<p>Is it a competitive environment or more laid back, with peers open to helping each other?</p>
<p>How would you generally describe the student body as a whole in terms of personality? (Intellectual, open-minded, nerdy, friendly, reclusive, etc.)</p>
<p>What impact does the residential college system seem to have on the Rice community? Does it tend to segregate students, does it create tight bonds, etc.</p>
<p>I'm in love with every aspect I have taken from Rice's website, but I'd like to see students' perspectives. Thanks in advance!:)</p>
<p>I’m not a current student (did graduate work there mumble years ago), but DH is an alum and we know several kids who are undergrads now. There’s a brief initial period of shock, as all the freshmen realize they might not be the smartest person they know anymore Atmosphere is generally very collegial and laid-back. Students tend to be open-minded and intellectually curious; there are some who will be reclusive, but most are pretty friendly. Residential college system is a huge plus IMHO; it seems to create community without segregating students. </p>
<p>As an alumnus I totally agree (but that was years ago for me too) … but current students that my son and I met on the visits to campus said the same thing, and it was a big part of the reason my son decided to go to Rice.</p>
<p>As a current student, I completely agree with everything already said. Rice has a well-earned reputation as a very collaborative on non-competitive undergrad experience. It allows them to make the classes even harder, but all of the support avenues allow you to still succeed and actually learn more than you would have. I’m speaking from a largely STEM standpoint, but I have never heard anything to the contrary about other areas.</p>
<p>A lot of this stems from the honor system and how many professors encourage students to collaborate on non-exam assignments. Each residential college has its own academic fellows program which consists of upperclassmen who will organize study sessions for upcoming exams, hold tutoring sessions, review papers, or even just sit down with you and help you with your homework if you show up at their doors. </p>
<p>Even if you come from a great high school, I think it’s refreshing to see how much people respect intelligence and hard work. Not everyone is a self proclaimed nerd, and like any university there is a decent amount of partying. But even most of the biggest party animals I know are hard-working and talented. It’s just built into the atmosphere. </p>
<p>The residential college system is definitely a benefit. I have way more friends than I would have at a larger, more traditionally organized school, because you get to form a lot of tight bonds within your residential college from day 1. Think of a really large fraternity-sorority, without any social pressure or exclusion and with much greater diversity of individuals. </p>
<p>Tossing in one more agreement to everything that has been said. Generally, most students are helpful and willing to work in groups with you. That said, you are expected to contribute - due to the honor code, people will not let you show up at the end and copy homework.</p>
<p>As a ChemE, we all realized early on that it would be futile to attempt the homework solo. As a result, we usually worked in a team (the whole class) and collaborated on how to solve the problems. Usually we would jot down some ideas or solutions and then meet up to discuss and analyze.</p>
<p>Wow all of that sounds so amazing. I really really hope I’ll get the chance to attend! Thank you everyone for all of your input, I always assumed Rice was great but it’s great getting that confirmed from people with real experience there.</p>
<p>Also, I had one other question: How are the intramural sports, clubs, etc? More specifically, are they easy to get involved in and does it seem like a good portion of the students participate?</p>
<p>IM sports are very easy to get into. You just need to find a group of people interested in playing.</p>
<p>Rice also has inter-College sports, where each college (basically each dorm) competes with each other. These are a lot of fun and anyone who wants to participate does. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what percentage participates. I know several people who played in 7 different IM sports and college sports each semester and I knew several who didn’t play any. Basically it isn’t like no one plays but it isn’t so packed that you never see any play time.</p>
Atmosphere is generally very collegial and laid-back. Students tend to be open-minded and intellectually curious; there are some who will be reclusive, but most are pretty friendly. Residential college system is a huge plus IMHO; it seems to create community without segregating students. </p>