<p>Yes, they should be.. although I found CR to be particularly hard; like always..</p>
<p>no no, CR was not hard- it was just annoying.. i just dont have that type of patience lol</p>
<p>I’m an international here.. May i know why is texas that bad? I’m considering both carnegie mellon and rice.. So why’s texas bad? Lots of storms?</p>
<p>Texas isn’t that bad. Many people love Texas. Things you might or might not like about Texas - keeping in mind that Texas is a huge state:</p>
<p>Weather: hot and dry in some parts of the state, hot and humid in other parts (namely Houston)
Politics: mostly Republican these days
Music: great country music, especially in Austin
Food: great barbecue and Mexican food</p>
<p>My nephew got into both Carnegie Mellon and Rice, but ultimately decided that for his interests (bio-engineering) Rice had more to offer. He also liked the residential colleges at Rice.</p>
<p>I’m also an international who got into both Rice and CMU and ultimately decided to go to Pittsburgh. Maybe it’s just a matter of prejudice on my part, but basically I was afraid Texas would be too conservative and xenophobic for my taste (think GWB !). </p>
<p>I have (other international) friends who went to school in Texas (UT Austin) and loved it. Others however, including my female cousin, hated it, pretty much for the reasons I stated above. I guess it’s impossible to generalize one way or the other.</p>
<p>I’m sure there are parts of Texas that are xenophobic, but Houston is in many ways more culturally diverse than Pittsburgh. Houston has great food of almost any kind, although good BBQ and Mexican are definitely harder to get other places, like Pittsburgh. 
It’s hard to get around Houston without a car, but lots of Rice students have cars, and I’m sure that students manage somehow- I guess that’s the sort of thing to ask the Rice board.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your advice but Omg.. Suddenly there seems to be so much to consider.. First, what’s GWB? Xenophobia is generally present in which US states?.. Will internationals be despised at Houston? Do you mean it doesn’t snow at Texas (especially the part Rice is located)? Hot all year round in Texas?</p>
<p>I’ve lived in Texas all my life, and its only snows here about once a year, 1 inch or less (but I live in the north of the state). It almost never snows in Houston. Houston generally has 85+ degrees F with very high humidity in the summer, with highs ranging from 90-100 degrees. In the spring and fall it cools down to about 75-80 degrees, still with very high humidity. In winter its about 50-75 degrees on average, with some unusual days of 40-50, and about a week (at most) of freezing temperatures. So, Texas is not “hot all year round”, but it is on average quite hot. It’s more like “hot for half the year, mild for the other half”.</p>
<p>GWB= George W. Bush, the state’s governor before 2000.</p>
<p>Xenophobia is present in all U.S. states. The divide between conservative/liberal people in the U.S is mostly a rural/city divide. However, Houston is definitely more conservative than Austin, but is less conservative than Dallas/Ft. Worth and Lubbock. Generally the only “xenophobia” you will see comes from a vocal minority of people who dislike Hispanic immigrants… well that and the Religious Right. But in Houston, since it is a large city, this is generally quite rare.</p>
<p>I don’t think any group is generally “despised” in Houston, though like most central/southern Texas cities you will get pockets of vehemently anti-Mexican people. Rice is not like this. Since Rice is a very selective school, only the most educated of people are represented there. Xenophobia does not generally run with a diverse, educated population like the one found at Rice.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about U.S states, generally the deep south and the rural great plains states experience the most racism and xenophobia, but again, the divide is mostly rural/city, not state/state.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the advice.. The weather at houston is not a huge problem for me then.. The country i’m from is 85 ALL YEAR round and i hate it.. So 85 for 3 months a year should be bearable.. so xenophobia wont be a huge problem at rice/houston? Sorry for turning this into a texas thread..</p>
<p>I’m Korean and I’ve lived deep south and Northern Virginia/DC(still kinda south but loads of diversity). For me at least, I didn’t mind the fact that I was Korean in the deep south. Everyone treated me nicely and the same as any another kid except for few isolated incidents of racism. When I moved to Northern Virgina , everything changed. For some reason Asians had to pretty much hang out with other Asians, African Americans with other African Americans, whites with whites, and you get the point. I hear this happens a lot in college too. People of the same race tend to hang out with each other. This is just what I’ve noticed, it might not be the same everywhere.</p>
<p>Xenophobia is not a problem at Rice/in Houston. PM me if you have any specific questions about Houston and you would like to stop hijacking the thread. I lived in Houston (suburbia) for 8 years, and I’ve fairly familiar with Rice. It snows in Houston about once every 10 years, and usually doesn’t stay on the ground more than overnight when it does. They report how long they expect it to be below freezing on the news. It’s always in hours, not days. Texas is a really big state, so there is very little that is true about the whole state.</p>
<p>I would not claim that CMU is entirely free of what you describe, HyunwooP. By no means is it absolute, and it’s not something explicit, but I think there is at least a tendency for students to spend most of their time with people who speak the language they are most comfortable with. I’m convinced the people I knew in high school (in Texas!) had a bit less of a tendency to self-segregate.</p>
<p>thanks a lot!!!</p>