Super opportunities at Rice

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>I know many of you recent Rice applicants will be deciding which college to attend and may have trouble making up your mind. I thought this would be a good place for current Rice students to post some of the neat opportunities that they have had at Rice, to help you make up your mind if Rice is the place for you. I'll start with three, though I can think of lots.</p>

<p>1) The travel abroad options are great! Dd went to Nicaragua for a month at no cost through a Rice Engineers without Borders program. She went to Mexico for a very small fee on a spring break trip. Her financial aid traveled with her to CHILE and including flight, etc., her 5 months in Chile cost no more than our EFC at Rice. She is graduating from Rice with a B.A. in May, and she just found out she won a Rice-sponsored travel scholarship that will pay for her to study POST-GRAD at a university in Turkey next school year!!!!!! How awesome is that? (I also think the Rice reputation helped her get accepted to a free Persian summer language program last year that includes free study abroad this summer.)</p>

<p>2) (edit; sorry, this one in not an opportunity - just a positive aspect of Rice.)The administration was very responsive to a concern I had when DD was a freshman. I emailed the administration to ask why my DD's college did not have controlled access like the other colleges (eg. swipe cards and locked barriers to keep anybody from walking up the outside stairs to the rooms). I had email replies the same day from TWO different departments; they brought the concern up w/ the college (it had to be accepted and discussed and voted on by the kids in the colleges since they are self-governing. They decided they did want gates.) Rice had to get the gates custom manufactured, but they had them installed within only a few months. I was VERY impressed at how quickly they responded and got the change made.</p>

<p>3) Dd took a primatology class, and walked across the street to the Houston Zoo in Hermann Park to do the required observations. She took a Spanish Medical Translation class, and walked across the street to one of the many, many medical centers to do her practicum. DD wanted to attend some of Rice's free "Passport to Houston" events, she hopped on the (free) light rail that passes in front of Rice to get there. Convenient! (Passport</a> to Houston | Passport to Houston - Rice</a> Nights | Passport to Houston offers free tickets to some opera, ballet, music, film, museum events each semester)</p>

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<p>That sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing. Rice really is one of my top choices. I'm really having trouble choosing though I'm still waiting to hear back from some other schools.</p>

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<p>I'm surprised at #2, seems like they are really helpful when a parent has a concern and I'd imagine they would be pretty helpful towards students, too.</p>

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<p>Eh, the security doors still aren't that good; they break every few months, largely because of the freshman girls who forget their keys and yank the door open so then we have to call H&D but they don't come for a week or two and then the door breaks again and it's just a vicious cycle but nobody can fine those stupid inconsiderate freshman girls who yank the door open and compromise our security.</p>

<p>But really, Rice gives you tremendous opportunities. I've seen two presidential candidates and one former president. I've attended a forum on torture where one of the panelists was the chief author of the USA PATRIOT Act. I've managed a theater program with a $3,000 budget. I've seen two Broadway shows for only $10 each. I'm spending my summer organizing a single week that sets the tone for Rice students' entire college experience.</p>

<p>And that's just what I've actually taken advantage of.</p>

<p>But on another note, I get an email from the Baker Institute every week detailing their events in the upcoming days. Some of these opportunities are tremendous. Here's one of the more recent ones:</p>

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<p>If you haven't clicked the post above all these poste "101 reasons to attend Rice" you should. Packed with great info!!</p>

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<p>Free stuff!
I have 4 or 5 t-shirts that I got for free plus a couple more that I payed < $3 for... I've gotten tickets to an Astros game, a Texans game and the Houston Rodeo, all for free. (And since we can ride the MetroRail for free, I payed nothing for transportation either.) I got to go see Barack Obama and John McCain (both for free). I've gone to the Houston Ballet, for free. I've been to the Angelika (Movie Theater), for free. I've gone to several of the Houston museums (super close to campus, free admission for Rice students). And I've gone to countless study breaks at Rice (read: ice cream, pizza, etc... just tons of free food!).</p>

<p>There's just so much stuff to do both around Rice (go see college plays/musicals, study breaks, Baker Institute speakers, etc) and around Houston (sporting events, symphony, museums, etc). And it's all either free or very cheap. </p>

<p>That's the advantage of living in the fourth largest city in the US.</p>