@jmeryllman Owl Days 2018 dates were not released until RD results went out. For 2018, Owl Days was Wednesday, April 11 – Friday, April 13, 2018.
Given that the last day of classes is Friday April 19, my guess is that Owl Days will be Wednesday April 10-Friday April 12. But that’s just a guess!
Thank you very much!
Thanks for the educated guess, @Faulkner1897 . I understand that they want to wait until they announce RD, but boy does that make things difficult for out of state students to make plans!
I felt confident enough in the date last year (based on looking at the past 5 years of dates) that I booked our tickets on Southwest, with the idea that we could change them if I proved to be wrong. Fortunately I was right!
@houston1021 do you have a hotel that you have stayed at the you recommend near Rice. Trying to weigh proximity to campus, need to Uber, trying not to get a rental car 
Zaza is walkable and Hilton Medical Plaza has a shuttle. Uber is über easy to get from both. I never stayed in either so can’t give first hand review.
I like the ZaZa a lot - the location is amazing. They have a Rice rate, but I have never been able to get it (I think you have to call and there are only limited number of rooms with the rate). Zaza is more expensive than other hotels in the area but it is an easy walk and no need for a rental car. There are many hotels in the medical center area that are options. A brand new Intercontinental is opening in the Medical Center area on January 15. It would also be very easy to stay downtown and take the light rail, which has a stop just outside the Rice entrance. I have also stayed in the Galleria area for a very reasonable rate, and about a 15-20 minute drive.
I have some dummy questions: Should parents go with student for Owl days? Is there any activities for parents? Will students living in the camps or hotel? Thanks!
I went with my daughter to Owl Days; I am an alum and had a great time walking around campus and the Rice Village, and seeing Rice friends in Houston. There are events/lectures for parents and I enjoyed them. I also met some parents of future Owls that I am still in touch with. But there is no real need for parents to attend. Rice did an amazing job with Owl Days and kept the prospective students busy! I did not see or hear from my daughter the entire time she was there.
Students are matched with a host on campus, and stay in the residential colleges. They are on the meal plan when they visit, and eat in the serveries just as Rice students do. It is a great taste of life at Rice for the prospective students!
@libby9 I have never stayed in any of the hotels near Rice as we live nearby, but some veteran parents have already chimed in. As others have said, there are many hotels in the adjacent medical center that are very close to Rice. They range in price from the Zaza on the high end to The Best Western on the low end. Shop the rates and call to ask if there is a Rice discount and if the hotel has a shuttle. Many of the hotels have shuttles that will take you to nearby places such as Rice, the Rice Village, etc. Many of the hotels cater to patients coming into town for medical treatment so are used to folks needing rides to nearby places. One of my friends stays at the Wyndham Medical Center when she comes to MD Anderson for cancer treatment. It has nice rooms, seems to be fairly reasonably priced, and has a shuttle. http://www.wyndhamhoustonmedcenter.com
Houston’s traffic can be daunting, and the hotels will charge for parking. I would not rent a car, but Uber to and from the airport and other places if the shuttle isn’t available. Fly into Hobby airport rather than Bush, it’s much closer to campus and a shorter Uber ride.
@Faulkner1897 Thank you for your information. Wondering if there are buses can pick up students directly from airport?
I googled Owl Days transportation Rice and a schedule for Owl Days 2018 came up. This might be a helpful guideline. The schedule says (keep in mind these dates are for 2018):
Overnight participants flying into Houston: Please select a flight that lands no later than 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11 to allow time to pick up your baggage, secure ground transportation and arrive on campus by 9:00 p.m.
So my guess is that there is not a bus. As @Houston1021 mentioned, Hobby is by far the most convenient airport (although if your student can only go direct to IAH, that works too).
My college age daughters wear a college logo shirt when they travel, because there are always other students who are in the airport and this is a good way to find someone who wants to share uber/lyft/taxi.
@jinl11 Houston does not have good mass transit from the airports. Unless Rice changes things and offers transportation to Owl Days this year from the airports, It would be best for your owl to take Uber or a taxi to the Rice campus from the airport.
@Faulkner1897 @Houston1021 Thank you for your advice, Happy New Year to all!!!
Hello,
Our son was admitted ED (we’re all thrilled), and have a question about attending Owl Days in April 2019. Since he is already committed to attending Rice in the fall, should he still plan on coming to Owl Days in April? We live in the Northwest, so it’s a bit of a trip for us, but will definitely come if it will help him in the fall. Or are Owl Days geared more toward wooing undecided students? Thanks in advance for your advice!
Everything I’ve heard/seen/read suggests going to Owl Days, if you can make the trip.
While some students admitted ED attend Owl Days and have a great time, your student will not miss out too much if he does not attend. Many incoming students live a fairly short distance away so attending Owl Days is not a hardship. However, for your son it would be a long, expensive trip. The O Week activities at the start of the school year are an excellent introduction to campus life. Rice has Owl Days and Admitted Student Days in April after RD admissions. Many of the students that attend are trying to decide between schools, and Rice is trying to close the deal.
I agree with both @awesomepolyglot and @Houston1021. If it is possible to attend Owl Days, great! However, coming from the Pacific NW, it takes quite a while to get to Houston.
My daughter was accepted ED last year and attended Owl Days, but she had an easy and direct flight into Hobby. She had a fantastic time and met lots of people. Almost the entire group of accepted students that she hung out with ended up committing to Rice, so she knew quite a few people coming into Rice.
However, O-Week is such an amazing way to introduce the new students to life at Rice, and the college system is well designed to make the new students feel very much a part of a new Rice family. So meeting new people and making new friends will not be a problem, and is certainly not dependent on attending Owl Days!
@leftcoastparent My daughter has a similar dilemma … we live in the middle of Illinois which means two flights to Houston. And if her FIRST robotics team does well they will go to champs which is two weeks after Owl Days - too much school to miss. So we compromised - one or the other!
According to this article, Rice’s ED applications this year were up 39%. It says the admit rate was 16% That means approximately 420 students were admitted ED. This is also an increase in the number admitted ED over previous years. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/05/early-college-admissions-by-numbers/?utm_term=.6b89a2a90e8d