MAcc Admissions Guide

Required Essay

All applicants will submit a Statement of Purpose. The essay prompt is, "Describe your short-term and long-term career goals, and how the MAcc will help you achieve those goals. Include in your discussion: Where do you see yourself in one, five and 10 years after completing the MAcc, and why are you interested in earning a MAcc degree from Rice? (Maximum 750 words)". Make sure you directly address each aspect of the essay prompt.

Optional Scholarship Essay

If would you like to be considered for a merit scholarship, you also will submit a scholarship essay. Its prompt is, "Describe for the Admissions Committee what unique background, talents, experiences, or skills sets you apart from other applicants."

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Your resume should be one page in length and in PDF format. It should highlight your academic, extracurricular, and professional achievements. Review your resume to make sure it's up to date and free from errors.

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Rice Undergraduates and Alumni

You do not need to submit your Rice transcripts; we will retrieve your Rice transcript ourselves. You only need to submit unofficial transcripts from any other institution you attended whose credits were not transferred to Rice. 

Undergraduates and Alumni From Other Institutions

Unofficial U.S. transcripts will suffice for your application. If you are admitted and enroll, you will be required to send us official (physical or electronic) transcripts from each bachelor's or graduate degree earned from U.S. degree-granting institution(s).

It is not necessary to submit transcripts from summer or study abroad coursework if those classes were not required for your degree, they total fewer than nine credit hours, or completion of those courses is already reflected on your primary transcript.    

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Select two people who, based on their relationship with you, can vouch for your potential to succeed in an intensive graduate accounting program and in a subsequent professional business career. We prefer that at least one of your references be a professor who taught you a quantitively-oriented class.

Use your best judgment in selecting references; if you feel it necessary, you may also include a note in your application explaining your choice. Personal friends, relatives, or family acquaintances are not appropriate people to serve as a reference. 

You provide the name, email address, title, and relationship to this person in your application for both references. They will be contacted should the Admissions Committee judge it helpful to evaluate your candidacy for the program.

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The Rice MAcc program doesn't require applicants to provide a GMAT or GRE standardized test score as part of your application. However, you are still welcome to provide a GMAT or GRE test score if you believe it will help demonstrate your aptitude to the Rice MAcc Admissions Committee. A strong test score may also increase your chances for a merit-based scholarship award.
 

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The $100 application fee is automatically waived for Rice undergraduates and alumni. The fee is also waived if you are an undergraduate or alumni from Austin College or Southwestern University.

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English Proficiency Exam

Applicants who did not earn a bachelor’s degree from an English-speaking institution are also required to submit an English proficiency exam test score from one of the following:

1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
   • Use Rice University Jones School of Business code #7320
   • iBT score of at least 90 required
2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
   • IELTS score of at least 7 required
3. Duolingo Test of English Proficiency 
   • Select "Rice Business - Jones Graduate School"
   • Duolingo score of at least 115 required

Transcripts

To ensure credential standardization, we require that all transcripts from non-U.S. degree-granting institutions be reviewed by a third-party transcript evaluation service. You are welcome to use any of the three companies below for this process. The evaluation will fulfill the requirement of an official transcript for that institution.

• SpanTran: The Evaluation Company 
• Educational Credential Evaluators
• World Education Services

Transcript evaluations should be emailed directly from the transcript evaluation service to: RiceMAcc@rice.edu or mailed to:

MAcc Program Admissions
6100 Main St., MS-531
Houston, TX 77005

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