Philosophy and Evaluation
Dating back to the founding of Rice University, our first
president, Edgar Odell Lovett, mandated that we aspire to be a
world-class university of the highest standing. Dr. Lovett
challenged us "to assign no upper limit to our educational
endeavor." He envisioned students and faculty as a community of
scholars, their minds exercised by spirited discourse. Therefore,
as an integral part of the university's mission, we seek a broadly
diverse student body where educational diversity increases the
intellectual vitality of education, scholarship, service and
communal life at Rice. We seek students, both undergraduate and
graduate, of keen intellect and diverse backgrounds who not only
show potential for success at Rice, but who will contribute to the
educational environment of those around them. Rice determines which
group of applicants, considered individually and collectively, will
take fullest advantage of what we have to offer, contribute most to
the educational process at Rice, and be most successful in their
chosen fields and in society in general. Our evaluation process
employs many different means to identify these qualities in
applicants. History shows that no single gauge can adequately
predict a student's preparedness for a successful career at Rice.
For example, we are cautious in the use of standardized test scores
to assess student preparedness and potential. An applicant's entire
file is considered and each applicant is considered in competition
with all other applicants. In making a decision to admit or award
financial aid, we are careful not to ascribe too much value to any
single metric, such as rank in class, grade-point average, the
SAT/ACT or Graduate Record Exam.
We use a broader perspective that includes such qualitative
factors as the overall strength and competitive ranking of a
student's prior institution, the rigor of his or her particular
course of study, letters of recommendation, essays, responses to
application questions, and (where required) auditions and
portfolios. Taken together with a student's academic record and
test scores, these additional factors provide a sound basis to
begin assessing the applicant's potential on all levels.
Beyond indicators of academic competence, we look for other
qualities among applicants such as creativity, motivations,
artistic talent and leadership potential. We believe that students
who possess these attributes in combination with strong academic
potential will contribute to, and benefit from, a more vibrant,
diverse educational atmosphere. Through their contributions and
interactions with others, students will enrich the educational
experience of the entire campus community. These qualities are not
revealed in numerical measurements but are manifest in the breadth
of interests and the balance of activities in their lives.
Rice University strives to create on its campus a rich learning
environment in which all students will meet individuals whose
interests, talents, life experiences, beliefs and worldviews differ
significantly from their own. We believe that an educated person is
one who is at home in many different environments, at ease among
people from many different cultures and willing to test his or her
views against those of others. Moreover, we recognize that in this,
or any university, learning about the world we live in is not by
any means limited to the structured interaction between faculty and
students in the classroom, but also occurs through informal
dialogue between students outside of the classroom.
To encourage our students' fullest possible exposure to the
widest possible set of experiences, Rice seeks, through its
admissions policies, to bring bright and promising students to the
university from a range of socioeconomic, cultural, geographic and
other backgrounds. We consider an applicant's race or ethnicity as
a factor in the admission process and believe that racial and
ethnic diversity is an important element of overall educational
diversity. Though race or ethnicity is never the defining factor in
an application or admissions decision, we do seek to enroll
students from underrepresented groups in sufficient and meaningful
numbers to prevent their isolation and allow their diverse voices
to be heard. We also seek students whose parents did not attend
college, as well as students from families with a well-established
history of college-level education. Rice places a premium on
recruitment of students, regardless of their races or ethnicities,
who have distinguished themselves through initiatives that build
bridges between different cultural, racial and ethnic groups. In so
doing, we endeavor to craft a residential community that fosters
creative, intercultural interactions among students, a place where
prejudices of all sorts are confronted squarely and dispelled.
In assessing how well an applicant can contribute to enlivening
the learning environment at Rice, we also try to determine the
relative challenges that he or she may have faced. For economically
disadvantaged students, this may mean achieving a high level of
scholastic distinction while holding down a job in high school. For
a first-generation student, it might mean achieving high standards
for academic success within an environment relatively indifferent
to intellectual attainment. Or it might mean overcoming a
disability to excel in sports, music or forensics. For students who
do not have particular disadvantages, we also look at whether they
chose a more challenging road than the normal path through high
school. This might mean an especially strenuous course of study, a
prolonged, in-depth engagement in a school project or a
particularly creative and wide-ranging set of extracurricular
activities.
Rice does not view offers of admission as entitlements based on
grades and test scores. Our admission process combines an
examination of academic ability with a flexible assessment of an
applicant's talents, experiences and potential, including potential
diversity contributions; it precludes any quick formula for
admitting a given applicant or for giving preference to one
particular set of qualifications without reference to the class as
a whole. Rice is a highly selective institution, and receives many
more applications from viable candidates than it has available
spaces. An inevitable consequence of Rice's approach is that some
highly accomplished students will not be admitted. However, by
selecting a wide range of matriculants of all types, the admissions
process seeks to enrich the learning environment at Rice and thus
improve the quality of a Rice education for all students.