public art collection of more than 85 works across the campus, the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Brockman Hall for Opera, the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Rice also has schools of architecture, business, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences.

Student life is organised around the residential college system, in which every undergraduate is assigned to a residential college and remains affiliated with it throughout their undergraduate years. Rice does not have fraternities or sororities on campus.