<p>I am looking to apply to rice.
I've notice that there are no frats/sororities and I was wondermg what the party sence is like here. Do most people drink? Are the lots of drug use? Where are parties held if not at frats? And lastly what is the social scene at rice
Thanks </p>
<p>Hi @Kylieem55, my name’s John and this is my impression as a rising sophomore at Rice.
In terms of organizing public parties, the residential colleges take over from the frats and sororities. Each college hosts at least one or two per year, and they always have themes. This means there is usually a public every or every other weekend. No one gets turned away. Rice is a wet campus, meaning that alcohol is allowed on campus. There are in fact two student-run pubs (one is mostly just frequented by graduate students). Beer (and occasionally wine) is provided at public parties, though it is not served to minors. There are usually concurrent “private” parties on certain floors of the residential college hosting a public, where more of the partying is done, minors drink, and hard alcohol is consumed. </p>
<p>Rice has strict rules against serving hard alcohol (hard liquor and the like) to minors. There is amnesty if you have to be taken to the hospital – that is, you won’t get in trouble with the school administration and risk suspension or anything. However, they will launch an investigation into who was serving the alcohol, and that person will face consequences. The purpose of this policy is to encourage students to seek aid and reduce drinking related injury and death. In the words of the dean of undergraduates, “This policy is meant to protect students from harm, not to give you the ability to do whatever you want.” Still, it is lenient for a university. According to the Rice Wellbeing website, “Students surveyed misperceive the amount of drinking that happens on campus. Only slightly over half of Rice students reported using alcohol within the past month – and even then, 46% of all students reported either never using alcohol, or not using alcohol within the past 30 days. These stats are in marked contrast to the incredibly high percentage, 98%, of people whom students perceived to be using alcohol.” Drug use is pretty low to my knowledge. Those who drink the most also use the most drugs (mostly marijuana). I don’t know anyone who smokes cigarettes. </p>
<p>There is also just miscellaneous partying on the weekends, generally occurring on the “party floors” of a college. Even aside from the drinking culture, the social scene at Rice is very vibrant and healthy. There are tons of events organized by the residential colleges, and lots of stuff going on around campus too. At my college, every Wednesday night our college RAs host a YouTube night where we get together and eat ice cream and freshly-baked brownies and watch YouTube videos submitted by students. I encourage you to read about the residential college system and RAs at Rice, because they are very different (e.g. adults) and serve an entirely different role than at other universities. On the weekends people go out into Houston to eat. The area around Rice, and Houston in general, is full of good restaurants. </p>
<p>Ok, I don’t want to make this too long. If anything was unclear or you have any other questions feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Thank you so much you were extremly helpful!</p>