<p>Nah. The overenrolled classes were a result of an unexpectedly high yield rate last year–about 15% higher than planned for. The classes that were overenrolled were intro classes such as physics and chem, which will naturally be taken by a large amount of new students.</p>
<p>Getting more foreign students has pros and cons. Yes, it requires the school to focus on actually getting foreign students and not the best students for Rice. However, Rice holds diversity and uniqueness very highly in its priorities list, and increasing the international presence on campus will ideally help both.</p>
<p>There hasn’t been a guarantee of on-campus housing for all four years for a long time. It’s sad, but it’s a simple fact.</p>
<p>The school is definitely still incredibly intimate. I think we could get away with adding one more residential college at most (I’d prefer 11 though, especially if the 12th is going on South Campus where there’s already six) and still be able to maintain the intimacy that Rice has traditionally enjoyed.</p>
<p>There are some issues that may be slightly concerning, for they are indicating the beginning of a shift towards the type of top university many students choose Rice to avoid. However, don’t be worried about that yet, especially not for the above reasons.</p>