I did. It was tongue in cheek.
Whoosh!
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You may want to take a look at Rice. I came to this thread because my political, artsy son is starting at Wes next year; but his older brother – not artsy or overtly political (although still left leaning if asked) is at Rice and has a very diverse friend group (race, religion and economic diversity). The residential college system at Rice tends to breed this environment. Rice has a great public policy school; downside would be that while they also have a top-ranked music conservatory, I don’t believe there is flexibility to double major with political science and music. Rice also sits in the middle of one of the most diverse cities in the U.S.
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Here’s my one caveat about Rice and just about any other university located in a big city: they’re expensive. I was a FGLI student and other than regular “C.A.R.E. packages” from home (Boomers will know what I’m talking about), I didn’t have a lot of walking around money. If it wasn’t for the meal plan, I probably would have starved. OTOH, the occasional slice of pizza? A coffee and donut? Middletown may be dull, but it’s relatively cheap.
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Im not sure food in Middletown CT is cheaper than Houston. CT minimum wage is $17/hr and that gets passed on to the consumer.
There are food servers at Wesleyan who make $25/hr serving coffee or making smoothies, double time for holidays and they get unemployment in the summers.
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How much is the bus fare in Houston?
For Rice students, free.
There’s also a shuttle that takes students to Target and grocery stores.
A lot of Rice students will also take Ubers together and share the cost, especially around the holidays.
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Some of them are Wesleyan students.
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Hmmm. I know someone’s wife who works at Wesleyan food services (maybe it’s food services that are on campus but not part of the University?). They’re contracted by a 3rd party. The job is super cushy and they may now make more than $25/hr. It may be $30-$40/hr now. It’s unionized and they also get free healthcare (full time empoyees) which is worth thousands.
Once school is over, they file for unemployment for the summer months and then get “rehired”. It’s such a cushy job that it’s almost impossible to break in as a full time worker. Also very difficult to fire them because their union is so strong.
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Your friend is talking about Bon Apetit, the food service for the main dining hall. I’ve seen students working the cash register at Weshop, the on-campus grocery store; students serving coffee at Espwesso, the now defunct coffee shop at the bottom of Albritton Center; students working the counter at Neon Deli, virtually a campus landmark (“Hi, Fran and Cynthia!”); students behind the counter at Brewbakers, on Main Street. So, those high CT minimum wages do have some benefits for FGLI students.
EDIT: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified the former location of Espwesso Cafe as “the bottom of Patricelli Center”. The correct name of the location is Albritton Center.
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Yes, as workers. But maybe not consumers. Bottom line, I dont think food is cheaper than Houston. Houston has a very competitive food scene. if you dont deliver value, youre not staying in business. And there are cheap eats to be had.
And since many students at Rice are from Houston, you’ll probably find some friends who have cars to take you around.
That describes Middletown’s Main Street to a “T”.
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I think this is generally true but from everything I know, Houston is a relatively cheap place to live all around. We just brought someone up here from Houston for a high paying position in our Treasury group and he and his wife are still in sticker price shock over housing. And, trust me, he is getting PAID. What he spent for his place in Edmonds would put him anywhere he’d want to be in Houston, according to him.
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deleted.
While I understand many of us feel quite passionate about our schools or our kids’ schools, this thread needs to stay focused on the OP. It has wandered too far afield and is no longer helpful to the OP. Further off-topic posts will be deleted without comment. Thank you for your understanding.
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I really do believe it is between Rice and someplace like Rice (perhaps, Emory, Wake Forest, maybe Vanderbilt?)
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Emory would be good, too. Very nice campus and location in an underrated (by those of us with northern snobbish tendencies) city.
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Or, provincial.
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yes, that’s fair cinnamon!
I should have added a very fine school as well.
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