Rice University
Visited Friday March 29. Knew this would be a shoot for the stars if son applied so wanted to get a good feel of the place.
Presentation was 45 mins focused on student life. Admissions was barely 3 mins. Followed by 1hour+ tour of campus.
5 mins into the presentation we knew this was not a fit. Did not bother with the tour.
Presenter was engaging in a geeky way, but this is clearly a school for a certain student. Book smart, maybe needing the school events to push them out of their comfort zone. Primarily people of color - Asian American/African American/Hispanic
Presentation focussed on the 11 colleges. You are assigned a college upon admission, and live in that college for the 4 years - mix of all years, majors etc. Have ‘rivalries’ between the colleges and lots of unique characteristics for each college. Spoke about water ballon fights, silly pranks etc . It seemed rather childish to us, but I guess it resonates with the student body.
The 2 slide admission presentation was uninformative. A parent asked about student outcomes, and she had no information to share.
The area around campus is great - museums, the zoo, rice village for shops/restaurants. We really wanted to love it, as our kid is just a regular smart kid, who is not interested in greek life or big sports, but it felt like the residential colleges were set up with an emphasis on engagement like Greek life. Our kid wants to feel like he is growing up and getting ready for the real world, not living in Harry Potter world (which they referenced a lot!).
We were disappointed, but glad we toured and will not apply. It is a fabulous school, but not for our kid.