<p>How well do current Rice students like the Residential Colleges? Does it really add to bonding and creating "life long friendships" as the pamphlets propose? I love the idea of having a residential college where you know everyone and is a place that becomes your home, so I was just curious how current students feel. Thanks for the respones, if any!</p>
<p>DD absolutely loved it. It helped making friends, spirit, belonging which was so important so far from home. They are the people she misses and can't wait to see again when she gets back. They are the ones she stays in touch with all summer, more so than the HS friends she had. Even though she will live off campus, she still belongs to her college. It really made Rice special.</p>
<p>DD has graduated from Rice, and just a few minutes came into the room and said again how glad she is that she was able to go to Rice, and thanked us for sending her there. :)</p>
<p>To me, the college system promotes everything that is great about Rice. It creates such a strong sense of community and common experience that makes Rice such a great place to go to school. The college system is the reason I came to Rice, and it's the number one reason I love going here.</p>
<p>The great thing about Rice's college system specifically is that the school invests so much in it. The college system is the backbone of Rice. Information is distributed through the colleges; the colleges are the hubs of social life; intramural sports are primarily a competition between the colleges — the college is the basic building block of every aspect of your life at Rice. It gives you so many opportunities to become directly involved in shaping your life at Rice, since the colleges are completely student-run. Through my various positions in the Lovett government, I have been able to shape my experience and the experience of future Rice students. That's a very rare thing at a university.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the details! I love Rice even more now, and know that there's at least one place where I have a great shot of having the "best four years of my life" :)</p>
<p>D loves the residential college system. No marketing hype - it's the <em>real</em> deal.</p>
<p>The college system is the most amazing part of Rice. It does wonders for promoting feelings of community on campus - I've never felt so fully ingrained in a community as I did with my college. </p>
<p>It also facilitates diverse interactions. Each college at Rice has its own character, but because incoming students are randomly assigned to colleges, each college contains pretty much the entire spectrum of students on campus. Since it's a relatively small community and you're around for four years, you really get to know a lot of people pretty well that in ordinary social situations you might never bother to get to know. A lot of my favorite people at Rice ended up being people that I ordinarily would have never made an effort to get to know because of our dissimilarities.</p>
<p>If the residential college system at Rice is so wonderful then why has Rice not worked toward providing the opportunity to spend all 4 years on campus?</p>
<p>Now it seems that the majority of students end up having to move off campus either Sophmore or Junior year - something that you will not read about in the marketing material.</p>
<p>Housing is guaranteed for three years...and Rice is set to complete two more residential colleges by fall of 2009. </p>
<p>And, I mean, it's not strange for upperclassmen to move off campus in general for most colleges, and even so, they are still part of their respective residential colleges.</p>
<p>Those students who really want to stay on campus usually can if they work at it. Almost everybody I know who is going off is looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I think pretty much every Rice student loves on campus housing. Each residential college is sort of like a niche with get togethers and fun events. Plus the small student population allows close bonding to other students (During my tour, my guide knew pretty much every person/student that was walking the halls and in the quads and greeted them friendly)</p>
<p>Even when you live off campus you belong to your residential college. You still participate in everything you want through them and belong to them for all activities and government. That's another thing that makes it so great. You do not hav to live on campus to belong.</p>