The Rice Purity Test: how does your score actually compare?
The test has been around for decades, but it went viral again recently with a completely different audience, which means the average score has changed dramatically depending on who you ask and how old they are. Take the original 100-question test and see how your result compares to people your age.
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What is the Rice Purity Test?
The Rice Purity Test originated at Rice University in Houston, Texas, as a survey designed to measure how "pure" incoming students were based on various life experiences. It has been administered informally for decades, with the Rice Thresher (the student newspaper) publishing results from a survey of 124,952 students that found a mean score of approximately 61.46 out of 100. The test became widely viral again in 2022-2023 through TikTok, reaching a much younger audience than the original Rice University context.
The score is calculated by subtracting the number of checked boxes from 100. A higher score means fewer boxes checked. There is no good or bad result, the test simply measures the breadth of life experiences, which naturally varies by age, background, culture, and circumstance.
What is the average Rice Purity Score?
The Rice Thresher survey of 124,952 students found a mean score of approximately 61.46. However, this sample consists entirely of Rice University students and likely skews older (18-22), more educated, and more affluent than the general population. The mean for the current post-TikTok generation of test-takers appears to sit in a similar range of 55-65, based on community data from Reddit and social media. FTN collects anonymous score and age data from submissions to build a more representative contemporary distribution over time.
What counts as a "good" score?
There is no such thing as a good or bad Rice Purity Score. The test measures life experience, not virtue. A score of 90 means very few experiences have been checked, common for younger people or those from more conservative backgrounds. A score of 30 means a large number of experiences have been checked, common for adults with more varied life histories. The score is a data point, not a judgment.
Frequently asked questions
The TikTok virality of 2022-2023 brought the test to a much younger audience than the original Rice University context. Many test-takers are now 14-18 rather than 18-22, which naturally produces higher average scores because younger people have had fewer experiences. Among 18-22 year olds specifically, mean scores appear consistent with the historical Rice Thresher data of around 61-65.
FindTheNorm does not store any personally identifiable information. The anonymous score submission we collect (score + age + gender, no device or user identifier) is used only to improve our population distribution. You do not need to create an account, and your answers are never shared with third parties. The questions are answered entirely locally in your browser before submission.
A score below 30 means a very large number of the 100 items were checked. This is most common among older adults (30+) with more varied life histories. The Rice Purity Test does not have a clinical or moral interpretation for scores in this range. It is a count of experiences, not an assessment of character.
The Rice Purity Test is a 100-question self-assessment checklist that originated at Rice University in Houston, Texas as an orientation-week bonding activity for new students. Each question describes a life experience and the test-taker checks every box that applies. The score is 100 minus the number of boxes checked: a score of 100 means no experiences checked, and a score of 0 means all 100 were checked. The test went viral on the internet and has been taken hundreds of millions of times, with a major resurgence on TikTok in 2022 that brought it to an entirely new, younger audience. The questions span romantic experiences, sexual experiences, substance use, rule-breaking, and emotional milestones.
The most cited average is 61.46 out of 100, from a Rice Thresher survey of 124,952 Rice University students. However, this sample is exclusively Rice University students, representing a specific demographic. Post-TikTok community data from Reddit and social media suggests the average for the current 18-22 demographic is 55-65. The "average" depends heavily on who is taking the test: a group of 18-year-olds will have a higher average score (fewer experiences) than a group of 30-year-olds (more years of opportunity). FTN's age-stratified percentile system addresses this directly.
Neither. A lower score means more life experiences were checked, and a higher score means fewer. The test is descriptive, not evaluative. The word "purity" is used in a statistical sense (how much of the list remains unchecked), not a moral one. A score of 20 does not mean someone is "impure," and a score of 90 does not mean someone is naive. Scores reflect a combination of age, opportunity, personality, culture, and circumstance. Younger people naturally score higher because they have had fewer years of opportunity.
The calculation is straightforward: your score equals 100 minus the number of boxes you checked. If you check 37 boxes, your score is 63. Every checked box counts equally with no weighting by severity or category. This means checking "held hands romantically" counts the same as checking a more significant experience. The equal weighting is intentional: the original test was designed as a simple, fun exercise rather than a clinical instrument.
The 100 questions originated at Rice University as an orientation-week bonding activity, likely in the 1920s or 1930s, though the exact origin date is disputed. The list has evolved over decades: early versions focused on academic misconduct and romantic milestones, while the current version includes questions about sexual experiences, substance use, and legal encounters added in later decades. The list has been reproduced and modified thousands of times online. Minor variations exist between different sites' versions. FTN uses the most commonly circulated version, cross-referenced against the Rice Thresher published version.
No. The Rice Purity Test is an entertainment quiz with no clinical validity, reliability testing, or diagnostic purpose. It was not developed by psychologists or clinicians and does not measure mental health, personality, risk-taking propensity, or any validated psychological construct. It should not be used to make decisions about behaviour or wellbeing. The test's value is social and self-reflective: it prompts honest self-assessment and comparison with peers, which many people find entertaining and occasionally illuminating, but it is not a diagnostic tool.
The test includes questions about sexual activity, substance use, and illegal behaviour. While the test is frequently taken by teenagers (it is popular on TikTok among 14-17-year-olds), the content is adult in nature. FTN includes an age confirmation before displaying results. Parents should be aware that the test is widely circulated among teens and that the questions are explicit about sexual and drug-related experiences. The test does not encourage any behaviour; it simply asks whether specific experiences have occurred.
- Rice Thresher. Rice Purity Test Survey Results. Rice University. Pre-2018. n=124,952. Mean score: ~61.46/100.
- FTN community data: anonymous submissions with age and score. Updated continuously.