<p>As some of you may know I've been on this forum a lot recently, as I'm obsessed with Rice. At first I was unsure of whether I would be able to visit or not, so I was trying to get a feel for the campus without visiting. Now, a great opportunity has opened up, and I'll be able to make the long trek down from New England to Texas sometime later this year. I have to make plans pretty far in advance, so I won't be able to co-ordinate with Explore Rice, but maybe I'll still be able to do an overnight. Does anyone have any advice for when to come, and when not to come? The more specific the better, as I'm trying to make travel plans. General time period would be anytime from september to the beginning of the ED period, since I'm pretty sure I want to ED at Rice, but not 100% sure. So, dates?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Visit as early as possible while the weather is at its hottest. Believe me, you want to experience summer in Houston before committing to rice because the weather can be a deal breaker. You don’t want to be surprised by the heat, smog and humidity after enrolling. Rice was originally high on my list, but after visiting in the dead of summer, I just couldn’t handle it.</p>
<p>…but I wouldn’t be there over the summers. And there at least have to be students there, so september at the earliest.</p>
<p>Have the dates for Explore Rice been set for this fall yet? All I can find on the website are the dates for October 2011. And yes, summers in Texas are brutal, and they last until October. Of course, for me this is a plus! ;)</p>
<p>Come to one of the events (Explore Rice) or do an overnight stay as early as possible in the semester.</p>
<p>I’ve contacted the admissions and the dates for explore Rice won’t be announced until late summer which it too late for me. I can try to guess when it will be but they’ve also told be they will be changing around the date so I can’t really make an informed guess.
I was thinking possibly October 6-7 or October 13-14, because they are both around the centennial celebration. Explore Rice probably wouldn’t be during that, so another good option would be September 29-30 or October 20-21. All are good options for one reason or another. October 20-21 seems close to the ED deadline so I probably wouldn’t do that, but it is an option. Advice?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about coordinating with Explore Rice. You can stay overnight any weeknight (Monday-Thursday) and take a tour and visit classes. Admissions will usually even make an appointment for you to meet with someone in your area of interest. Explore Rice is a great program, but you can get an equally good picture of Rice (if not better) if you personalize your own visit. And yes, August is hot (I’m from Chicago), but if Rice is the school for you weather probably won’t be a deal breaker. Similarly, most people wouldn’t turn down Harvard or Yale just because of winters. Just throwing that out there.</p>
<p>Can someone please give us the link to learn about Explore Rice? My d is also planning to visit sometime in the fall. She wants to experience the heat and humidity but I’m thinking that we’d want to wait a bit for school to be in full swing before visiting. </p>
<p>@runallday4: perhaps you can coordinate your visit with events that include some of your academic or extracurricular interests.</p>
<p>Here’s the link from last year: [Future</a> Owls](<a href=“Office of Admission | Rice University”>Office of Admission | Rice University)
I’ve been told it will be a different week this year, with dates coming out in August. I would guess that it would be either the week before or the week after the centennial celebration.</p>
<p>@Runallday:</p>
<p>I would highly encourage the week of the centennial celebration. It’s truly going to be a special time. If you can make that week happen, absolutely come then. </p>
<p>Note, you cannot officially visit through the admissions office on the weekends, so the dates you provided (which were weekends) wouldn’t work. Like Adam said, any Monday-Thursday you can be hosted through the admissions office.</p>
<p>@Tilgaham, thanks, that’s good to know, I guess I’ll be missing a few days of school, but I think it’s important to get the tour, ect. I thought it seemed like a fun thing to be able to be there during the Centennial Celebration.
I also want to do an Overnight, so I’d have to be there Monday-Thursday. Is there a calendar with major dates somewhere? The website says there are no overnights during midterm recess (Oct. 11/12 last year) or finals week. How do I find out when those are going to be?
I feel like I’m being forced to make plans when the school hasn’t even made plans yet itself for this fall. :p</p>
<p>@runallday4, I have to echo Tilgaham and strongly recommend a visit during the Centennial Celebration. It’s a once-a-century deal and Rice is making it special. The Academic Calendar shows that there will be no classes October 11-12 in honor of it, replacing the customary Midterm Recess days. </p>
<p>If you can arrange it, be sure to be on campus October 12 and 13. Those are by far the coolest days of the Celebration. On the 12th there’s an academic procession, the Centennial Picnic, a world premiere concert at Shepherd, etc; on the 13th we have our Centennial/Homecoming Football game, a “Spectacle,” and other stuff. </p>
<p>The “Spectacle” will have three showings and is described as “a surprise on the Academic Quadrangle.” Every year Rice launches lots of fireworks over the Academic Quad one night for matriculating students, so it can’t be that. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be cool and I’d say worth seeing in person if you can manage it!</p>
<p>Centennial Celebration Events Calendar: [Rice</a> University Events Calendar](<a href=“http://events.rice.edu/index.cfm?e_id=143]Rice”>http://events.rice.edu/index.cfm?e_id=143)
Rice Academic Calendar: [Rice</a> University Events Calendar](<a href=“http://events.rice.edu/index.cfm?e_id=23]Rice”>http://events.rice.edu/index.cfm?e_id=23)</p>
<p>It seems as if you’re planning on missing a few days of school to be in Houston Monday-Thursday. Just to let you know, though, the big Centennial events I described are on Friday and Saturday. And classes end after Wednesday for that week. </p>
<p>As a future note, even when the Admissions Office folks say they won’t schedule overnights, they often still do since Rice students love hosting prospies. You just have to know where to ask. PM me if you need help setting yours up.</p>
<p>@Duncaroo, thanks, I PM’d you.</p>
<p>@everyone else, thanks so much for the advice, I’m going to talk a lot of it into consideration and try to go down around the Centennial Celebration. I need to talk to my dad, but I’ll let you guys know.</p>