Going to Rice

thelonius
Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:17:07 +0000

From someone entering his senior year:

I’m really glad I chose Rice. I’ll admit that I’ve occasionally had the thought of “what if I had chosen ____ University instead.” While I can sometimes think of a few some advantages to other schools (such as, Houston is actually a pretty cool city to live in, but Boston would probably be cooler) I always come back to being really glad that I chose Rice.

A lot of the common concerns/negative stereotypes that people will give about Rice on here, such as that it’s really “bookish” or socially claustrophobia-inducing due to its small size have not seemed to be that apparent to me at all. Yes, Rice students do work hard, but we also know how to stop studying and relax a bit. It’s not that uncommon for me to work in the library until 10 or 11 and then go to the campus pub to hang out with some friends (or out for a late-night meal or something).

And, at 3000 students, Rice isn’t actually that small. It’s just small enough to feel close-knit, but large enough for you to be constantly meeting new people.

I also applied ID, which is sadly no longer an option. If you really like Rice and financial aid isn’t a limiting factor, I’d say apply ED, but I’d really recommend coming for a few days this fall and taking advantage of the program where you actually stay on campus with a student, even if you’ve been to Rice before. I visited my junior year, did the standard campus tour and everything, but came back my senior year and stayed on campus and I’d say I got to know Rice about 10 times better the second time.