<p>wayneward: re-read post #31.</p>
<p>Context trumps all. I think neat is the key to a Houston interview – my vote goes for nice shorts. </p>
<p>If I were the Rice interviewer, my thought to a person wearing a suit & tie would be: “Aren’t you terribly uncomfortable? I sure would be. Do you want to take off your jacket and tie?”</p>
<p>If it were a program in Hawaii, you wouldn’t be out of place wearing a flowered shirt. Seriously. It’s all about context.</p>
<p>This thread is kind of funny for me because I also have an interview at Rice on Friday and am going to be doing a tour before as well. I am planning on wearing khakis and shirt/tie/blazer. I always attempt to “Dress to impress” and I figure that I can tough it out for one morning, which won’t even be all that bad given that the tour is only an hour and it’s not all outside. I think it would be overdoing it to wear suit pants, but I think blazer is always a nice touch. That said, that is my personal preference and I think you would be just fine wearing shorts and a polo or buttondown. When I am simply doing a campus tour or info session, I always go with pastel shorts and a polo.</p>
<p>I agree with T26E4. Wearing a tie to a Rice undergrad admission interview in July could well distract the attention of the interviewer from what you are saying to what you are wearing.</p>
<p>Coming back to this, from the parent’s perspective and from my professional experience as a lawyer – in interviewing, you don’t want your clothes to be a point of attention for your audience. So, I advise younger lawyers, for instance, to avoid ties, blouses, jewelry or shoes that will make the audience focus on that item rather than the content of what is being said (subject to regional differences, of course – shoes that work in NY could raise more than a few eyebrows in Kansas City).</p>
<p>So, my view is, something comfortable that does not make the interviewer focus on clothing and instead focus on the applicant.</p>
<p>Hi evanh14-</p>
<p>Congrats for being brave enough to ask about this–many do not. Cannot stress enough that you need to dress in more than just Ralph Lauren shorts. I’m in HR, do tons of interviews with teens, and have college-age children. </p>
<p>ucbalumnus is right–If Rice considers interviews, that means what you wear will count for (or against you). Don’t let this detail slip you up. Think of what you’re wearing as the one thing you can control in an interview.</p>
<p>Wear a t-shirt and shorts on the tour, bring a collared shirt or button-down and khaki’s in your backpack (like the deodorant tip!), and change in the bathroom. You won’t be sorry.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>HR people may judge applicants more on dress and appearance than others, since they are typically interviewing candidates outside of their expertise (except for candidates for HR jobs).</p>
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<p>However, it is not obvious to either the OP or anyone else in this thread what the dressiness expectations are for this situation, unlike for many jobs where it is relatively easy to find out or guess the range of dressiness expected.</p>
<p>Think of it like aiming for a target, but you don’t know where the target actually is.</p>
<p>Way back when, I suggested long pants because I don’t really know the campus culture at Rice, and I figured that long pants when shorts were OK would be better than shorts when long pants were called for.</p>
<p>But if people who know Rice say shorts are OK, then I guess shorts are OK. As long as you don’t look sloppy.</p>
<p>Why not just call the admissions office and ask what most people wear. My son and I did a tour at Rice at 9 in the morning in July. It was miserably hot. Even early in the morning. I am guessing that they will tell you that there is a mix of clothing, but that nice shorts and a collared shirt are fine. He didn’t do an interview though. He ruled out Rice based on the heat.</p>
<p>I wonder whether a lot of kids who visit Rice in July do that.</p>
<p>The interview was this afternoon, and I ended up changing into long pants and a polo shirt. The other two people with the same interview time as mine were both girls, so I didn’t get to really see what the typical attire for guys was. The interview was pretty informal, and my interviewer and I ended up spending the last part talking about the surrounding area and places near campus that have good food. Hopefully the above information will help some people with the same problem as me.</p>
<p>Don’t wear something that your interviewer can’t afford to buy on his salary. This is good advice for job interviews as well. It’s too easy for the interviewer to decide that the girl with the three hundred dollar purse probably doesn’t need the job. You probably don’t want your college interviewer to get all wrapped up about how ‘privileged’ you are relative to the other applicants, and to decide that you should have been doing more with all that privilege.</p>
<p>Then there was my younger son who forgot to pack a nice shirt and went to his interview at one college in an In-N-Out Burger t-shirt. I was mortified but the young man interviewing apparently loved In-N-Out and they had a good laugh about it. My son was accepted with great money. And of course thought it was hysterical. I’m hoping he dresses a little better for any interviews down the line.</p>
<p>I am from Houston and I am late to this thread but I am amazed at some of the responses here.</p>
<p>Do you think people in Houston don’t wear jackets and ties in the summer ? We don’t wear a 3 piece suit and look miserable but it does not mean we go every where in shorts either .</p>
<p>It all depends on the occasion but we dress comfortable AND appropriate .
For a campus visit, you will be inside an air-conditioned building, I would wear slack and shirt (even short sleeve shirt) , tie optional, even a light sport jacket is not out of the question either.</p>
<p>A college interview will not be as formal as a job interview. A h.s. student wearing a suit to college interview will look silly, over-dressed and out of touch. Perhaps a sport coat would be the norm at an Ivy league school, I also think that is unnecessary in this case. I would also wear a decent pair of shoes, do NOT go barefoot, no flip-flops and no athletic shoes. Wear a polo/golf type shirt that has a collar. Long sleeves is NOT necessary. What to avoid there would be shirts with rude or offensive slogans. Since the interview will most likely take place indoors, they will probably have air conditioning so long pants are fine, however, a clean pair of shorts would probably also be acceptable. If they don’t indicate a specific recommended attire, then use your best judgement. A conservative color is probably best, but it does NOT have to be navy or beige, that is really unnecessary.</p>
<p>I have never heard of trying to dress to match the interviewee since you won’t have any idea what they normally wear.</p>
<p>Wow, this topic really took off. Glad the OP decided not to wear shorts!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want to go to any school that would think less of me if I wore a neat pair of shorts and a polo shirt on a July day in Houston.</p>
<p>Yeah, pancaked, I honestly had no idea I would get 5 responses let alone 56.</p>
<p>Wear a black pants, and a white button up shirt. It’s always best to overdress than under-dress. If you are worried about heat, then pack an extra set of clothes in a bag/briefcase to change into for the tour.</p>
<p>I had my interview today, wore a jacket, khakis, dress shirt/shoes etc… No tie though. Honestly, the heat was bearable on the tour. Some of the other people interviewing wore a polo and khakis and I thought they looked fine. One wore a Houston Rockets T shirt which I thought was inappropriate.</p>
<p>BCH, who did you interview with, if you don’t mind me asking.</p>