What are the differences between living in an apartment near Rice University than living on campus? Pro and cons maybe?
Rice assigns all students to a residential college and virtually all incoming students choose to live in their residential college for the first year. However, Rice does not guarantee housing all 4 years. Most students would live on campus all 4 years if there were enough room in the dorms to do so. Most students have to live OC (off campus) at least one year. There are many apartments located not too far from campus. Some are within walking distance, but other apartments are far enough away that the student has to drive or bike to campus. Parking on campus is expensive. Apartments within very close walking distance are expensive. Those living off campus do not have to pay for a full meal plan, and if they live close enough to walk, they do not have to pay for parking. Some may save some money by living off campus. There are many students that stay in Houston for the summer. Some live on campus, but some sublet apartments from other Rice students.
Ok thanks
My daughter will be a junior next year and will be renting a house within walking distance of campus with 5 other girls. However, the rent is quite expensive. If her group had not been able to rent the house , she planned to rent an apartment near Hermann Park in a complex where many of Rice students live. This would have been a much longer walk, or she would have had to drive and park on campus. Officers of the residential colleges and O Week Coordinators, etc. get guaranteed housing on campus even as upperclassmen. Seniors also have guaranteed housing on campus for their senior year. Many seniors move back to campus, but some stay in their apartments as they are used to living there by then.
Actually, you are not required to live on campus even in your first year even though it is guaranteed. That said, unless there’s a reason medically or financially you would need to live off-campus… don’t do that. The residential college system is the cornerstone of the Rice experience adn 98% of freshmen live on campus… so you will definitely find it harder to participate in college culture and make friends.
I’ve heard about most students living on campus and not wanting to move out if they are asked to live off campus for one year, that should be a good indicator of dorm living being more desirable.
It’s strange that full pay students don’t get any preference for selection. It’s good to discourage classism but bad for ones paying a fortune for inefficient living conditions while no or less paying tenants getting better rooms and dorms. That’s not how it works in real life.
Rice is not real life. It is 4 years of life behind the hedges in a wonderful learning environment. Rice strives to make each residential college a microcosm of the university as a whole. Students are assigned by the university to one of 11 residential colleges where they stay the next 4 years. Occasionally students petition to change residential colleges, but this is rare. The only exception to the university’s assignment is if a student is a legacy. The legacy can choose to live in the same residential college his/her relative did, not live the same place his/her relative did, or go random. Each residential college has full pay students, Pell grant students, and everything in between. Each college has a mixture of ethnicities, all genders, athletes, musicians, etc. The residents of each of the 11 residential colleges truly believe that their college is the best. There are intense rivalries between the colleges. There are pros and cos to all of the residential colleges: location on campus, age of facilities, proximity of parking, quality of dining hall food, floor culture vs. commons culture vs suite culture, accessibility of facilities, etc. About half of the colleges are on the north side of the campus while half are on the south side. Real life comes later.
I support equality on campus but to practice that school should provide same basic standard at all rooms in all facilitates, which is not the case. They are not cash strapped and are blessed with a huge endowment.
Some of the residential colleges, such as Baker, date to the founding of the college. The residents of Baker celebrate being the first college. Others, such as Jones and Brown, date to the time Rice first housed women on campus. Others such as Martel, McMurtry and Duncan were constructed fairly recently. Rice is in the process of constructing a new Sid Richardson College. Rice has increased its enrollment substantially in the past few decades by constructing new residential colleges. I doubt many universities have uniform quality in all of their dormitories. http://www.ricethresher.org/article/2019/01/new-sid-rich-building-on-track-for-2021-completion