<p>My daughter is considering Rice, but we have a question as to whether the culture at Rice is excessively sports and drinking-oriented for her.</p>
<p>By way of background, D is at an east coast magnet high school which she loves to the point where she looks forward to school days more than weekends. Her closest friends are a quirky group and theyre all involved in loads of student activities. Her views are socially very liberal, and pro-market on the economic dimension. She loves to discuss topics such as globalization, modernist literature and the latest art exhibit. Shes one of the kids thats actually interested in learning a lot more about various areas, rather than being primarily concerned about her grades. Shes very likely to get a PhD and to do research, maybe as an academic. But shes not into sports at all, nor into large parties. A largely sports-oriented, frat-type culture would be anathema. To use some college cultural stereotypes, she would likely be a poor fit at Dartmouth or Duke, but a very good fit at U Chicago or Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Rice is attractive to her because its strong in engineering but is not largely a tech school (she may do a 5-year program there to get her bachelors in engg as well as a BA in history or art history). The smaller size of the school and likely better access to profs (at least compared to most of the Ivies or Stanford) is also a plus. And she has perfect grades and test scores so far and very good extracurriculars, so she could have a reasonable shot at Rices merit scholarships (we do not qualify for regular financial aid). The absence of frats or sororities was also a big draw.</p>
<p>Initially, the residential college system sounded like a plus as well. But after reading about the major inter-college sports rivalries, it appears to have a downside for D in terms of how much sports may dominate the college culture. Im also concerned about how glorified drinking is (for example, the Beer Bike as a primary campus event). The real issue for her is not so much whether there is drinking thats there in every college and I dont have a problem if she drinks as well but whether the culture becomes somewhat intellectually vapid or even anti-intellectual as a result. And she does not expect to find a top college that has both engineering and is composed largely of Reed College types but shed like to find at least a critical mass of good friends who are interested in the issues that shed like to discuss, and who dont feel besieged by the mainstream culture. Im sure that she could find like-minded people at Dartmouth and Duke as well but what I perceive as the mainstream culture there would annoy her no end, so Im trying to figure out whether the same is likely at Rice. And pl keep in mind that Im not passing judgment on those who play a lot of sports or drink (S is heavily into sports in his college, and thats wonderful for him), but rather to assess fit.</p>
<p>Would appreciate insights from students or parents of students thanks.</p>
<p>My son didn't drink the first 3 years and didn't feel he was pushed to, either. He also isn't much into sports and always found a lot to do. He loved the res. colleges and made so many friends..probably life long ones.
My husband, son and I all felt he is now set up for life because of Rice. He already has a super job to go to next Sept, after graduation and a summer off.
We all agree it was the best choice he could have made. BTW, We're from NY and he also went to a top private school and he felt it prepared him perfectly for Rice.</p>
<p>Okay i had my interview yesterday and i visited/ done some research on Rice quite extensively so heres my two cents:
Rice , to some extent, is very active in INTRAMURAL sports in which each residential college competes against each other. NCAA-wise, Rice is really great at baseball but many students dont attend Rice just cause of "such and such a sport team is winning championships and getting into the semi-finals". Rice really wants students who are well rounded, who can work their maximum possible and at the same time have fun and chill. If your daughter really likes to attend sporting events such as Rice Basketball or Baseball during her time at Rice, she can when she's not studying or that busy on weekends. Drinking wise, My alumni interviewer told me that they don't use alcohol during beer bike rally but they chug water instead (ever since the 80's when TX increased their drinking age to 21, Rice has complied and eliminated alcohol from this event). On campus, RUPD has become kind of strict on alcohol parties and such in the residential colleges. Also if your daughter doesn't really drink, people wont force her at Rice and thats the great thing about Rice students. The students at Rice really respect other peoples views and morals and wont "peer pressure"/ "force" you to drink .</p>
<p>From your description, your D sounds very much like a Rice student. This is D's third year at Rice and I don't know of much sports related rivalry between the colleges that isn't rooted in serious fun, but nothing like a greek culture AT ALL. </p>
<p>Yes, Beer Bike has parties with alcohol but not during the event itself and no one will care if she drinks alcohol or not (at any party), it's a respected personal choice. A major part of Beer Bike is a campus wide, much prepared for, water balloon fight!</p>
<p>Rice is definitely NOT a sports-oriented school. The inter-college rivalries go way beyond sports, and are a very positive power on campus. Intramural sports just provide a tangible way to show the rivalries and are certainly not the focus of the college system. The residential college system is probably my favorite part of Rice, and I can find NO negatives about it! As far as Rice athletics go, people tend to be moderately interested, but that's it. Rice defines itself in the academic world, not the athletic. Except when it comes to baseball, which is another story. For what it's worth, I considered Duke after being accepted and turned it down for basically the same reasons that suggest that your daughter wouldn't fit there. I also loved the idea and feel of Reed, but didn't apply because of the lack of engineering.</p>
<p>As far as drinking, it is prevalent, but that doesn't mean that that's all that goes on. I know plenty of people who don't drink and love Rice. The drinking culture does not make Rice at all "intellectually vapid." </p>
<p>I am an engineering major with interests in basically every academic field and plan to obtain a PhD. and ultimately teach at a university, which is why I am at Rice. Rice provides an unbeatable engineering education with excellent humanities and social science options, and a student body that is not purely in engineering/scientific/technical fields.</p>
<p>sports is participatory, not so much for watching - so not your typical sports-oriented school. Definitely not big sports like at Duke or UT-Austin. Your daughter sounds like a good fit for Rice to me - just judging from what you've written. :) There is drinking at Rice, but plenty don't and there is so much going on there -</p>
<p>DadX2-Although this is a Rice discussion board, your D might also like to look at WashU, which offers a stronger liberal arts curriculum than Rice and is very flexible about double majoring. Rice engineering is better overall, of course, although WashU BME is as good if not better than Rice BME. Socially, WashU and Rice are pretty similar--lots of fun, quirky, intellectual kids with a collaborative rather than competitive vibe, even among pre-med students. WashU has DIII sports which do not dominate campus life, and a low key frat/sorority scene. Houston and St. Louis are completely different, but having lived in both cities I can attest that each offers distinctive attractions.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for all your responses (including those that have pm'd me) - they've been extremely helpful in assuaging my concerns. D will also visit at some point, so hopefully that will give her an additional take on the campus culture. But Rice does sound like a good fit for her.</p>
<p>And to showmethedata, yes, indeed she is considering WashU as well, for many of the reasons you describe (although I wouldn't think that there would be much difference in the liberal arts curriculum vis-a-vis Rice, apart from the fact that Rice is a smaller univ and therefore may have somewhat fewer courses). The frats at WashU did give us some pause, but from reading various posts they don't appear to be even as significant as at Northwestern (not that NW is by any means the epitome of frattiness, but it seems further on that dimension than WashU, and that - combined with the cold and wind - means that NW may be not a great fit for D).</p>
<p>Apologies, but I laughed when I saw your question about Rice being heavily sports oriented. They do get excited, for good reason, over their baseball team, and Rice actually made it into a football bowl game a year or so ago for the first time in umpteen years (got trounced by Troy State) but Rice is not a raah raah sports school by any means. People go to the football games to hear/watch the band (which is very clever) moreso than to watch the game. I agree-- intramural sports are active at Rice, and are lots of fun. The college masters come out with snacks to support the teams. Great school, Rice. Your daughter will love it.</p>
<p>The MOB has interesting taste and sense of humor, to say the least... for what it's worth, I've only been to the first football game. Rice is definitely not very sports-oriented, though we do have loyal followers of its football and baseball teams. Drinking culture is another story, but definitely no pressure to drink.</p>
<p>Hey, the MOB is amazing. Then again, I'm in it, so I may be a wee bit biased (seriously, we're totally worth braving a football game for).
But I can truthfully say that being in the band is the only reason I follow the standings of our team at all. Rice isn't heavily sports-oriented by any stretch of the imagination, especially looking at the size of the student section at the games. Your daughter would have no problems in that respect.</p>
<p>Dadx2- Rice definitely does NOT have a sports/drinking culture. There is plenty of drinking (hey, it's a college), but I would say the focus on the arts (concerts, plays, etc) is every bit as strong as the focus on sports- including intramurals. Beer Bike is fun for everyone, not just the athletically-inclined. Rice is the school I wish I had attended! (D is a 2007 grad)</p>
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not that NW is by any means the epitome of frattiness, but it seems further on that dimension than WashU, and that - combined with the cold and wind - means that NW may be not a great fit for D
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<p>Dadx2,
My dad thought that the cold and wind were good for me and that they would made me stronger (winter temp is about 70s in Hong Kong). :)</p>
<p>On the sports front, it’s clear that Rice is not the traditional spectator sports-type university. On the other hand, I’m still unsure about how big a part of the Rice culture the intercollege/intramural sports rivalries represent. Again, if there are enough people that are not into it that D won’t feel sidelined by not being a part of it, that should be fine. </p>
<p>And a couple of specific follow-up questions:
Eravial08, you’d mentioned that the inter-college rivalries go way beyond sports – could you (or someone else) pl elaborate?
Also, one of the posters had mentioned that the focus on the arts (concerts, plays, etc) is as strong as the focus on intramurals and other sports. I was curious whether other students/parents would agree with this assessment.</p>