<p>They officially notify merit aid recipients via priority US mail. You will find out by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest (they released decisions on a Monday last year and I got the package on Wednesday). So if you cannot access your financial aid letter online, just be patient and wait for the package to arrive. Also, financial aid is a separate office at Rice, so they are probably still uploading award letters into ESTHER. I know I didn’t find out last year until the next day when the admission decision was released.</p>