ruchir12

I'm pretty set on going to Rice next year. I just had a few concerns:

First of all, I wanted to confirm that there are a good number of student organizations at Rice, comparable to other schools such as WashU, etc...I know Rice has the college system, but does this detract from the formation of other groups/social activities such as Debate, multicultural groups, etc?

Secondly, does the college system restrict making friends and meeting people to solely one's college? Is it difficult to meet people outside of one's college?

Thirdly, are Rice kids extremely antisocial compared to other top schools? I know that most top schools must have some element of this, but I have heard Rice stereotyped for it.

Thanks for all the help!

anxiousmom

1) lots of clubs: Rice University Clubs My kids both love their club sports. I'm always amazed at how busy Rice kids are, and how involved they are in so many different things (including all the theater productions the res colleges put on).

2) Not restrict making friends. You will start out closest to your res college, because you will know them the best from O-week, but as you join and participate in different activities your circle of friends will increase.

3) My outgoing, socially active kids love Rice. Thankfully they don't share all the parties and things they participate in with me , but I hear about plenty still. Club sports are great, lots of fun themed parties. Dd specially likes the Passport-to-Houston and Rice Night stuff (free performances and events at opera, ballet, museum openings, music events, etc). I've been on campus many times; I see lots of social outgoing people. (note: this is just from a Mom's perspective. I'm sure some students will chime in soon.) I also think that one of the nice things about Rice's res system, is that it allows any less social kids a chance to be part of the family, too!

Beef

The college system also gives you a boost in your social networking, since it allows you to start making lifelong friends from day 1. You won't be making friends that easily at another school, unless you're unbelievably good looking and charming.

ruchir12

bumpppppppppppp

NYSkins1

I think nobody's answering because we're all assuming that the answers are so obvious that someone else will.

If you're pretty set on going to Rice, why worry about these things?

To answer your questions:
1. Yes, there are.
2. No, it doesn't.
3. No, we're not.

OAGr

I have one big concern- from what I understand, many of the professors at Rice spend most of their time with their research, or are just bad professors. I heard it from several people as a "hit or miss" place, with special emphasis on the economics department having bad teachers and many of the engineering classes being boring (I'm considering double majoring in engineering and economics.)

Is it possible to stay away from the bad ones with the knowledge of ratemyprofessors.com, or do any of you disagree with what I heard? This is the only thing really stopping me from immediately enrolling.

yupaws

at owldays my host said that on esther when u reg for classes u can review profs. not sure exactly how it works, but she said it's brutally honest for the most part. should help with scheduling...

pcannon

Official course and instructor evaluations are made public, so you can read student "reviews" and ratings for just about everything. Don't bother with ratemyprofessors.com -- might be entertaining, but not exactly representative.

There probably are "bad" professors, as with any school, but I have been generally very pleased with mine.

NYSkins1

Most of my professors have been very good, and I have never had one that places research above teaching.

blackeyedsusan

OAGr -- where are you getting this information from? My son has been very happy with the faculty he's had in engineering (and other courses as well).

Cincinnatistudent

I have heard bad things about the teaches of Econ 211 (I think that's the title), which is the first economics class you'd take, but I've heard good things about the teachers of other classes.

I woud guess that all engineering classes are boring everywhere, but that's just me. Although welding sounds like it could MAYBE be a fun class.

anxiousmom

Dd has had some FABULOUS teachers over the years! (Also one or two that she didn't find as interesting, but the really good profs far out-weighed the one or two not-so-good. And she has several wonderful profs who she counts as mentors and friends.) The lovely thing about Rice is that it has such a high faculty to student ratio that there are more options of profs to chose between. If you were at a LAC with only 1850 students and a 1:10 ratio, it might be limiting. That being said - the beginning sequence for engineers is very similar across most school: diff E, Calc, Physics, Chem. Some find the content fascinating, some not so fascinating.

aibarr

Some kid in third period.

But really, OP, I don't think any of your fears are based in the reality of Rice! Every prof you have isn't going to be *amazing* (that's not going to be true of any place you could go), but they're usually really good. Students are outgoing and you end up knowing people from tons of different RCs, and there are a bunch of extracurricular activities open to everybody. No worries!

wrprice

But that bit about ECON 211 is the absolute truth. At least, it was back in Fall '00. I dropped that class after my 2nd test.

Seriously though, after finishing my Rice degree in the Engineering school, I can count the "bad" professors I had on one hand -- and still afford to lose a finger or two.

Johnny Bear

There's always some truth behind stereotypes. Rice is nerdier overall than most of its peers, but it doesn't lack a social scene. You'll find everything you want (parties, formal socials, etc.). It's not the place for a frat kid though.