I noticed there is a thread just for parents on some of the other college forums, but I could not find one for Rice. Now that the college admission frenzy is over, it seems like a good time to start such a thread. I envision this thread as a place to go for advice, to find answers to questions, and to share information with other parents who have or had kids at Rice. My D will be a freshman in the class of 2021. Go Owls!
My S will also be a freshman this fall. I’m glad you started this thread!
Yes, thank you Houston1021 for this. As I said in the Parents Forum, my son chose Rice due to its wonderful “fit”. As with Houston 1021’s daughter, my son is a very academic oriented/high achieving kid who has no interest in the Greek system or college sports. He believes Rice’s residential college system, intellectual environment, big city locale, research orientation, and proximity to TX Med Ctr are ideal for him. He very much wants to be a physician. I administrate a large cardiovascular operation and he has been around physicians all his life. His mother and I are quite pleased that he chose Rice (despite it being full pay vs other large scholarships he passed up at other schools) due to the reasons stated above, but also because he is a Type 1 diabetic. We find great comfort in the on-site residential adults that are part of the residential colleges and the nearby presence of specialist physicians. I would love to know whether there are other parents out there with Type 1 sons or daughters attending Rice. Thanks again for this thread!
For you veteran Rice parents out there, did your kids let Rice match them up with a roommate or did they find one through the Facebook site, etc.?
Are any of your kids contemplating applying for the Urban Immersion service project program this summer? Any comments on the program? The last CC discussion I could find on it was from 2011.
I am not a Rice parent, but I am an alum and have kept a very close eye on Rice over the years.
I have heard about Facebook roommate matching for other schools where students have to find their own roommates, but I am surprised that there is a group for Rice. Typically students are randomly sorted into the colleges, and the orientation week coordinators set up roommates/suitemates based on the input on the housing form (from the pool of the kids assigned to the college). I know that students can request roommates, so perhaps the already matched pairs would be assigned to a college together?
At a local send off BBQ for Rice students last summer, I met a student who did the Urban Immersion service project last summer and thought it was excellent.
@Faulkner1897. Thanks. My D heard there was a Rice Facebook roommate group, but she has decided to rely on the traditional method you described. If she does not have conflicts with a summer job, she is going to apply for Urban Immersion.
I asked my son the other day whether he had completed the in-depth roommate questionnaire and what he thought about the roommate selection process. He said it adds to the overall excitement of his new adventure along with the mystery of what college he will be assigned to. His overall glee is wonderful to behold.
@phollowayokc - your son sounds like a true Rice kid.
@Houston1021 - Love the new avatar.
As far as the questionnaire is concerned, I would definitely recommend that your sons and daughters answer the questions authentically and true to themselves, but with an eye towards who they will be in college. Sometimes even the physical placement within the college will be determined by the answers to the questions on the questionnaire (for example, if a college has a floor, section, or area that is quieter or more social). I still have a copy of my questionnaire from the 80s and even though I cringe a bit at some of the answers, for the most part it is still pretty true to who I am today!
@Houston1021 I am glad you have created this thread. My son will be traveling down from Maine. My son chose Rice because he was looking to go somewhere warmer and also because the school was small. He loved the engineering programs though he isn’t sure which one he will do yet. There is a huge list of things to fill out before June 1st and he will have to get going on them. He I am sure is going to just go with the random selection. My son does have to eat a gluten free diet. I heard Saturday nights they need to find somewhere to eat on their own. He is very shy so I hope he will soon find some one to go eat with so he doesn’t go hungry Saturday nights.
I doubt he will go hungry around Rice! There are lots of good spots to eat in Rice Village. Everyone has to eat out on Saturday night. I bet there are Rice kids in all of the nearby restaurants on Saturday nights. I was at Hopdoddy (a hamburger place) in Rice Village about a week ago and I observed lots of Rice kids sitting together. As others came in, they were welcomed to join the table.
My D is shy as well. She likes the fact Rice is a smaller sized school. I think the residential colleges really help promote friendships amongst the students so no one feels isolated. All of us CC parents with incoming freshman at Rice should meet up at orientation and introduce ourselves and our kids.
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@Houston1021 I feel bad because my son is traveling so far. He will have to find his way to campus on his own. He has been there to owl days. So he should be an old pro this time. We are going to go to parents weekend. I figure it is a good time to see him after he has been in school a little bit. Where does your family live? Is it close by? I notice your name says Houston. Does she have a facebook page? My son has been friending a bunch of kids through the Rice Facebook page. My son is not interested in frats. Would you be going to the parents weekend?
My son has been doing the same with the Rice Facebook page. In fact, he met several of his new Facebook friends when we attended the last Admittance Day a few weeks ago. I will pass along his Facebook ID sometime tomorrow later today so you guys/gals can pass it along to your kids if they want to make contact. My son is fairly social given the number and variety of friends that pass in and out of my house on any given week. He is a very kind and considerate young man. Like your son, fun1234, he is not interested in fraternities (and doesn’t drink). We are from neighboring Oklahoma. I grew up in Texas as the kid of a college professor and always knew of Rice as an exceptional university. My wife and I will join my son for the Orientation Week drop off. We haven’t discussed parents weekend. I’ll have to look at dates for that event. One of us will likely attend.
Yes, Houston1021, it would be great to meet up at Orientation Week and introduce ourselves. Let’s make sure to stay in touch over the summer.
We live about 10 miles north of the Rice campus in a part of Houston called The Heights. My office is only about 2 miles from Rice. I have promised my D I will not lurk around the campus. If Rice parents need any help here in Houston or local info, please feel free to message me. I will help in any way I can. My daughter joined the Rice 2021 Facebook group. If you PM me I will give you her name and my contact info. We are planning to attend the parents weekend.
I know the O week starts on the 13th of August, but how long are us parents supposed to stay. Are there any activities on Monday or all they all on Sunday and until what time. Just trying to figure when we should book our flights home.
I have not seen a detailed schedule, but Sunday is move in day. I have heard there is lunch with parents and kids and some afternoon programs and then parents are “invited” to leave. If you are flying to Houston, Hobby airport is a lot closer to the Rice campus than Bush airport. Southwest is the major airline serving Hobby while United is the major airline at Bush. Southwest lets each passenger check two bags weighing up to 40 pounds each for free. You could come with 6 full suitcases without paying baggage fees. You would probably be safe booking flights out early evening on the 13th.
I am a Rice parent “alum” as my Rice student graduated … wow… 9 years ago! Facebook matches weren’t an option then. He filled out the roommate form and Rice did an excellent job of matching roommates. Congrats to all of you! Rice is a great school!
Unless things have changed, @middlechild, they have a parents event in the afternoon on move in day and that’s how they shuttle you away from your kids. Plan to leave that evening.
@middlechld @Houston1021 - here is the O-week schedule (this is of 2016, but should be the same this year).
http://success.rice.edu/firstyearprograms/oweek/o-week-schedule/
Move in 7am to 11am, lunch 11am to 1245pm, then parents go to new families orientation and students go their way (FAQs clearly state that students will not have time to be with or meet with or shop with parents after this time).
New families orientation ends at 6pm.