What are Rice students like?

<p>Okay, so this is probably a stupid question and you are all going to be like "OMG you applied and don't know anything about Rice!!! Ahh!!" Well, I live pretty far away from TX and couldn't afford the airfare to visit, but I know a couple people here who've gone to Rice and LOVED it. They're pretty cool people, but obviously I can't take them as representative of the Rice student body.</p>

<p>So, those of you who have visited and former/current students, what are Rice students like? </p>

<p>In terms of...
Intensity (academic and athletic)
Politics
Style/dress
Personality (Okay, I know you can't make generalizations. But people do stereotype students at certain Ivies as "arrogant"...what generalization would you make about Rice students?)
Involvement in extracurriculars
Dating
Drinking/Social life
Background (public school, private school, socioeconomic, etc)
Academic interests</p>

<p>My opinion only:</p>

<p>Intense academically, but by no means competitive. A fair percentage have intense enthusiasm about athletics, but with the exception of varsity athletes, talent is just moderate.</p>

<p>Mostly liberal, a few conservatives, lots don't care and a surprising number of libertarians.</p>

<p>Style is mostly chill and just generally happy (not distinguishably "prep" or "hippy" or "punk"). Fashion for most involves one of the hundreds of various Rice/res. college/activity pride tee-shirts and pants (tee-shirts continue throughout winter, too).</p>

<p>Personality is rarely arrogant. The word I most use is "cool" (there is also a quirky nerd half of the spectrum, but less prominent).</p>

<p>Involvement is insane. Granted, a fair number of people just do classes and that is all, but there are also plenty of people who do literally 7 or 8 time-sacrificing activities (I can give examples of such individuals if you like).</p>

<p>Dating is typically some sort of long "relationship" thing or just a "hook-up". Granted promiscuity is probably a bit more rare here than some other schools, but the dating scene is not non-existent.</p>

<p>Drinking...some choose to, some don't. It's there if you want it.
Social life: we have a ton of amazing parties (usually with a fun theme). Seriously this is one of the most fun things about Rice, and you can enjoy it whether or not you drink.</p>

<p>Background varies from crummy public to wealthy private, though I am told that due to lower tuition, there is a higher percentage of low-income kids who might not have been able to go to a more expensive school.</p>

<p>Academic interests are again varied, but largely in the sciences and engineering. Plenty of humanities and social science majors, too.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rice-university/172311-what-rice-students-like.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rice-university/172311-what-rice-students-like.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I agree with basically everything Clendenator said above, but to add some:</p>

<p>dating: It seems like people start dating more by Junior and Senior year, but until then it follows much more of the long-term practically married relationship or randomly hooking up model - generally people are open to dating, so it's entirely an option no matter what year you are if you're willing to take the initiative and ask someone.</p>

<p>Background: Actually, I disagree with Clen. on this one. One result of Rice tuition being low (relative to comparable schools) is that we've avoided the clumping of really wealthy people for whom cost is no issue and those who qualify for financial aid. One thing that one of my professors told me a while back is that while he was teaching at Princeton (granted, he's probably been at Rice the last 30 years, so this is an old characteristic of Princeton) a number of students came from backgrounds where they were basically financially set for life, whereas virtually everyone at Rice knows that they will have to actually work, which really alters the way people approach things. I'd say that the biggest feature of Rice students' socioeconomic background is that no one really cares. With a few of my friends, after being friends with them for a long time, I've learned that they come from really wealthy families (edging into that category of working being optional) while others grew up on the borderline of poverty. I've rarely encountered anyone who wears their wealth blatantly (okay, you might notice that they always have a nice new laptop or that they have a nice car) and never encountered anyone who made it a big deal in social situations. </p>

<p>Academic interests are varied - look at the schools and areas of studies to get an idea of the breakdown. I'd say that, regardless of what they're studying, pretty much everyone I know really enjoys it and is actually interested in it (okay, there are a lot of underclassmen premeds trying to satisfy their parents, but most of them grow out of it).</p>

<p>I'll agree to those amendments.</p>

<p>Thanks! That's basically what I thought/was hoping for. Of all the colleges I'm applying to, it looks like Rice has the most diverse student body by far, in terms of everything from academic interests to economic background (and I'm glad to hear it's not at all a big deal).</p>

<p>Aside from what's been mentioned (which I would say is fairly accurate), I'll give you my perceptions as a Rice Freshman. Remember, each of these are individual perceptions, which will be different for different people (obviously), but may not be what you will perceive. </p>

<p>First off, the Rice stereotype:
I live in the fourth biggest city in the country, yet I can go weeks without leaving campus. Even when I do leave, it takes 30 minutes to go get gas, and an hour to move a mile on the 45 or the 59. I was either a dork in high school and am still a dork, or I was a dork in high school and now i pretend to be cool. If asked where I'm from, I respond with my college and not my hometown. To relieve stress I run around campus naked twice a month. If I go to the library at midnight, there's a good chance I might not be able to find a free computer, in which case I can always just go to the pub. The pub is heaven on earth. I worship the baseball team, play drinking games in class, and firmly believe that Martel is not a college. I was a pre-med until orgo made me its two semester *****, now i'm an academ. Beer bike is the biggest event of the year, yet 90% of people pass out before the races even begin. I think it's cool to cuss at the top of my lungs and call it a cheer. Even drunk or stoned, I'm still smarter than you. I don't throw out the line that "You'll be working for me some day"... because actually, your boss will be working for me someday. Step aside, I am an Owl. [from Recreational</a> Tomfoolery: Texas College Stereotypes.....]</p>

<p>Intensity: academically, everyone here was at least in the top 10% of their graduating class (many of us were Valedictorians), so we know how to study, and we study hard. People really do homework Friday and Saturday nights. So we're serious about it. Athletically, I feel like a lot of people have an athletic interest in some way (because a lot of us played some sort of sport in high school). School spirit regarding athletics is lacking at best.</p>

<p>Politics: I think the general philosophy of the school is politically left, and most of the professors are certainly liberal. I would say that we are more liberal than most state schools, but more conservative than most schools of our caliber. I would say that the average student is fairly moderate, though you'll find people from literally every political direction.</p>

<p>Style/dress: We're generally what most people would call normal. We're not overly showy in our appearance (with some exceptions), but we're pretty casual (for a lot of the year, average dress is shorts and a T-shirt compliments of 90+ degree weather)</p>

<p>Personality: Confident, quirky (most people have some sort of idiosyncrasy about them), motivated, and ambitious. Everyone here is really nice, respectful, and polite. It's hard to find something bad to say about Rice students)</p>

<p>Involvement in extracurriculars: most people take a couple extracurriculars on during the year, whether that be a religious organization, some sort of club, intramural/club sports, or student government (both university and college)</p>

<p>Dating: Apparently, the average Rice student goes on like 1.5 dates per year (at least that's what my O-week handbook said). I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "dating," but I think the general feeling is that it doesn't happen quite as much as other schools. I know a fair amount of people with boyfriends/girlfriends, but it's not something that people feel obligated to do.</p>

<p>Drinking/Social life: On the weekends, there's always a party you can find (I think), and if you want to drink, it's not hard, and it's there. It's really easy to do it if you want, but it's equally easy to not do it. I don't drink, and I can honestly say that no one has ever offered me a drink.</p>

<p>Background: honestly, it's hard to tell, because that's not something that's really discussed. We're all at Rice, and we're achieving based on our present merits, not our past lives. I don't even really know the socioeconomic status of my roommates. Nor do I care. </p>

<p>Academic interests: Rice students are informally divided up into four groups of students: archies (architecture students, of which there are 25 per class), musies (music students), academs (social sciences and humanities students, which has the largest number of graduates), and S-E's (natural Sciences and Engineering students, which has the largest number of incoming freshman). A lot of engineering/science/premeds become academs after finding some of the related classes difficult (such as Organic Chemistry). You'll find people from all sorts of different majors here, and while Rice has traditionally been very strong in the Engineering, the other programs are outstanding as well and are continually getting better.</p>

<p>I hope that answers your question. Rice was my number 5 choice going into the weekend I got my decisions letters. The reason why I came here really was the people, and I don't regret that decision at all. Rice is very diverse in many ways (not just ethnically), and so whatever your personality is, you'll find people who share that personality (though it may take a few weeks to find those people, as it did with me). Just be patient, but more importantly, be yourself!</p>

<p>wow... ^^^ they should put that in their brochure. thanks jon314 brilliantly said</p>

<p>"A lot of engineering/science/premeds become academs after finding some of the related classes difficult (such as Organic Chemistry)."</p>

<p>Or finding them boring...</p>

<p>"I don't drink, and I can honestly say that no one has ever offered me a drink."</p>

<p>No one has ever offered you a drink? That's not very polite.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>That was me. I came in as physics, hated PHYS 111, loved POLI 212, and now I'm English and poli sci.</p>

<p>My brother goes to Rice and he's a pretty cool dude. Likes their honor code. But yeah they're crazy when it comes to parties/pranks.</p>

<p>
[quote]
No one has ever offered you a drink? That's not very polite.

[/quote]

Haha...I'm not sure you understand what I meant. I think people realized pretty early on that I didn't want to drink--before even offering me anything. I never put myself in a position to where someone would offer me a drink, given that there are plenty of other things to do on campus besides drink and party. Thus in that sense they were very polite--they know my wishes, and they respect them. </p>

<p>However, if that is what you want to do, you will have no trouble finding alcohol or finding people who are more than willing to give it to you. That would be, I suppose, what you would consider polite.</p>

<p>I think jon's experience is fairly descriptive. If you're interested in drinking, it's easy enough to find people to do it with. If you're not, there's no problem. I tend to offer anyone who ends up in my room on a weekend night a beer or a glass of wine, but if someone turns it down, I don't think that anyone looks at it that differently than they would if they turned down the soda that I was also offering.</p>

<p>My roommate was a skydiving, bellydancing, Habitat for Humanity-ing violin performance major who did her senior recital barefooted. I was a piano-tuning, Beer Bike coordinating, ceramicist-jazzsinging-structural engineer who was also drum major of the notorious MOB. We each held probably three paying jobs a year, and not always because we needed the money. We both consistently made the president's honor roll but always found out about it from somebody else, because who checks? Sometimes we watched Survivor drunk and ordered pizza, and it was the most hysterical thing ever... particularly for our teetotalling friends, who would come over to watch us. Every year we'd put on Santa hats, drive to Lowe's, and bring back a live five-foot Christmas tree and put it in our dorm room window because it was a great way to meet new people, since we'd come home and find them sitting in front of our tree and drinking hot chocolate.</p>

<p>Y'know, typical Rice students.</p>

<p>There used to be a time, around when I was first applying that even the mention of Rice or Texas made my heart bounce a little and I was sure that it was the school for me. Lately, after hearing all the hype from kids getting into my state school and thinking about all the things I am potentially missing out on by ignoring GatorNation, I lost that excitement about Rice.</p>

<p>I can honestly say reading these personal experience stories made that excitement come back. APRIL 1st, COME FASTER!</p>

<p>SERIOUSLY. I'm beginning to think that my obsession with Rice and my probable rejection are going to collide on April 1st, and that will be the end of me, leaving any other college useless. But I still can't wait for it to happen.</p>

<p>I feel that pain. Can't wait until April 1st, but the chance of disappointment is awfully high. At least there's nothing more we can do now.</p>

<p>Still don't know what I'll do If I don't make it to Rice.</p>