Son in Brown. Flew this morning to Houston for Urban Immersion. He’s so excited to get on with college life. Wonderful to see.
@txborn Current Rice student/tour guide here. Congrats on Sid! Your daughter will get more information about her room plan soon - read through the O-week book, which will tell you what types of things people usually get. I can’t guarantee that this information will be the case for you because there’s a small chance you could end up in an unusual suite (doesn’t happen often), but I’ll do my best to describe the most common layout for Sid rooms.
Usually, Sid suites have two double rooms (two people per room) that share a small entryway and a bathroom (one toilet and shower for four people). Unless you rearrange all the furniture, you won’t naturally have a common room. The beds at every college are extra-long twin beds, so get sheets that fit that mattress size. There will be desks and dressers in the room, and usually you share a closet with your roommate. You will not have a microwave or fridge provided, so when suite assignments come out on July 15th, I recommend that your daughter start a group chat with her suitemates and coordinate who brings what - it’s fairly common to have one or two fridges in a suite and a microwave if you want one. The Sid Rich laundry room is in the basement, so she should bring a laundry bag to carry her laundry up and down. When I started at Rice, they told us to use High Efficiency detergent, and although I’m not totally certain if that’s the case for every college, that’s probably your best bet (check your O-Week book though!) Other things people often bring are wall decorations, small tables, and comfy chairs/small couches for company. Since she’s in a suite and will therefore have an attached bathroom, she and her suitemates may want to think about bringing bath mats, shower organizers, and any other semi-permanent bathroom items.You may also want to bring a printer, although printing is available for a fee ($0.07 per page I believe). [Sidenote: Seeing the above printer conversation, I’ve found it helpful to have my own printer, although I attribute that to my being a humanities major; STEM kids don’t seem to print as much, from what I can tell.)
Other than that, keep an eye out for info from the Sid coordinators - they sometimes put a video online to show you the room layout. Hope this helped, and I’m sure your daughter’s going to love Sid!
@Srabookworm Thanks so much for the advice! We just got back from shopping and made progress I believe:). Having the closet will be a big help! I think it’s the bedding (to loft or not), storage (underbed or elsewhere), etc. questions that make planning and buying in advance difficult. I’m sure it will help when she gets more info and can communicate with roommate and suitemates. Thanks again!!!
Looking to book flights for Thanksgiving. Calendar says that there are classes on Wednesday, but do professors normally hold classes then?
@middlechld It’s really a mixed bag. There are classes held on that Wednesday, but in my experience, my professors have either had more relaxed classes on those days or asked who all will be there before deciding whether or not to cancel. I do know of some classes that covered important material or had projects due that Wednesday, though. As a rule of thumb, I think they’re more likely that they’ll cancel afternoon classes and more likely they’ll hold morning classes, but it really does just vary from professor to professor.
Anyone else’s student assigned to Sid Richardson?
Students no longer have to go off campus for Saturday night dinners. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/Saturday-dinners-at-Rice-may-keep-students-within-11437212.php
Does anyone have the slightest idea what the class of 2021 admissions data look like at Rice? The University is notoriously opaque with these data. Answers like “good enough” don’t help me determine the admission trends and the future possibilities for my son.
Best quality of life at Rice per Princeton Review
http://news.rice.edu/2017/07/31/rice-ranked-no-1-for-quality-of-life-lots-of-raceclass-interaction/
Last year Rice posted its 2020 data online around August 18. The school may wait until after school starts to release the 2021 numbers.
Here is the latest on the admission numbers for class of 2021. http://news.rice.edu/2017/08/07/class-of-2021-moves-to-campus-aug-13/
1,049 students - wow, that’s a big class! Typically the freshman class ranges from 960-980. Thanks for the link. It will be interesting to see what Rice does this admission cycle given the presumably higher yield this year, and the influence of the new Dean of Enrollment coming from Penn.
Big day for us. Son leaving with his mom for Houston this morning. Has to go few days early for physician appt in morning (establishing new relationship with endocrinologist (Type 1)). This is my first out the door to college. We’ve poured everything we’ve got into him. He’s so excited and so eager for this new phase. I’ll miss him deeply but he’s ready. Such a quality young man.
I heard Rice was scrambling to find housing for all of the incoming students. They reportedly offered incentives to upper classmen to triple up or move off campus. @Faulkner1897 I also wonder if Rice will admit more early decision like Penn or lower the admission rate and more heavily use a waiting list like Wash U to control the yield.
@phokie I know your son is going to soar at Rice.
For those in traditional dorms with communal baths,
Chronicle of Higher Ed article from Aug 4th suggests that this is the best way to go for the iphone generation,
http://www.chronicle.com/article/what-s-new-in-freshman/240864
leaving with car from Ohio tomorrow morning with first year daughter
@phokie I can understand where you are coming from. It was 2 years ago when our first son left for Rice. Its an experience like none. You are torn between missing him and being happy for his success and entering a new phase in life! Trust me he will LOVE Rice and will develop relationships that will last a lifetime. Rice is a great institution. We are so fortunate for our son to go there. These kids will thrive!
Thank you Houston1021 and TinTintoo for your kind and encouraging words. I know he will do well and that life carries on. Of all the school options he had, we had no doubt that Rice was far and away the best fit for him (stellar academics, limited size, beautiful campus, great neighborhood surroundings, exceptional student body, big city environment, and residential system). My wife and I are thrilled for him.
@phokie Congratulations to your son! It’s a great school! He’ll love O-Week. You can’t beat the feeling when he pulls up to his residential college on Saturday and hears people cheering for him. My daughters made some good friends from their O-week groups.
My s graduated from Rice 9 years ago and hearing the excitement about O week still makes me smile. What ar the themes?