Rice University housing

joeymax · 04-21-2008, 09:53 AM

Has anyone with a S or D who attended Rice have any comments on their child's experience with Rice residential colleges, and whether it ended up being very possible to live on campus after freshman year---or whether lots of students get forced off campus to find a place to live on their own. If they are pushed out, how tough is it to find decent places to live near the college? What about transportation issues then?

aibarr · 04-21-2008, 10:00 AM

I'm a recent Rice alumna who's got a brother who will be going to grad school at Rice next year... the (reasonably) new Metro Light Rail runs *right* by campus, every six minutes, and there are plenty of apartment complexes both within walking distance of the university and within walking distance of a light rail station.

*Most* people who want to live on campus all four years *can*. Very few actually get kicked off. The recent exception is that President Leebron recently began increasing the student population, but the new dorms are not yet completed, so basically a whole lot of students were bumped off campus this past year. Campus construction has irritated everyone recently...

I doubt (hopefully!) that this will still be an issue by the time your son or daughter gets to Rice, but even if he or she is kicked off (and it would only be for one year... three years are guaranteed on campus, unless things have drastically changed over the past two years), there are plenty of nearby options, within walking distance, light rail distance, or biking distance. Not to worry! =)

patsmom · 04-21-2008, 10:19 AM

My son said that all the juniors in Brown are being forced off campus next semester. Fortunately, he'll be a sophomore so he has a room, but I'm not optimistic about his junior year. I was hoping that the new residential colleges would ease the overcrowding somewhat, but they're planning to remodel a couple of residential colleges (I think Baker is one), so the students who are displaced by the construction would probably get first crack at the empty beds in Duncan and McMurtry.

aibarr · 04-21-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

so the students who are displaced by the construction would probably get first crack at the empty beds in Duncan and McMurtry.

Well... I dunno about that, based upon past experience with the Martellians when they were building Martel... They won't move Baker students into Duncan or McMurtry. They'll bring in the McMurtry and Duncan students, start establishing those colleges, and then displace all the Baker students.

I hadn't actually heard about any plans to remodel any of the older colleges... I work for the structural design firm that does most of the structural work on campus, so if they *are* going to remodel, my wild guess is that it's either going to be after Duncan and McMurtry are pretty well established and everyone's moved in, or it's going to be a fairly superficial remodeling that'll be able to be done over the summer... I'll look into it and see what I find out.

jym626 · 04-21-2008, 11:02 AM

In addition to the above, students can stay on campus if they hold certain res. college elected positions or certain jobs. Also, if your child is lucky enough to link up with upperclassmen when looking for a room for the following year, there is a better chance of staying on campus. The room lottery involves getting a numerical ranking based on the academic year of the students applying (ie seniors get the highets point ranking, etc). Each college hsas its own rules about their housing lottery. Some "jack off" (as they politely call it) sophomores, some jack off juniors. My s was kicked off soph yr, but it worked out fine. They are also buying up some of the housed near campus, I believe, to make them available for student housing. I wasnt happy about the soph off camous living, but as I said, it worked out fine. Good luck!

aibarr · 04-21-2008, 11:08 AM

Quote:

I hadn't actually heard about any plans to remodel any of the older colleges... I'll look into it and see what I find out.

Southern Reconstruction - News

Well, how 'bout that. I stand entirely corrected. Looks like all the Bakerites are going to be displaced for a while, and that they *are* going to be moved into the north colleges... When Martel was displaced en masse, the university basically bought out an entire apartment complex for the whole semester and provided bus transportation at regular intervals... It was a huge hassle, but it was a workable solution... That's definitely never been done before, and I don't know what I think about it... Kind of muddying the waters of college unity, but... We'll see.

I'll keep my ear to the ground...

Still plenty of off-campus housing. It's not a disaster, no matter what happens. I actually went off-campus voluntarily my junior year and enjoyed having a kitchen and some peace and quiet.

jym626 · 04-21-2008, 12:12 PM

Martel was displaced???? It is the newest college (has it progressed from "not-a-college" to college status yet?) Are you thinking perhaps of Weiss, when it was rebuilt next to Hanszen?

aibarr · 04-21-2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Martel was displaced???? It is the newest college (has it progressed from "not-a-college" to college status yet?) Are you thinking perhaps of Weiss, when it was rebuilt next to Hanszen?

No, this is one of those I-was-there-when-it-happened things... It *is* the newest college, but they added students to the college and "opened" it before the building was done. I think this was '02-'03... The college *building* opened in winter, but the first freshman class at Martel (as well as all of the upperclassmen that applied to transfer into the new college) was brought in at the beginning of the year, leaving them with... absolutely no place to live for the fall semester!

So they rented out a wazooload of apartments at 2111 Holly Hall next to the Astrodome and bussed the students in and out every half hour in the Rice shuttles.

And no, it's actually already been decided that Martel is still not-a-college, it's just a dorm, but the collective has agreed that McMurtry and Duncan will be actual colleges, just to annoy Martel and keep them at a lowered status than the rest of the colleges. Martel, however, still firmly believes that it is a college.

MomofWildChild · 04-21-2008, 01:18 PM

My daughter was able to stay in Hanszen soph year (which is when they get "jacked" usually) by teaming up with 3 suitemates and requesting a certain wing. In retrospect, she wishes she had moved off.
I can't stress enough that off-campus housing at Rice is plentiful, can be right next to campus and can be inexpensive. It just isn't a big deal and does not detract from the Rice experience. Very few who move off EVER go back! You can make your own food and still have access to all the social life in your residential college and on the rest of campus. Off-campus housing can be anything from a large house with 8 kids or a single garage apartment at a faculty member's house. I have not heard of anyone who has had trouble finding good housing.

jym626 · 04-21-2008, 05:48 PM

Actually, MOWC, I think it is becuse it is so desirable to live ON campus at Rice that they find themselves with the housing crunch. Hanszen acknowledges that it is because they like to have all 4 classes living in the college that they jack off sophs, as they usually want to come back. It is easier for juniors, if they are jacked off, to stay off campus sr yr. DS loved the ease of rolling out of bed, stumbling into the servery for a quick bite to eat, and the food in the South Servery was incredible while chef Roger was there--(I think he's at the North servery now, lucky north campus people) anyway-- he could then stumble to class. No need to drive to school, park out in the far lot and get to class. MUCH preferred on campus living.

maysixxmom · 04-22-2008, 09:26 PM

Wiess D will be on campus for her 3rd straight next year - much preferred by Wiessmen - so it is possible even without any special connection, sometimes it's just the luck of room draw. But there are tons of places to live that are close by and very reasonable (yes, most likely cheaper than living on.)

You're always a part of your college no matter where you live, you still get your mail there, can still do laundry & such, and if it's late you can always crash on a friend's couch for the night!

NYSkins1 · 04-22-2008, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsmom

My son said that all the juniors in Brown are being forced off campus next semester.

I seriously doubt that that is not an exaggerated statement.

jym626 · 04-23-2008, 05:48 AM

nyskins-
Are you saying you think it is or is not an exaggeration?? Can't quite tell...

patsmom · 04-23-2008, 06:19 AM

^^ I can't tell what you mean, either NYSkins. But if you're saying that it is an exaggeration, I'll concede that. It's not 100% of the class -- some are staying on campus based on room draw points or special circumstances. What I meant was that, in Brown, it's the juniors in general who didn't get rooms, as opposed to the sophs that are the unfortunate ones in some other colleges. Very few juniors will be living in Brown next semester. I should have been more specific, sorry.