<ul>
<li><p>Are we <em>required</em> to read the book they sent us in the acceptance package?</p></li>
<li><p>For current students, how much do you spend (on average) every month for entertainment? </p></li>
<li><p>How much does cell phone service cost (on average) monthly? (I have no clue since I'm an int'l student and never been to the states)</p></li>
<li><p>Is it easy to get a job on-campus or is there too much "competition" for them?</p></li>
<li><p>I know that Rice is known for it's excellent undergraduate programs, but are the graduate programs also that good in case I decide to enter grad school later on? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I believe you are required to read the book they sent you (so are the O-week advisors).</p>
<p>Going out to eat counts as entertainment right? Probably around twenty bucks a week, but that is almost entirely eating out (well two dinners at a sit down restaurant). I think twenty to thirty dollars is average (going to see a movie at the Angelika). </p>
<p>Cell phone service varies by plan. I wish I could give you an actual number but my parents pay for my cell phone.</p>
<p>Campus jobs are very easy to get. Or they have been for me at least. I don't think there is much competition for the jobs and there are always new ones opening up so just keep applying if you don't get the first job you applied for. They also seem to pay really well. the two that I have had payed 8.75 and 8 and the departments seem willing to give raises after each semester worked (about 50 cent raise for each semester at the same job)</p>
<p>Rice has good graduate programs in certain fields. I believe Comp sci is good, music is top notch, and physics are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.</p>
<ul>
<li>As to "required:" There won't be a test on it or anything, so I guess it's not technically required. You might end up forced into some discussion section or something on it during OWeek, for which it might be nice to have read it. (By the way, Dean Forman's letter to the advisers "encourages your participation in" the common reading.) And it really isn't that bad a read ... it takes all of 2 or 3 hours.</li>
</ul>
<p>Entertainment budgets can vary wildly depending on the tastes and resources of the individual. If you really like going to big-name concerts, nice restaurants, nice clubs, etc., I can see how you could end up spend several hundred a week - however, I don't know many people at Rice who do that. At the other end of the spectrum, there is enough free stuff going on on campus most of the time to keep you occupied without spending any money at all.
I'd agree with Torres though that about $20 a week seems reasonable for most people though.</p>
<p>Verizon Wireless has a plan starting at $40 a month, with 450 minutes ... I'd check verizonwireless.com, cingular.com, or some other sites to compare.</p>
<p>Campus jobs aren't that hard to get. If you don't qualify for financial-aid based work study, your options aren't quite as extensive, but you should still be able to find something without too much trouble.</p>
<p>Rice's grad schools vary a lot in quality. Some of the program are really good, some not as good - it varies by department. I don't know the statistics, but it seems like most Rice students go elsewhere for grad school - but Rice does have an excellent record of placing people in top ranked graduate programs.</p>
<p>Thelonius,
The common reading changed this year. It is a book not the articles that the new students had to read last year. I would be very impressed if you were able to read that in two hours. I guess it isn't "required" the coordinators at Sid told its advisors that it was required. Here is a link <a href="http://oweek.rice.edu/undergrad.cfm?doc_id=10959%5B/url%5D">http://oweek.rice.edu/undergrad.cfm?doc_id=10959</a> Everyone I hear talk about the book says that it is quite good. The book is called Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert. </p>
<p>me.duh: My job gives me a lot of freedom with the hours. I do the advertisements for the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, so I work as long as it takes me to do the ad. I also take care of some administrative stuff.</p>
<p>Oh and sorry if I sounded a little pompous in my last post. I think I assumed that you didn't know about the change in the reading but obviously you did- my bad.</p>
<p>-Required reading. Uhhh...read your books, kids? I dunno. I'll probably read the thing because we advisors are supposed to be responsible or something. </p>
<p>-Entertainment: This depends entirely on your definition of entertainment. Movies/eating out are probably the number one cost shared by everyone, though there are weeks you probably won't ever get off campus. If you spend money on alchohol, that's another decent chunk. Also concerts and sporting events in the city will cost money, as well as will most college/riceplayers theater. At any rate, I usually dropped about 30+ bucks a week, averaged.</p>
<p>I hear from a lot of people that if you want to live comfortably in Houston you <em>need</em> a car... How true is that If I were to be living like less than 2 miles from the campus? And how good is public transportation in the area of the university?</p>
<p>This depends entirely on where you live.<br>
Living on campus, it's actually fairly easy to not have a car (I survived quite happily in Houston without one for 2 years). Houston's lightrail system is fairly convenient for the half-dozen or so places that it actually goes - but it has a stop right beside campus and you can get to a grocery store, downtown, and .... the stadiums? The Rice Village is an easy walk/bike from campus, which has quite a few restaurants/stores.
There are a lot of places in Houston that are really only accessible by car, but enough students have cars that you can almost find someone to drive. (Though to add a note on behalf of those who have cars - if you rely on other people for all of your rides, try to pay them back somehow, since $3 a gallon gas, combined with the cost of the car and parking (which just came out to over $600 for me for next year...eep) can add up.)
Living off campus, it all depends on where you live. If you live 2 miles away right next to a lightrail stop and with an easy bike-route between you and campus, it wouldn't be too bad. If your means of getting to campus consist of riding a bike 2 miles down Main St. everyday, you might want to consider getting a car or finding some other living arrangement.</p>
<p>One (or two?) of the apartment complexes have shuttle service to the medical center and Rice. There is also quite a bit of housing right around Rice, close enough to walk. (Have you checked the online offcampus housing guide at the Rice website? :) ) My daughter has done fine without a car, and will have been without a car all 4 years.</p>
<p>With the ever-increasing costs of parking on campus, you might be better off without a car. There was still one lot out in the hinterlands by the stadium that was free (is it still??) but the other parking resources are escalating. I heard that the new underground lot they are going to be building (under the new science building across from the hospitals) is extremely expensive to build. So, up go the costs! Have no fear, plenty of your friends will have cars! You can do ok without one!</p>