Asians in Rice?

<p>Hey there. I got all my replies already, and am currently choosing between Rice, UC Berkeley, Wesleyan University and Boston College.</p>

<p>I know that of these, Rice are the highest ranked and the best academically, and what I've heard/read of the school sounds intriguing, but my main concern is that I might have a harder time socially there.</p>

<p>I am a Filipino, having lived in the Philippines for most of my life (but I am a US citizen), and I am just worried about the Asian contingent in Rice, i.e., how large is it? How are they treated? Etc. My family and I's biggest qualm about me attending Rice is that there are so many more Asians in Berkeley and BC, and, though there are also less in Wesleyan, its known to be a liberal, free-thinking school. Rice on the other hand, I know nothing about in that department save that its a mostly-White school right smack in the middle of the South. This, needless to say, does not give me hope. Maybe someone here - a current student perhaps - could clarify this situation for me.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Rice has about 15% Asians, and you know you don't have to hang with just the Asians right? Branch out. I know there's a sterotype that the same race hangs out with each other but times are a changing (at least in my school). But if you feel better hanging with Asians, there will be plenty for you to hang out with. :)</p>

<p>Come to Owl weekend and you'll find out if you feel comfortable there or not</p>

<p>Is Rice's admissions criteria not predicated on the notion that the students they accept will intermingle with individuals of other races? If anything, Rice's attitude is focused and conducive to diversity, as indicated by the essay-topic; though there do appear to be many asians, students are not really socially confined to one ethnic group.</p>

<p>well said nspeds</p>

<p>i wasn't worried about whether or not i "had enough asians to hang out with" but whether the majority of the student body would be accpeting of them. more of [how are] Asians in Rice [treated]? your replies kinda clarify it (thanks), though i have to ask, that is the university's atitude towrds it, but what about the student body? cuz i hear a lot of unqualified generalizations about southern schools being friendly... if your white. yes, they are unqualified statements, but i wanna make sure they are really invalid.</p>

<p>Once again, the criteria of Rice admissions is predicated on the notion that students, Caucasian or else, will intermingle with individuals of other races, and I would argue that the admissions committee does a rather good job in determining whether the applicant possesses such a quality. In my experience, after dealing with various students at Rice, nearly all were accepting of students of other races and some even had good friends that were Asian, Hispanic, and so forth; I am an "Indo-American," but I am more than comfortable when I visit Rice.</p>

<p>jenskate, however, would be more qualified to answer your concerns, as she probably possesses numerous experiences as a member of the student body.</p>

<p>good point. thanks.</p>

<p>anyone else have any insight on this? maybe on the other end of the spectrum (if it exists that is)?</p>

<p>I think some students choose to hang out with students from their own ethnic group at times, and there are tons of clubs that will facilitate that, but few students, if any, have friends exclusively from one group. I am white, and have friends who are black, asian, indian, hispanic, etc. It's totally acceptable and common. It would be much, much weirder if I had only white friends...
I have never seen any discrimination against asians at rice, or against any ethnic group. We all get along just fine. Better than fine, in fact. You should come for owl weekend and see for yourself.</p>

<p>i really want to, but it's gonna be a ***** trying to get cheap plane seats this short notice, while Wesleyan has a $15 bus from Manhattan I could take for their weekend program. ah well... just as well, as i'm really thinking of rice anyway, unless i see something that really hooks me at Wes. I just wish they didn't hold these weeked thingies on all the same dates. Argh. Berkeley, Wes and Rice all have theirs 14-16.</p>

<p>We just returned from a visit to Houston to take a look at Rice. Houston was the most diverse city in our travel from Wisconsin to Illinois to Tennesee to Texas. At the hotel we stayed at there were blacks, Asians, Muslims (could tell by the headscarves), whites, and Hispanics. </p>

<p>The area in which our hotel was located had Mexican food restaurants as well as many stores and restaurants with signs in Oriental languages. Everywhere we went (including Six Flags) there was great diversity in people! </p>

<p>On campus we saw the same diversity in the student population. You are assigned to a residence hall based on a questionnaire and the purpose is to mix up the student population so that groups are not segregated by college major or ethnic group. A student committee makes the assignments. You stay in the same residence hall every year unless you move off campus.</p>

<p>I live in a suburb of Houston, and there is a very large contingent of Filipinos in my high school, particularly in my orchestra. Of the people from my school who have gone to Rice, I believe 3 or 4 are white and two more Indian. It does seem to me that with their application prompts and everything that they seem interested in promoting diversity.</p>

<p>While Rice is smack in the middle of "white South," Houston is very, very diverse, definitely moreso than Columbus, OH where I used to live. Sometimes at school I, the white girl, am the minority, surrounded by many asian friends.</p>

<p>about:blank :This is a sidenote, but I was looking at your post and I noticed that I'm trying to choose between almost the exact same colleges except for Boston College. My choice for that is Boston University or Tufts. I thought that was really intersting. </p>

<p>anyway, back to the topic.....</p>

<p>By the way, this message is applicable to nearly every statement made about Texas, or the South, on this forum:</p>

<p>To argue that since "the South" is Caucasian/conservative/racist/primitive and so forth, and thus, that every individual possesses the same characteristics, is to commit the logical fallacy of division...</p>

<p>...if the brick wall is big, it does not necessarily follow that the bricks themselves are big.</p>

<p>Well, I've never heard of an Asian not liking Rice. </p>

<p>(pun intended, and please don't call me racist)</p>

<p>I think if you're worried about fitting in, then Rice's college system is great for you. And please, the south is just like everywhere else. People are just as accepting of you in the south as anywhere else- but especially at an urban campus.</p>

<p>I swear, I need to put a stick on the Rice board telling everyone what the south really is like. People have so many woefully wrong misconceptions...</p>

<p>People do have some misconceptions about Texas, though. It's a pretty diverse state. And a lot of areas have sizeable Asian populations. I live in North Texas and a lot of places, especially Richardson and Plano have a pretty big Asian population. It's probably because there are a lot of IT jobs and stuff which tends to attract a lot of the internationals with degrees, especially if they come from China or India. Even in my smaller bedroom community town has a pretty big Asian student body. It might be a bit clique-ish, but that's true of just about any place and the cliques mostly have nothing to do with race, just the social life. If the experience for Asians is pretty good here in conservative bedroom suburb, I'm sure an Urban place like Houston will be just fine. People really shouldn't be afraid of the South. The prevailing political beliefs of the region really seems quite the opposite of the warm southern hospitality that I see. I think you'll find nice people pretty much anywhere you go. . . Well, people do need work. A lot of places aren't very friendly to homosexuals, and this is a problem that is seen pretty much everywhere.</p>

<p>Actually, Texas is not part of the south.</p>

<p>According to the census bureau:</p>

<p>Houston
population: 1.9 m
white: 49.3%
black: 25.3%
asian: 5.3%</p>

<p>Berkeley
pop: 100,000+
white: 59.2
black: 13.6%
asian: 16.4%</p>

<p>Boston
pop: 589,000+
w: 54.5%
b: 25.3%
a: 7.5%</p>

<p>Middletown
pop: 43,000+
w: 80%
b: 12.3%
a: 2.7%</p>

<p>Just a note- the large hunk (20%) of the Houston population not accounted for in the statistics is hispanic and middle eastern/indian.</p>

<p>hey im filipina! yay!
im not going to rice but one of my best friends is going (shes white) and if she's any indication of the type of people that go there, i wouldn't be at ALL worried.
i think you will probably stand out a little more at rice, but thats cool- i think i would be more worried about being OVERWHELMED by asians and feeling stereotyped in that way, you know? as "one of those other asians"...
anyway i hear that rice (or texas or the south) has a lot of south asians...?
hah okay cool i dont know if that was at all relevant..</p>

<p>everyone, thanks for all the info. because of all the stuff on these forums (all of them i went to, not just the rice forum), i'm amost surely going to rice now, after having almost bumped it out of contention. i cancelled my non-refundable reservation to WesFest and booked crap, expensive (living in NYC can be a *****, sometimes) plane seats just so i could go to Owl Weekend, just to confirm everything said here. if it's all good, and the aid is good, then i'm going..</p>

<p>sunkist184, hey, yeah, that is interesting. what are the oher schools that dropped out of contention or said no to you, may i ask. major?</p>

<p>theassman, that was totally relevant. I was worried about the same thing with berkeley, being "just another asian". i was also worried that i would end up hanging just with the asians and not making/refraining from making in the future, close friendships with white people, which would not be a good idea if i plan to be a successful lawyer. I also never thought about it as "standing out" before, as opposed to "singled out". that's a good perspective on it. thanks!</p>