Rice’s early decision applicant numbers are up more than 27 percent

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

If the early decision applications are any indication of how many students are likely to apply to Rice for fall 2010, the university might very well break last year’s record of more than 11,000 applications.

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Nov. 1 was the deadline to apply to Rice under the early decision plan — a binding-decision option that restricts applicants to applying to one college only for early decision. Applications are still being processed, but as of this week, the count stands at 902 — more than 27 percent above last year’s 709 early decision applications.

Vice President for Enrollment Chris Muñoz said the spike in early decision numbers is consistent with other signs of an increased interest in Rice. Campus visits by students and parents are up 25 percent this year. And the Admission staff has seen higher levels of attendance at recruitment presentations at hotels around the state and country.

“The message about what Rice has to offer is obviously getting out,” he said. “World-class faculty, smart students from all over the world, more opportunities to do undergraduate research, two new residential colleges and a new recreation center, and a city that boasts a warm climate and a variety of cultural, sports and entertainment venues — what’s not to like?”

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Want to receive a world-class education at a bargain price? Apply to Rice President David Leebron said the higher number of applicants is beneficial to Rice because it allows the university to build an extraordinarily highly qualified freshman class of talented and interesting people from a variety of cultural, ethnic and geographic backgrounds.

“We don’t just rank students from top to bottom according to their test scores,” Leebron said. “We look at the whole person and what they will bring to our community. We are especially pleased that as we are growing our undergraduate student body, applications have grown even faster.”

The quality of education Rice offers has been complemented by this year’s Princeton Review No. 1 ranking of Rice for best quality of life and the university’s consistent top-five placement on various best-value lists, including No. 4 on Kiplinger’s newest ranking.

Students accepted under the early decision plan will be notified by Dec. 15. They must commit to Rice by Jan. 2 or withdraw their application.