<p>So I applied to Rice RD. A lot of it came from the fact that I live in Dallas and Rice is the biggest and "best" college in the state. It's sort of my middle choice, and just in case I don't get into my reaches or dream school I was wondering how good is Rice when it comes to humanities and social sciences? Obviously, I have done my research, looking into professors and the institutes, but if any current student has a perspective that would be great. </p>
<p>Are the humanities a big chunk of Rice? The school seems more science-y overall. Would it be worth it to go there for that area of study, compared to say, UT?</p>
<p>Although most students enter Rice as either science/engineering majors, most leave as either humanities/social sciences majors. Social sciences and humanities classes at Rice seem pretty strong and the professors I had in my humanities and social sciences classes have been very good so far. However, I’m a freshman, so someone with more experience in this area should also answer.</p>
<p>The School of Humanities is hugely overstaffed and overfunded. Many upper-level seminars have fewer than five students. You’ll know the faculty well. Too well, it feels at times! </p>
<p>Rice also makes a great deal of funding available for undergraduate research in the humanities. No other university does this, though some wealthy liberal arts colleges do. So. last summer I was able to get $12,000 between three fellowships to do research in Europe and Africa. </p>
<p>That said, language acquisition isn’t stressed. There are no foreign language requirements (even for humanists), and that’s criminal. If you’re interested in, say, Old Norse, or Medieval Persian, look elsewhere. </p>
<p>I’d add that, with a handful of exceptions, graduate students in the humanities are, well, not very bright. Happily they don’t really do any teaching.</p>
<p>Rice is a wonderful place to explore the social sciences. How many schools have their own non-partisan think tanks, with a student forum where students can do research and reach out to speakers across the country? The sociology dept is terrific and the poli sci dept has some fine profs. There seem to be quite a few students doubling majoring in political science and engineering/math. Political awareness is growing on campus through groups like DemOwls, and research opps in the social sciences are plentiful. I’ve heard positive reports about the humaniities classes, too.</p>
<p>Dd had some really strong profs in soc.sciences and was also fortunate to get funds to travel, and was a humanities fellow. Great opportunities available there.</p>
<p>Oh yeah by biggest I meant name-brand wise and reputation wise. Rice actually has as many students as my high school (so not too many). Thanks guys for the help. Rice is really moving up my list slowly.</p>