Common questions about the Rice Purity Test, from scoring and privacy to history and sharing results.
It is a 100-question checklist of life experiences that started at Rice University in the 1980s. You read each question, tick everything you have done, and the site turns your answers into a single score between 0 and 100. Friends usually take it together and compare results, which is how it has been played for decades.
Most people finish in three to five minutes. There are 100 questions, but each one only needs a quick yes. If you stop and think hard about every answer, it might take ten minutes, and that is fine too. There is no timer and no way to run out of time.
No. The test is open to everyone and works without an account, a name, or an email address. Accounts are optional and only exist for extra features, such as saving your result history so you can watch your score change over the years.
Yes, completely. Taking the test, reading the journal, and using the tools on this site are all free. The site is supported in ways that never put your score, your results page, or the journal behind a paywall.
Yes. The 100 questions follow the classic checklist that circulated at Rice University and then across campuses for decades. Wording has been cleaned up in places so every question reads clearly on a phone screen, but the experiences the test asks about are the traditional ones. If we ever adjust a question, the journal explains why.
Your score starts at 100. Every item you tick takes one point away. If you tick 36 items, your score is 64. Every question counts the same, there are no weighted sections, and there is no hidden formula. The same simple method has been used since the printed versions of the test.
Higher scores, roughly 100 to 85, usually mean a sheltered path with few of the listed experiences so far. Middle scores, roughly 84 to 45, are the most common and cover most students and graduates. Lower scores, 44 down to 0, mean a very full list of experiences. These bands are rough guides for fun, not judgements about anyone.
On this site the average score sits in the 60s, and the most common results fall between 60 and 79. The home page shows the live distribution from anonymous results, so you can see exactly where your score lands compared with everyone else who has taken the test here.
Neither is better. The test is entertainment and self-reflection, not an exam. A high score is not a virtue and a low score is not a failing grade. Both simply describe the road you have travelled so far, and most people see their score drift lower as the years pass.
Of course. Many people retake it every year, after graduation, or after big life changes, just to watch the number move. Start a fresh test from the home page whenever you like. Your new result does not erase anything, because results are only stored anonymously.
Because you have lived more life. Every new experience on the list takes a point away, so scores naturally fall over time. Small changes are normal between retakes, and a big drop usually means an eventful year. That change is the entire point of the tradition.
There is no official good score, but most students land between about 85 in their first year and the low 60s by graduation, simply because college adds experiences. If your number sits anywhere in that wide range, it is completely ordinary. The journal's average score guide shows the full picture by score band.
Yes. You can take the whole test without an account, a name, or an email address. Your final score is stored anonymously, with nothing attached that identifies you, and it is only used for site statistics such as the average score. Your individual answers are never published or shared.
The questions run in your browser, and what we keep is your final score, stored anonymously. There is no public list of who answered what, nobody can look up a person and see their answers, and we do not sell data. The Privacy Policy explains this in full, in plain English.
Only if you show them. Your results page is for you, and sharing it is your choice. The site never posts your score anywhere, never attaches it to your name, and never shows one visitor the result of another.
It began as a printed survey at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and a version appeared in the student newspaper The Thresher in the 1980s. Students used it to bond and to track their college years. From there it spread to campuses across the country and eventually to the internet, where it has been taken millions of times.
Your results page gives you a score card you can copy, save, or share with friends. Comparing scores is half the fun and the reason the test became a tradition. Share it wherever you like, or keep it to yourself. Both are completely normal.
The journal on this site covers the full history of the test, what scores mean in detail, the average score data, and how to stay safe while collecting experiences. If your score surprised you, the score meaning guides are the best place to start.
Both extremes are rare, and both are fine. A score of 100 simply means none of the listed experiences have happened yet, which is common for younger players. A score near 0 means almost all of them have, which usually takes many years. Neither result says anything deeper about you, and the test works exactly the same at both ends.