Rice has more photography courses than almost any other liberal arts school of its size/smaller. Can someone please tell me about their experience with this department? If not for the strength of my portfolio, I might not get in, as my test scores are at the lower end of the middle range. Also, how would you characterize the level of intellectualism outside of the classroom? I like to discuss current events etc but also like to chill.
I’ve found the photography department to be pretty strong! I’ve taken a class co-taught by a photography professor and have a couple of friends who concentrated in photography; it’s been all positive experiences from my understanding! Rice has a Media Center where a lot of the film and photography activity takes place – it’s towards the edge of campus and somewhat off the radar for most people, but photography students tend to get really involved there and have their own community as a subset of the VADA department.
Regarding intellectualism outside of the classroom, this is definitely something you can find easily. I’ve found that lunch and dinner conversations regularly touch on current events in my friend group, and there are clubs dedicated to politics and various social activism groups if this is something you’re really passionate about getting involved in.