<p>I am posting this on several forums because I think it's important with all the new travel restrictions and requirements. There are lots of cool opportunities at Rice and other colleges that are outside the United States, such as Alternative Spring Break and winter break trips/programs and May semester or summer internships or study abroad. I STRONGLY recommend that you urge your kid to apply for a passport this summer if he or she does not currently have a passport. Right now, it is taking 3 months or so to get a passport - and if he or she waits until he or she finds out about the cool trips or programs to apply, it may be too late. At best, it will be a much more costly, risky and stressful procedure. Some people are finding that they have cut it too close, and can not go on the trips they had planned. Just a word of advice to your young ones! There is not always a lot of lead time between when these out of the country events are announced and when it is time to hop on a plane and go!</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm not going to be a freshman, but my parents were thinking about going to Canada in the near future.</p>
<p>This is relevant not just for new freshman, but for anyone who is travelling internationally either alone or with their family. My aunt and uncle took their family to the Cayman Islands over their kid's spring break and my younger cousin almost wasn't able to go. They had applied for his passport in September (the trip was in March) and just BARELY got it in time to leave. After many angry phone calls, my uncle had to go to the post office at six in the morning on the day their flight left in order to pick it up. It was a whole mess. So yeah, even if you're not planning anything at the moment, get your passports now.</p>