<p>Alright. If I email the admissions office, who exactly receives my email? Is it the person working the desk at the front (by the way, is he/she an admissions counselor)?</p>
<p>And...would emailing them about visiting classes be wise at this moment? I know that the staff is under a lot of stress, with O-Week coming up and such. </p>
<p>Thanks for your answers (if anybody does answer, haha). I'm a bit nervous about contacting the college; the lady who answers the phone when I call doesn't sound very nice.</p>
<p>I don't really know how to answer your questions or help you in this situation, but if you haven't yet visted the website for SAC (the Student Admissions Council), that might be helpful in getting info and arranging a class visit/overnight visit:</p>
<p>Take it easy. I'm assuming that you've applied to some other colleges? If you're applying for next fall admission then you got lots of time. Here's what I'd do.</p>
<p>If Rice is the school you want to go to for sure, then arrange for a tour/visit. We just showed up and they were very helpful. But we did call and let them know we were coming down in advance. Forget about the "pre arranged" tours, just tell them you want to do your own thing (walk around, meet briefly with an admissions person, see some dorms, the library...etc. Ask what time of day or week would be best for them. They hooked us up with a junior that took us all over and showed us the "real" Rice. It was great.</p>
<p>Here's our method:</p>
<p>Apply to around 10 schools MAX. 2 of those should be easy gets. 3 should be hard gets.</p>
<p>When you get accepted by some (no waitlist) then visit only those schools. That may seem rushed (and it is) but it will save you. You may even be able to narrow it down to a couple which would be easy to visit.</p>
<ol>
<li> Apply for normal admission (or early if you know that Rice is the only one)</li>
<li> If accepted, plan to visit during the tiny amount of time between acceptance and decision.</li>
<li> Tell them you've been accepted and really want to come see the school.</li>
</ol>
<p>I wouldn't worry about emailing the admissions office. If they're as busy as you assume, then the worse case scenario is that it takes longer than normal to reply.</p>
If Rice is the school you want to go to for sure, then arrange for a tour/visit. We just showed up and they were very helpful. But we did call and let them know we were coming down in advance. Forget about the "pre arranged" tours, just tell them you want to do your own thing (walk around, meet briefly with an admissions person, see some dorms, the library...etc. Ask what time of day or week would be best for them. They hooked us up with a junior that took us all over and showed us the "real" Rice. It was great.
</p>
<p>I don't understand this advice. You take a tour/go to classes in order to find out if you want to go to a school, not just if you absolutely want to go.</p>
<p>Also, as a tour guide (a volunteer who is in no way influenced by the admissions office), I am kind of put off by the fact that you wouldn't want to go on the campus tours. We really strive to make them as informative and honest as possible, and we also really enjoy giving them. I do highly recommend walking around the campus after the tour, so you can see things that weren't covered or kind of brushed over on the tour (since we only have an hour).</p>
<p>Also, the tour guides are generally better informed about policies and history of the university than other students. Taking a single student's advice as gospel truth is never a good idea, but the tour guides' advice is slightly more reliable than anyone else, since we've been oriented to the school more (I'm sorry if this sounds pompous and arrogant).</p>
<p>Also, if the admissions office set you up with a student on your visit, that student probably was a tour guide who volunteered his time to take you around privately. The admissions office does not have contact with every single student; they often send the tour guides e-mails asking us to give "special" tours. So if you think that a tour guide's perspective is sugar-coated (which it isn't), it's reasonably safe to assume that the "special" guide's perspective was just as sugar-coated.</p>
<p>I've been to an information session, and I have gone on a campus tour (which, by the way, was great - my tour guide was awesome). </p>
<p>I'm sorry if I sound a bit exasperated - Rice is my first choice. :) </p>
<p>If I have a friend who goes to Rice, will I be able to schedule an overnight visit with her specifically?
I know, I should be directing these questions at the admissions office, but I want to hold off bugging them this week. (O-Week starts this weekend)</p>
<p>If your friend goes to Rice and you want to stay with her, you should probably go straight through her instead of through the admissions office. I suppose you could tell the admissions office that you are visiting and as about visiting classes, though.</p>
<p>When DD was visiting Rice last spring she just stayed with her friend and went to some classes with her. Professors did not seem to mind a prospi being there.</p>
<p>I probably didn't explain my reasoning and maybe it doesn't matter anyway since each person has their own reasons and style which are all good. But, I'm not writing this to confirm or form a consensus either.</p>
<p>My reason for not visiting a bunch of schools is simple......you won't get accepted to all of them anyway. So, why waste the money and time....especially if you live hundreds of miles away.</p>
<p>Now people may beat me for that reasoning, but I truly believe that, if you do your "homework" on selecting schools, then there will be numerous schools that you can choose from. Still, only a few will choose you.</p>
<p>Now that doesn't mean a person should slack and not visit a school---if in the neighborhood---before acceptance. Plus, you can get a lot of information of the quality and character of a school from people and here on the NET as well as from dozens of books and guides. I also think that a local alumni interview is worth a lot more than people think.</p>
<p>As far as school tours. In my opinion, they're all "canned". Most of the ones (and I've been on many) are pretty formula. I can't fault the great people doing them either. It's just that when you do them day after day in a limited time, how can they be personalized? Still, if that's all that's offered, then go for it. On the other hand, try to get the inside view or feel of a school and its environment. Most of the time this will come by hangin with a student, staying overnight in a dorm...eating, etc. Another sure way, is to go into the Admissions Office and just ask to meet with an Admissions Officer informally. Try to get past the canned "how good we are" speeches and the front line people and.......heck......talk about the weather, how they like their job, the school. Get their opinion. In this case, listening, is the best option, since people love to talk about who they are, what they do and what they like.</p>