Assistantship：your major department will contact you

full funding

Assistantship: None Available

E-mail directing to website, finicial aid will be put out in March.

The Civil Engineering PhD application deadline was December 15, 2025, and my application was submitted by that deadline. I focused on research alignment with Dr. Amy Javernick-Will, Dr. Ben Livneh, Dr. Shideh Dashti, and Dr. Sherri Cook. I initiated faculty outreach and had email communication with multiple professors prior to submitting my application to assess research fit and funding alignment. A common theme in these discussions was limited funding availability for new PhD students. I also applied for external funding fellowships and noted in my application materials that I had pursued outside funding support. No interview invitations were received, and there were no portal updates during the review period. After not hearing any updates through late March, I sent a professional status inquiry to the Civil Engineering graduate office on March 30, 2026. I did not receive a response to that inquiry. The official rejection decision was released on April 9, 2026.

Applied for Environmental engineering. I tried to connect with faculty. No interview though. It's okay I will try again. I have MS, EIT, and 3 years of professional experience. No publications though. Good luck everyone!

Interview with PI on 3/20, funding offer came one day after acceptance notification.

Don‘t give up

Applied to Rice University Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD (Fall 2026). Application submitted by the priority deadline (1/15/2026, 10:59 PM CST). Prior email contact with Prof. James Doss-Gollin; he sent an update on 2/23/2026 that he could not offer me a spot in his group, and he provided additional feedback. I was also waiting to hear back from Dr. Avantika Gori and Dr. Philip Bedient. No interviews. No portal updates through mid-March (3/17/2026). I emailed the department admin (Olga Trejo) for a status/timeline update on 3/30/2026. The rejection letter in the portal was dated 3/31/2026, and I received the email notification on 4/1/2026, to check the portal.

No interview