<p>Hey guys. I'm just wondering what the atmosphere is like at Rice. no, not the smog, lol. I'm talking about the student atmosphere. I visited once for an afternoon and everyone there was really helpful and friendly. Does that sense of wanting to help others in class, work, life in general go throughout the school?
I'm also wondering about the spiritual aspect of Rice. I'm by no means a religious fanatic, but I am a practicing Catholic and would like to be involved at Rice. Is there a campus ministry/organization? Are students accepting of diverse beliefs and religions/ or lack thereof?
Any info would be great. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>I was there for Owl Weekend and EVERYONE I met was so incredibly friendly & welcoming!
There are a couple of religious student organizations that I saw at the Student Activities Fair, if that helps.</p>
<p>what about tutoring? Are classmates willing to help eachother out, and is there a tutoring center on campus? Or is it really "cut-throat"? thanks</p>
<p>I'm not sure about a specific tutoring program (I'm sure there is one somewhere), but I think the general concensus is that Rice is perhaps the LEAST competitive of all prestigious schools. People work together on assignments all the time and help each other out. There isn't that pressure to get 10 points higher than the person next to you. Everyone kinda works in collaboration.</p>
<p>This is a portion of an email I received from a prof at Rice, in response to a question I had about how kids who aren't at the top of their Rice classes do after graduation.
[quote]
We certainly do have very strong students, but the competition is very
friendly. All of the xxxsciencexxxx students work together on
their homework assignments (encouraged by faculty). The college system
here provides a support group unrivaled in state schools. We have a low
student to faculty ratio, and our faculty encourages students to drop in
when they need help with their studies, or if they just want to chat
about things in general.
[/quote]
I x'd out the major for privacy. And yes, there is tutoring available!!!</p>
<p>I'd say the prevailing atmosphere here is really laid-back. Everything is as student-run as possible, and there's definitely a collaborative (rather than competitive) academic culture.</p>
<p>Rice is definitely a really friendly, helpful community. In every class I've been in where work groups to work on problem sets or study for tests were efficient and allowed by the professors (in almost all cases) I've had no problem at all finding people to work with. And people from outside your classes are also always willing to help: my math knowledge isn't the greatest, so I'm always just walking into the college commons and asking random people for advice - usually with pretty good success. I definitely wouldn't label Rice cut-throat. I hear of stories from other universities of students ripping pages out of library books and intentionally hiding notes from each other, but have never heard anything of that sort from Rice.
I'm not aware of any comprehensive campus-wide tutoring program, but most of the colleges (probably all of them, but I can't promise that) have some sort of student-run tutoring program. At my college, there's a group of about 20 students who list what areas they specialize in and then make themselves available for a few hours a week for anyone who needs help.</p>