<p>hey, so i was accepted to Rice ED and i want to know more about the social life - i've heard that rice is a wet campus (beer-bike, night of decadence etc), but i've also heard that it doesn't have as intense a social scene like schools like Duke. So, can anyone that goes to Rice now tell me more about the social life? and are there a lot of school sponsored events or mostly dorm/college parties? details/anecdotes would be very appreciated :)</p>
<p>Almost (90%) every Saturday there’s a public party, which is a party put on by one of the res colleges in its commons. They usually have really fun themes (like 80s, Eurotrashed, Skanksgiving, NOD) which people dress up for. Since it’s a public party, you can’t drink on its premises, but are always private parties in people’s dorm’s to drink in. </p>
<p>On non-Saturdays, people start random things in their rooms/halls, like beer pong, kegs, or some themed party. It’s definitely not hard to find something fun to do on a Friday night. </p>
<p>And it’s not as “intense” as schools like Duke because there’s no Greek life. You don’t have to look a certain way or dress a certain way to be let into parties or to fit in, which is pretty cool. </p>
<p>Hmmm, I can’t think of any anecdotes… I mean, a lot has happened… What exactly are you looking for?</p>
<p>Oh, BTW. I was talking about it from a drinking perspective, of course. However, there are always other things to do. </p>
<p>Some of the things I’ve done that didn’t involve drinking are:
-Going to to the Village. There are many major chain stores to shop at (VS, Express, Bath & Body, Urban, etc) as well as little boutiques (though they’re more expensive). You can also find every kind of restaurant (Indian, Thai, American, etc.).
-See Shepherd concerts. Rice’s orchestra is amazing! The last one was packed. -See concerts off campus. I saw Itzhak Perlman! But since Houston’s a major city, a lot of bands come through.
-Chinatown. Not much to say there… cheap food, yum.</p>
<p>that sounds awesome! yeah its great how there’s no greek system that pressures ppl to look a certain way…btw, have you seen the Rice Chorale? are they as amazing as ppl say? and (going off on a tangent here) have you heard any of Rice’s acapella groups? which are the best ones?</p>
<p>Sorry, I’m not big into choral happenings… But I’m sure someone here will be more knowledgeable.</p>
<p>DS hangs out at the rec center a lot - loves working out there, and says it is really wonderful and it’s a part of his social life. He plays club sports for fun (actually, if he could major in his club sport, he would. He spends a whole lot of time with it), also some pick-up and between-res-colleges sports. He showed me a video of some friends of his and he, all dressed up and dancing (choreographed and everything) to an Xmas song - a funny spoof put on (I think) for his res college. He loves beer bike and the huge waterballoon fight. In the past, he has gone to several “Passport to Houston” events with his girlfriend - opera, ballet, classical music. He’s showed me pictures of him and friends dressed up in all sorts of costumes, from bananas to power rangers and other action figures. My Dd loved the archi-parties. Both kids really, really enjoyed/enjoy the social scene at Rice.</p>
<p>How is the social life for those of us who don’t like partying?</p>
<p>It’s just in my spare time I’d much rather watch a movie, play a game (video or otherwise), or read (I actually read a lot), and I really don’t like partying much. I’m a transfer, so I’ve already had a year of college to experiment with such things, and my conclusion was that they are not for me. I’m not asocial; I’m just not a big partier.</p>
<p>zSquared–you’ll find plenty of people who feel the way you do, including my daughter. Of course, it may take a little longer to find those groups who aren’t partying than the ones who are, so be patient. There’s all sorts of stuff to do, on campus and off, in smaller groups.</p>
<p>zSquared, I think they just started a video game club thingy… I’m not sure what exactly it’s called, but they have tournaments on games and stuff. Obviously, this isn’t up my alley, but it’s definitely there.</p>
<p>zSquared, were you the one who said you were in Lovett? If so, almost every night there’s a good-sized group of people in the commons watching a movie, playing video games, etc.</p>
<p>Nope, that wasn’t me. I still haven’t gotten my college assignment, actually. I believe techpirate got assigned to Lovett, though.</p>
<p>I’m actually a member of the Rice Chorale…as someone with no formal vocal training, who just loves music and singing, it’s an honor to perform with such amazing people. We have vocal performance majors from Shepherd, professionals from the Houston community, etc. You can go on Shepherd’s website and listen to excerpts if you want.</p>
<p>In terms of social life…
I would say the residential college system ensures you ALWAYS have something to do on Friday and Saturday nights. Personally, my friends and I usually go out/drink on one night of the weekend, and stay in/be chill the other night. Parties are everywhere and usually open to everyone, and since it’s a small school, everyone knows everyone anyway. There’s no exclusivity/sense of “you have to know the right people to get in.” For non-drinkers, Houston offers a ton of stuff to do, everything from museums to movies to festivals to sports to everything you could pretty much ever want. </p>
<p>I wasn’t incredibly outgoing in high school…I had a great group of friends but we didn’t really go out together on the weekends…I’ve had NO problem becoming more social at Rice and I’ve never really felt bored at all. Plus, the lack of Greek system makes everything a lot safer and more tight-knit.</p>
<p>Does the small student body every make it seem, idk, confined? What I’m worried about is it would be like HS all over again, everyone knowing everyone</p>
<p>juniorgirl I would say it’s nothing like high school at all. You probably won’t meet that many people outside of your college at first so there will always be new people out there. I think it’s a good combo- you will get to know the people in your college fairly quickly, and you will meet others through your classes, clubs, etc.</p>
<p>Rice is nothing like high school!
Basically, the biggest difference is that though there may be specific friend groups, the residential college system facilitates a TON of interaction among these friend groups. So it’s not like high school, where there’s very little social mobility and you basically talk to the same ten people for four years.</p>
<p>I can sit with basically anyone at lunch and it’s not weird at all. People are really open and accepting–generally eager to be nice and engage in conversation.</p>
<p>I personally love being in a small-ish atmosphere because you run into the same people over and over, so it feels like a tight-knit community.</p>
<p>An added bonus is that people can’t really act like complete jerks, because they will be with the same general people for four years. This encourages people to just be nice, since they can’t really blend into the crowd or whatever.</p>
<p>assignments arn’t made until June!</p>
<p>Unless you’re a mid-year transfer, in which case you’ve probably received them, since orientation starts, like, two weeks from now.</p>
<p>Are the assignments completely random or do we get some sort of choice/preference?</p>
<p>If you have an immediate relative who goes/went to Rice, then you can request to be or not be in the same college as him or her. You can also request to be/not to be placed in the same college as someone else in your class.</p>