<p>Can anyone give me any insight into the area its located? For the longest time, I’ve wanted to go to school in New York, it’s my dream city to be in, but Rice seems to be the ideal university in terms of what I’m want in a college (great science and great music). I’m a little hesitant because of the area it’s in, though. Thoughts / experiences from others who’ve been or even who attended would be great! Thank you!</p>
<p>I’m a junior in high school and I’m very unsure of what I want to do with my life and in the future. I’m definitely a math and science person, and I know I ultimately want to go to medical school and do research, etc. But recently I’ve fallen in love with cello and music and I very much want to pursue it, but of course financial stability and the risk of it all is preventing me from going at it full on. Rice seems to have what I want, although of course, I have to get in the school, and I have a lot of research to do about the school itself, its programs and what choices I have in terms of doing both science and music.
Any advice or suggestions would be great! Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Shayna, some Rice specific info from the music major forum, including a few dual pursuit comments, as well as some general observations. I might suggest PM’ing MomofWildChild if she doesn’t post directly to this thread.</p>
<p>As someone who lives in the Northeast, I was very impressed when we traveled to Rice for the first time. The campus is about 3 miles from the downtown area, but Houston is a very spread out, sprawling city! The weather during the school year is great! S has been golfing a lot (his passion). It’s been in the 70’s. The people seem great - it’s as cosmopolitan as NYC, has all sorts of cultural attractions, seems fairly liberal (or somewhat left of center), as opposed to the rest of Texas. People are friendly. I’m from the Northeast, and the “Southern hospitality” was noticeable! RE: transportation - it’s a very sprawling city, with much less public transporation than we’re used to in the northeast. There is a light rail that runs back and forth between the Reliant Center (former astrodome area) and downtown, and Rice students can ride for free. </p>
<p>In terms of the immediate campus, it’s surrounded by the Texas Medical Center, a large park with its own zoo and golf course, a museum district, and a residential area that looks very upscale suburban, complete with a nice outdoor shopping area (Rice Village). </p>
<p>What did strike me as odd in Houston is the zoning (or lack thereof?). You’ll see a mansion on a corner near a gas station, with an apartment building nearby. </p>
<p>The thing that impressed me about Rice was that the campus was self contained, even though it was in the city. There are no major public roads running through the campus and it is easy to walk to the different buildings. A beautiful campus overall. The area is safe and there is shopping and eateries within walking distance</p>
<p>I’ve never been to Rice/Houston but I lived in LA and people told me Houston is just like LA.</p>
<p>I love NYC and absolutely hate LA. One of the reasons I hate LA is that it’s way too spread out for me. So it really depends on how much you want a walkable city like NYC.</p>
<p>Shayna - You mention great science and great cello performance. Both are offered at Rice, though I doubt that a single individual could do both. The Shepherd School of Music is a conservatory-level school which only admits students into the Bachelor of Music program. A B.Mus. is a pre-professional degree, allowing very limited room for other coursework; here’s what’s required for cello:</p>
<p>Rice does offer a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree for currently-enrolled Shepherd students who want to switch their focus away from the intensive conservatory approach, but they do not admit new students into it, and I’m sure that’d not admit a student to the B.Mus. if they had any idea at the time of admission that the student was disinclined to stay with it.</p>
<p>It sounds as if what you want would be a school with a B.A. program (30-36 academic hours) in Music Performance, where you could double-major. But B.A.s in Performance are relatively rare.</p>
<p>Rice is in a very nice, affluent part of Houston. There is one direction from campus where you need to be careful, but you won’t go there anyway. Everything you need is available and it is very safe. I think Rice offers one of the truly excellent college experiences. My daughter was a music performance major there and is a MDiv grad student at a top university now. Feel free to ask any questions. Rice has all the advantages of a larger university but also a very nurturing environment with a residential college system. That said, admission to a performance degree program is extremely competitive. However, there are performance opportunities for non-majors.</p>