Rice Transfer Advice and Chances

Colleges & Universities Rice University
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Hi All,

I am applying to Rice as a junior in college and am hoping to get in for the Fall 2026 semester. I did not apply out of high school so I haven’t gone through Rice’s specific application process but I have applied to many schools before. I am hoping to get some tips for anyone who has gotten in or not! I am using the common app.

A little about me:
Demographics: Sex- Male; Race- White; Ethnicity- White;

Languages: English

Major: Computer Science Currently, would like to switch to Artificial Intelligence

Schools: Years 1-2 University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Year 3: Midwestern State (TX)

Sport: Played Football at both D1 at UNL, D2 at Midwestern State, Team Defensive MVP at Midwestern

ACT: 35

HS GPA: Standard GPA:3.913, Weighted GPA:4.217

College GPA: 4.0 Through 100ish Credits

Coursework: Taken all standard Computer Science classes and Math minor courses up until Linear Algebra

Awards: Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All Lone Star Conference, Outstanding ACT Achievement, AP Scholar Award With Distinction, Dean’s List University of Nebraska, Redwine Honors Program at Midwestern State, Football Team Captain at MSU

Work Experience: Worked all through high school and one semester at college.
Apex Auto Jan 2025 – Jun 2025 Sales Associate / Technician

Apex Auto Jan 2025 – Jun 2025 Automation & Technology Coordinator

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Jan 2025 – Jun 2025 Server / Bartender

Scheels All Sports Feb 2022 – Apr 2023 Cashier

Oscar’s Pizza and Sports Grille Jan 2021 – Dec 2021 Busser/ Expo

Omaha Country Club May 2018 – Aug 2021 Caddie

Extracurriculars: Pep Club President, Football (HS and College), Honors Program at Midwestern State, Sunday School Teacher in HS, Community Service at Food Bank at UNL, Tutor

LOR: Strong LORs Software Engineering Professor, Director of Tutoring, Boss at Apex Auto

Financial Situation: Family income lies in the 75k-150k range, would qualify for free tuition

Got into Carnegie Mellon and UChicago out of high school.

What should I improve on or focus on in my application?

If there are any successful transfers, I would highly appreciate your advice! Thanks!

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I can’t answer but if you have 100 credits and 3 years, it’s likely going to be a long haul to finish.

Rice had 1473 apps for transfer and admitted 102….so there’s that but you got into CMU and Chicago - so you’ve got that part.

I don’t think the SAT will matter - you are too far in.

It says most have a 3.5 - so you’ve got that!! It says they’d like the ACT - so youv’e got that.

So I think you’’e in good shape.

Concerns?

Rice won’t tell you about transfer credit in advance so you’ll have to wait to see which credits transfer. And I don’t see it on the website but you might ask the transfer advisor if they have a two year on campus requirement.

I’m not sure how to evaluate transfers but it sure seems like you’ve got a great profile.

Best of luck.

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If you are a junior now, you would have to take 60 credits (4 sems) at Rice to get a degree from there (this is a rule at many schools.) So, plan on that and if that makes sense for you considering an extra year of college costs and a year of lost income. I would check with Rice before you apply to make sure they would consider a student who already has 100 credits.

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This is an important point. Completing two years at the same university is a requirement for graduation from quite a few (most if not all) universities. I also feel that transferring multiple times as an undergraduate student is likely to make a person wonder why.

Also, there is as mentioned above some uncertainty regarding whether you would get credit for all of the classes that you have already taken. My understanding is that there can be some limit on how long a student can get need based financial aid, and assuming that a transfer to Rice at this point would end up with your taking a total of 5 years in university to get a bachelor’s degree, you might want to find out whether financial aid would be available for the full time (this is an issue that did not occur in our family because each of us stayed at the same university and graduated in 4 years).

On the other hand, it is very common and in fact entirely normal for a student to get a bachelor’s degree at one university and then a graduate degree from another university. In the specific case of computer science and artificial intelligence, a master’s degree is typically not necessary but can be quite useful. One thing that I liked a lot about getting a master’s degree is that every course was in my major or a closely related field (I took one course that was slightly outside of my major, but it was optional, was my choice, and was still related). There are some very good one year master’s degrees, and I was under the impression that Rice offers this (Stanford does also)

This makes me wonder if you would be better off completing your bachelor’s degree where you already are, and then optionally working for a year or two or three, and then thinking about whether you want to get a master’s degree. This might be a better path even if your bachelor’s degree would say “computer science” rather than “artificial intelligence”.

Since I was a math major in university I might also add that there is quite a bit of math that you will want to take that goes beyond calculus, differential equations and linear algebra. An introduction to probability theory seems particularly important. Perhaps something like discrete math and algorithms / optimization, and maybe if you get that far dynamic programming, linear programming, or networking algorithms might also be useful to someone interesting in CS and AI (although taking all of this starts to get you part of the way towards a different master’s degree).

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I have been on a LONG research haul finding out what credits will transfer and what will not. I had sent an email to Admissions and the Comp Sci department and they recommended to do a CS major with a Data Science minor as it would line up with standard Comp Sci classes.

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Yes, I was aware of this. I am going to ask about the possibility of my progress in undergrad possibly docking my chances of admission. Thanks!

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My first transfer was strictly for football purposes. I think it is time to hang up the cleats and I would like to attend a academically-prestigious school rather than a athletically-prestigious school. A chance I somewhat regrettably passed up on in high school.

I also am going to inquire with financial aid on when the aid would finish.

I also have taken DifEqs and Linear already and would most likely take another math class past that at Rice to get the math minor requirements.

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I think you’re great. I wouldn’t worry about the prestige.

I’d worry about cost and will you need two years at Rice - which is another year.

Could you complete your degree where you are in one year - and then maybe do a one year Masters?

Kids in CS are struggling - prestige isn’t relevant. Many do fine from not prestigious.

But I would suspect you’re a great candidate academically - but I would find out ,for your life - losing another year of income, having another year of expense - in that sense, are you a great candidate - not for the school - but for your own needs - if that makes sense.

I’d hate to see anyone go backward.

Best of luck.

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I appreciate the insight. With the benefits of football I only have around 3k in loans as of current so I am not super deep in any debt. I have emailed Rice Financial Aid about possibly not receiving aid for my fifth year of college/second prospective year at Rice.

I have though about completing the degree where I am currently at but I committed to this school for football on a last minute need. I was originally committed to Cornell as a football transfer until in June the coaches said a spot on the roster was no longer available. June being so late in the football recruitment process, I had no choice but to enroll at my current school (they were the only team to take me so late). Their computer science degree is not the best, as I have heard from some people high up in the university some companies won’t even consider CS interns from my university. One student told me other university really do not like this school’s CS students. So I am really trying not to graduate from here if possible.

If that means going to another less prestigious school and continuing football (2 years of football eligibility remaining) and relying on that scholarship to get me through, so be it. I would then apply to Rice for a masters.

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Best of luck in your pursuits.

PS - one student told me the same about his school (UTK) and yet he’s had 3 internships - one in TN, one in Missouri, one in Washington, is doing a 5th year Masters and will go back to WA post work on a six figure salary.

Check career outcomes - I’m guessing kids from your school have historically found jobs. Today, even the elite kids struggle.

Whatever you do - you are quite impressive and have a great head on your shoulders - so no doubt you’ll make the best decision for you.

Looking forward to hearing the final result.

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