Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Sunday, April 13, 2025 — Houston, TX

7.5% acceptance rate marks lowest in Rice history

2024-03-27-rd-admissions-visual
Riya Misra / Thresher

By Brandon Chen     3/28/24 4:11pm

Rice admitted 2,439 students from 32,459 applicants March 26, according to Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva. With a 7.5% admit rate, this is the third consecutive year of record-low acceptance rates. The Thresher previously reported 7.7% and 8.56% acceptance rates for the Class and 2027 and 2026 respectively.

This cycle saw 4.5% more applicants than last year’s 31,049. 

Despite shrinking acceptance rates, Rice continues to expand its undergraduate enrollment to a projected 4,800 by Fall 2024 and begins construction of two new residential colleges, which would raise undergraduate on-campus capacity to over 3,500.



Rice has remained test-optional for the class of 2028. 22% of this year’s admitted students did not submit test scores, compared to last year’s 21%. While some universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and Dartmouth College have reinstated test policies, Rice will maintain its test-optional policy for the 2025 application cycle.

“This was another spectacular class for Rice, and the newest admits represent the most selective class in Rice’s history once again,” Romero da Silva wrote in an email to the Thresher.



More from The Rice Thresher

NEWS 4/11/25 8:00pm
Modified Beer Bike races rescheduled to April 18

For the first time in its history, the Beer Bike races have been rescheduled, taking place on April 18 from 5-8 p.m. The makeup event was announced in an email to Beer Bike captains, coordinators and stakeholders, from the campuswide coordinators and the bike captains planning committee.

NEWS 4/11/25 5:56pm
BREAKING: Five international visas revoked at Rice

Federal authorities have revoked visas for five international affiliates at Rice — three current students and two recent graduates, university president Reginald DesRoches announced in an April 11 message to campus. It is unclear whether these visa revocations are related to involvement in campus protests.

NEWS 4/8/25 11:42pm
Beer Bike canceled due to weather concerns

Despite talk of rain and a possible ‘Beer Run,’ the Beer Bike races seemed like they were proceeding as normal on Saturday. Alumni races were well underway at noon. At 1:30 p.m., the women’s teams were teeing up for their second heat when, under sunny skies, the races abruptly stopped.


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.