It’s normal to grieve having to give up these great schools. Be relieved you have finally made the choice, and start getting excited about the amazing adventures that await at Rice. Congrats!
Congratulations! Rice is truly a remarkable place with lots of exciting things going on.
It’s hard when you come down to the wire and have to let one dream (or more) go. You go through this process getting exciting about multiple possibilities, but they can’t all happen. “The road not taken,” blah blah cliche cliche.
Three hours of sleep? And a really hard, complicated decision? Feeling confused and strung out only proves you need sleep. Tomorrow is another day to be excited. Don’t worry, the dust will settle and the excitement will come; there is much to be excited about, after you sleep off the stress. Well done, and thanks for sharing the roller coaster ride with us. Congrats!!
Congratulations! Rice is an amazing school. And you said you were “anti-frat”, and a bit of WashU social life does seem to be based on fraternities.
About your feelings, I know people say to trust their gut, but it turns out that human beings are actually not very good at predicting what will make them happy. This is explained in the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. You might want to get the book, but here’s a brief summary:
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2010/03/pleasure-by-proxy
Instead, studies show that other people’s experiences turn out to be a better predictor of what will make us happy. With that in mind, Rice students are among the happiest students, according to surveys such as those done by Princeton Review. So their experience does mean something.
Best wishes on your journey!
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I have 2 finals tomorrow I haven’t studied for because I’ve been so focused on this, so I (somehow) have to get to that haha.
Feeling really confused right now. Pretty much all of my friends encouraged me to go to WashU over Rice (granted, most of them didn’t know what Rice was, it’s very unpopular at my school), and one of my closest friends since kindergarten is going to WashU and it would’ve been super cool to keep on going to school with him and my Mom really supported WashU (she couldn’t even pretend to be happy about Rice I had to kick her out of my room for some mental space, I think she’s also upset though cuz there’s way less Jews at Rice loll) and WashU was kind of the school I envisioned myself at since the beginning of the college application process (it was definitely the acceptance letter I was initially the most excited and happy about). But when you simply break it down logically and “ignore” the heart, for me there really didn’t appear to be objective reasons to go to WashU over Rice. Both are pretty much equal academically for what I want to do, and Rice has the benefit of being $40k cheaper. My college counselors, who are the true experts on the matter, certainly felt the same way
I didn’t expect to have such a strong and confused emotional reaction to this though. I feel like most people are super excited when they commit, and I’m feeling more mixed or sad. Not meaning to sound selfish, I’m super grateful for the position I’m in and the choice I had. It’s just weird, y’know? I feel like if I committed to WashU and not Rice I wouldn’t be having such an emotional reaction, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’ve been super emotionally invested in WashU since I first visited months ago whereas for Rice I first applied on a whim because of the fee waiver and only truly realized how amazing it is afterwards. I wish I could go to both lol.
Anyways, thank you guys for embarking on this emotional journey with me. Honestly I feel like you all are part of my family now haha, you guys have been so unbelievably nice and helpful!!! I’ll need to make it up to you guys some day, if you’re ever in Houston lemme take you out for lunch
P.S. Make sure you let us know which College you get assigned to!!
For clubs, here are a few ideas:
- Kinda Sketchy
- R2: The Rice Review
- Ethnographic Film Club (approximate name)
Finals already? My college kid has finals next week, but that’s early for high school! Good luck!!
Does your mom know that David Leebron is Jewish? I know my daughter had Jewish friends.
Honestly, NOT going to college with your friends, school attributes aside, is such a good decision! Those friends will still be important to you, but you’ll get to start college with a clean slate; and one of the great things about Rice is that practically everyone else will be doing the same. By the end of O Week you will feel connected. It’s really a tremendously well-engineered social experience there.
When DS attended he and his roommate were both Jewish. Several of his friends are. It’s about 10% Jewish. The Hillel also serves the other area schools and the law schools, IIRC.
Congratulations on choosing Rice! It is natural to have mixed emotions now that the journey towards a final decision is over. Embrace choosing Rice. My daughter has a very close friend at Wash U also. They get together during school breaks. When you get to your residential college for O Week, everybody will already know your name and cheer your arrival. O Week is a fantastic experience. My daughter is just finishing her first year and loved it. She is an O Week advisor next year.
While there may not be as large a Jewish population as at Wash U, there are many Jewish students. One of my daughter’s suite mates is Jewish. Check out Rice Chabad. http://www.jewishriceu.com
Congregation Emanu El is right across the street from campus, and Hillel is also close by.
My daughter is involved with the R2 publication mentioned above for creative writing. The Rice Cinema on campus will be a good place for you to get involved and explore your interests in film. Enroll in one of the VADA film courses your first semester to check out the department.
Congratulations!
It’s totally normal to grieve the choice you didn’t make. It doesn’t mean you made the wrong choice. It’s like when expecting parents find out the sex of the baby… you are both excited at what you are having, but maybe also a little sad that you aren’t having the other one, too.