Have you been waitlisted to Rice University? If so, you’re likely wondering if you’ve got a genuine shot of earning admission off the waitlist to the Houston, Texas-based, highly selective institution. But you no longer need to wonder, as we at Ivy Coach have answers to your Rice waitlist queries. So, let’s dive in!

Rice University Waitlist Acceptance Rate and Statistics

Below is Rice University’s waitlist admissions statistics released — from the Class of 2028 through the Class of 2013 — to the federally-mandated Common Data Set:

Rice University Class Year	Number of Students Waitlisted to Rice	Number of Students Who Chose to Join Rice Waitlist	Number of Students Accepted Off Rice Waitlist	Rice Waitlist Acceptance Rate
Rice University Class of 2029	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Rice University Class of 2028	3,935	2,802	7	0.25%
Rice University Class of 2027	4,244	3,112	0	0%
Rice University Class of 2026	3,016	2,118	2	0.09%
Rice University Class of 2025	3,151	2,045	156	7.63%
Rice University Class of 2024	2,788	1,869	1	0.05%
Rice University Class of 2023	3,296	2,137	31	1.45%
Rice University Class of 2022	2,080	1,328	17	1.28%
Rice University Class of 2021	2,088	1,497	1	0.07%
Rice University Class of 2020	2,237	1,659	127	7.66%
Rice University Class of 2019	2,158	1,256	150	11.94%
Rice University Class of 2018	2,552	1,496	4	0.27%
Rice University Class of 2017	2,304	1,402	52	3.71%
Rice University Class of 2016	2,342	1,493	1	0.07%
Rice University Class of 2015	2,541	1,444	131	9.07%
Rice University Class of 2014	2,301	1,125	2	0.18%
Rice University Class of 2013	1,607	808	8	0.99%

Your Chances of Admission to Rice University After Being Waitlisted

Over the last 16 admissions cycles, Rice never went a year without admitting at least one student off its waitlist, until the Class of 2027 came around. For those unfortunate applicants, Rice admissions officers must have been satisfied with their yield rate, or the number of admitted applicants who chose to matriculate. This elusive figure tends to dictate how far Rice dips into their waitlist during any given year. 

So, while Rice typically turns to its waitlist, the school doesn’t normally reach deep down its waitlist to fill its incoming classes. Over the last 16 admissions cycles, an average of 43 students were accepted off the Rice waitlist — with a high of 156 (the Class of 2025).

Your Chances of Admission to Rice After Being Waitlisted with Ivy Coach’s Help

Over the last 30 years, around 33% of students who first come to Ivy Coach after being placed on the Rice University waitlist earn admission. Our 33% figure includes years in which Rice admits only one, two, or four students off its waitlist — as it did for the Classes of 2026, 2024, 2021, 2018, 2016, and 2014.

In short, when Rice turns to its waitlist, Ivy Coach’s students do very well. Yet when Rice only admits between one to four students, our students, naturally, don’t earn admission in droves (although our students have been among the few students selected off the waitlist in a couple of those years!).

So why does Ivy Coach enjoy such success with Rice’s waitlist? It all comes down to Ivy Coach’s tried and true method developed over three decades of optimizing a student’s chances for admission after being placed on an elite college’s waitlist. Ivy Coach’s process includes two key steps, which go as follows:

1. Complete Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. We must see what a student did — both right and wrong. The narrative we help students craft can’t be inconsistent with the story conveyed in The Common Application and Rice supplement — it just needs to be told much more compellingly. An art history student can’t suddenly be interested in neuroscience. We have to make the art history student an art history student they’d be remiss not to admit, one who has harnessed the power of the singular hook.
2. Submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest. Most students correctly know they should submit a letter after being placed on a college’s waitlist if they hope to earn admission. And most know they should submit that letter without delay. Yet most students send the wrong type of letter. Ivy Coach’s letters to Rice’s admissions office feature no brags or updates. Instead, they’re love letters to the school, filled with specific after specific that only apply to Rice (and, no, name-dropping professors or classes certainly don’t count as specifics!). Our letters inspire Rice admissions officers to root for our students — and root hard!

Getting Started with Ivy Coach on Rice Waitlist

If you’re interested in giving yourself the best shot of earning admission off the Rice waitlist, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form and indicate that you’re on the Rice waitlist. We’ll write you back to delineate our waitlist service and will be happy to set up a complimentary consultation in which you can learn more about the service.