<p>I'm sure there must be some unhappy students at Rice. What do they want that the university lacks? Why are they not satisfied?</p>
<p>I’ve actually met very few unhappy students here. I do have a friend who is transferring to the University of Houston (she’s currently a freshman) but that’s for family reasons and certainly not her own choice.</p>
<p>I would say the primary reason behind some students being less happy than others would be level of involvement with the residential college system. Don’t worry, you don’t need to go into Rice being super gung-ho about the residential college system (I definitely wasn’t) but purposely being negative or derogatory about something that so many people care about is a surefire way to feel pretty lonely. Orientation Week is an amazing week that makes people fall in love with their college. Students who purposely withdraw themselves from activities or act like they’re too cool to get involved may have a tougher time finding friends. The Masters, RAs, upperclassmen, and peers in a residential college are all intertwined, and generally people who involve themselves in this seem pretty happy.</p>
<p>Granted, there are definitely some students who just aren’t into the college system, and choose to live off-campus as soon as possible. This does not mean they will automatically be unhappy. In fact, there are some students who are happier living off-campus than on-campus, and the residential college just isn’t their thing.</p>
<p>In response to your question, the university isn’t “lacking” anything, it’s just difficult to form a strong social support network/community if you burn bridges in your residential college.</p>
<p>I don’t know that the reasons above are correct. I feel like in every college there’s a group of students who are really dedicated to the college system, and a group who couldn’t care less - if you’re one of the latter, you’ll still have people to hang out with.</p>
<p>I know a loooootttt of people who are unhappy being single here. It’s a small school, hard to get away from exes, and with lots of socially off-center students.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that the majority is happy!</p>
<p>Anyone have any general criticisms of Rice? Just trying to get a more complete view.
Idk if it was just me, but isn’t the library waaaaaaaay too small and crowded?</p>
<p>Yeah, the library is pretty undersized. On some Sunday nights it gets pretty hard to find a (fairly) secluded space. There are plenty of tables and desks throughout the library to share, but don’t expect to get a study room whenever you want.</p>
<p>can anyone here comment on the “dating scene” @ Rice?</p>
<p>Wait, really? You think the library is undersized? I have never been unable to get a desk on the 4th floor, and it houses more than 2 million books. It’s only undersized if you want carpeted study space, which honestly isn’t the purpose of the library.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Princeton Review surveys have Rice #8 in the country this year for “Happiest Students.” Saying that Rice students tend to be happy there is like saying that Duke students tend to be basketball fans.</p>
<p>Dating scene is a hit or miss. There are two extremes: no dating (or lots of hook ups) or a long, serious relationship. Sighs… Oh well. Although, when I visited Northwestern, I heard the same. Maybe it’s a top tier school thing…</p>
<p>Rice has a dating scene? Hm… Can’t say I’ve seen it… That would be my main criticism of Rice. It seems like most people are more interested in having frequent and random hookups at the public parties than in having extended relationships. However, there are exceptions, but like was said earlier, they tend to lie on the opposite extreme: LONG committed relationships.
The only other thing I could think to complain about is that, as absolutely amazing as the residential college system is, it can kind of limit your social interactions. I’ve found that it can be a bit difficult to make friends outside of your college; for example, I think I can count on my hands the number of people from other colleges that are really close friends of mine. I’ll still wave and smile to people I recognize from my classes at parties, but we never hang out. Then again, it might not help that, of the residential colleges, Brown can be one of the most insular.
But even these two things aside, I wouldn’t say either of them go really far towards making me unhappy…</p>
<p>My son has some close friends from other colleges, and some from his club sport team… Both my kids loved Rice, and the fact that there was always so much stuff going on in terms of activities, parties, inter-res-college sports, music and shows, college dinners, hanging out with some favorite profs, famous speakers, and so much student involvement in running all the things. DS thought things pretty tame and lame at some other universities his h.s. friends attend…</p>
<p>lilapense, are you a freshman by chance? I think it’s one of the great myths of Rice that it’s hard to make friends outside of your college. If you think that you can’t make friends outside of your college, you don’t get out enough. One of my best friends graduated from Brown last year, and if I get a job in San Francisco next year I might live with him. I also roomed with a guy from Martel this past summer, and I dated a (lapsed) Will Ricer and kind of absorbed her friends, who were from Will Rice and Baker, mostly. And I’m not one of those people who’s abandoned his college, as anyone who knows me can attest (Dorian_Mode?).</p>
<p>I think one of the reasons casual dating doesn’t happen as much at Rice is because dates are expensive, and Rice is very much not a rich kids’ school (despite what U of H students may think). We’re also really, really busy. Also, the fact that Rice is such a small school (made even smaller by the college system — I think everyone is connected with only two degrees of separation) means that you rarely see someone only once or in only one place, which means you can’t just ask out that cute girl who you met at a party, because you probably didn’t meet her at a party, and you’ll see her in your poli sci lecture the next day, and probably at Coffeehouse, etc. But that doesn’t seem to deter the hookups. Hm.</p>
<p>Well, I know a ton of people in very serious, long-term, no-end-in-sight relationships. I can’t say I know of very many random hook-ups, but then again I don’t go to nearly as many parties as I could, so you should ignore me on that issue.</p>
<p>I agree with NYSkins entirely, at least as far as making friends outside of your own college is concerned. I have been extremely active in my college (having spent two years as a class representative in our college government and coordinating O-Week this past year), but two of my very best friends at Rice are from Will Rice and Lovett, and during my time at Rice I’ve built a pretty large group of friends and acquaintances, including people from every single college. It’s really not hard if you just put yourself out there a bit.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of incidents of hostility between colleges… One incident was that a bunch of students went to the bathroom of another college and messed it up (including taking a dump on the floor or something). I hope those aren’t too common.<br>
And if I go to the common room of another college, will anyone really care?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Excuse my bluntness and the voice of truth and reality…but there are unhappy students everywhere. </p>
<p>Yes, even at Harvard. The Ivies. The non-Ivies. The first-tier to the 77th-tier school. Community colleges. Probably online ones as well. And not just in the U.S., but around the world too!</p>
<p>I know, right? Who would’ve known?</p>
<p>(I’m not rolling my eyes at all.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what incident you’re talking about, sho0ot, because this is the first I’ve heard of it. I’m actually studying in the commons of another college right now, as I do a few times a week. Nobody cares, and I’ve never encountered any real hostility from members of other colleges.</p>