<p>A couple of questions about the dorms. Are all freshman required to live at the rcs? Do sophs have to as well? And are there any single room dorms as well</p>
<ol>
<li>No, freshmen aren't required to live at the rcs (residential colleges?)</li>
<li>No, sophs aren't required to live on campus.</li>
<li>Yes there are singles. I think every college has single dorms. I don't know how a freshmen would get one though. I think if you have a medical reason (can't really think of one that would require you to live alone). At Lovett, the singles are set up so that two people share one bathroom. Like one single on one side and then a bathroom that connects the two rooms and then the other single. The singles are about 2/3 the size of the regular rooms. All the people that I know that have singles are seniors, but there is one sophomore in a single. He has a single for other reasons that I am not quite sure of.</li>
</ol>
<p>My interviewer was lucky enough to get a single @ Martel....</p>
<p>he says he "just got lucky". but i bet he payed someone ;). jk/ i think you srsly just have to be lucky.</p>
<p>I don't know if I consider having a single as so much of a good thing. I think it is completely up to the person's personality whether they want to live alone or with someone. I think it is definitely a good thing to live with someone your first year because it is the best time to figure out whether you want to live with someone in the following years. If you have a good experience with that person, you might end up living with that same person all four years and then be life-long friends and all that good stuff. </p>
<p>Also, I don't know how much luck has to go into getting a certain room as a freshmen. I think that you might get a single if you are unable to be matched with someone. That is just my theory. I don't know how true it is. The guy that I mentioned above that has a single at Lovett who is a sophomore seems to fit this definition. Some people just won't get a long with other people or they are completely different from anyone else, so rather than sticking them with a roommate who will be unhappy for the entire year, they stick them in a single. My theory holds only for freshmen (or in the case of that sophomore), a lot of seniors just want the privacy that they haven't had for the past three years so that is why they opt for the single. I don't know if it is really that highly coveted though.</p>
<p>Hmm, also one runs into trouble because I think each college runs their 'lottery' for housing differently. I'm still not clear how Baker does it! Freshman service hours are factored into the equation, but I guess you gotta sorta apply for a room. I guess that's the point where you can apply for a single, and get lucky.</p>
<p>As for having to stay on/off campus--you are guaranteed housing in Freshman year. Financial considerations aside, its a great time just to make all the friends that you will probably get closer to over the next 3-5 years. I dunno, it depends on people.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm in Baker also and I don't know how they do it either. I'm fairly certain it's a lottery system, with the sophomores having the greatest chance of being "kicked off". To me, that would be really bad. I wouldn't like to live off-campus, at least not next year. Maybe they'll let me and hummer just stay in the tower because we're so...cool. That's why we got put in there in the first place, right? And with our AWESOME roommates, right? :)</p>
<p>haha im in the hanszen tower. so hopefully we can stay because we're so cool as well</p>
<p>martizzle!</p>
<p>I know Wiess kicks off the majority of their sophomores. But many of the people that I've talked to who are off-campus this year actually don't mind it as much. It's just a different lifestyle. I know some upperclassmen who were offered on-campus housing and even opted to live somewhere off-campus. So it's all just a matter of preference. Many people also choose to study abroad during the year/semester they are kicked off, depending on which college they are from.</p>
<p>I also know that half the suites at Wiess have single bedrooms. I'm pretty sure those are mostly for the upperclassmen.</p>
<p>TFW!</p>
<p>A lot of this has been mentioned, but to summarize.</p>
<p>The type of rooms totally depends on the college, but it is uniformally true that freshman don't get singles under normal circumstances.</p>
<p>At all the colleges once you live off campus one year, you are guaranteed housing for the other years. Which year you are expected to live off campus varies depending on the college, but sophomore is the most common. Not everyone in the boot year is kicked off however, so there will be some people who remain on campus all four years.</p>
<p>No one is ever required to live on campus, but I STRONGLY recommend freshman living on campus. It is also a year everybody is guaranteed on campus housing.</p>
<p>How are the dorms usually set up? At my tour we visited Martel, and I'm getting the impression that because Martel is so new, it has better facilities and different room arrangements. I think we visited a room that was two doubles with a common room and a bathroom, but I could be mistaken, it might have been four singles, common room and a bathroom or something like that. Are the other colleges different?</p>
<p>I think all of the colleges' rooms for freshmen are either going to be a double(two people living in one room), or a suite-setup in which you have a common room, bathroom, and two small doubles(4 people to a suite).</p>
<p>Which type of room you are likely to get depends on the college. For instance Martel only has suites, but a lot colleges have both. </p>
<p>(Since there has been so much praising about Martel and their rooms, I'll take the time to say this: Yes it is nice and new, but I don't like their set-up at all. They have no hallways or anything like that. Having your own floor really gives a sense of community and lets you to get know a lot of people really well. Plus you can have floor parties in the hallways and such. The way Martel is set up, once you leave a suite you are outside.)</p>
<p>For upperclassmen there are tons of different options which vary by the college.</p>
<p>Well, since my suite overlooks the sallyport, I set up a lounge area with palm trees, sundeck chairs, and tiki torches, and dubbed it the Tiki Lounge. I think that's about a good a sense of community as you can get - people are there all the time, be it talking, playing chess, overflow from parties, whatever...Our hallways are just outside.</p>
<p>hey torrestowers, it says your inbox is too full... so i cant send you anything. hmm hopefully youll get this.</p>
<p>My s. (a soph) is off campus this year. While he was initially disappointed about living off campus, he and his friend have a GREAT duplex in the museum district(4 live downstairs, 3 live upstairs). I believe they are all Hanszenites. All the furniture is brand new because they furnished it this year. It'll be available next year and it is a great place. Anyone interested send me a PM or email- I'll put you in touch with my s.</p>
<p>honestly, i chose to live at home because i like my space. i dont like the dorms because they are not that big for me.</p>
<p>sergio....you "chose" to live at home? or are you choosing to live at home? Didnt you just get admitted this year? Well, I'll see you around campus next year!! WHOOT WHOOT RICE 2010!!! btw, join the rice myspace group! myspace is so hot right now. lolz. groups.myspace.com/rice2010</p>
<p>hey cmon apollo, lets not get tangled up in a web of technicalities. yes, ive been accepted this year</p>
<p>ooh.. i have another question... are the dorms fairly nice?? and do you apply for a certain residential college? if so.. which do you recommend? i really want a suite so i can share a bathroom with a few people.. i don't think i could stand public bathrooms =/ or.. dirty places.. haha. i sound like such a priss =/</p>
<p>Heidi-
You'll get a housing form to fill out where you can describe yourself and your preferences for one or more roommates, etc. Unless you have a family member who attended Rice, you cannot request a specific residential college. If you had a family member who attended Rice, you can request either to be or not to be in the college they lived in. They will let you request that you be in the same college as a friend, but not a specific college. You'll find out to which college you've been assigned in the summer. There are lots of discussion about this in past Rice threads. You can do a search and find this topic from last year. You'll become fiercely loyal to whichever college you are assigned.</p>