<p>Do you find the workload at Rice to be overwhelming? Do you still have time to relax, explore, have fun and all of that other good stuff? Is there a good balance?</p>
<p>This is one that definitely depends on your major and your schedule. I'm a (probable) freshman math major, I'm taking 17 credit hours, and I have a lot of time to do activities, go to parties, relax, attend events around campus, etc. The trick is that I'm not taking any lab sciences [I used AP credit to get out of the "D3" (science) requirement]. Some of my friends who are engineering majors or natural science majors have much more work to do, especially the ones who are in physics and chemistry concurrently, but they still seem to find time to do things outside of academics. On the other hand, my "academ" friends (humanities or social science majors) have even more time than I do.</p>
<p>I think one reason that courses don't seem too work-heavy here is that, since all the students are smart, we don't really get assigned "busy work". I usually only get 2-ish math problems per class for homework, which is just enough to teach me the concepts and no more. Knowing this, a lot of Rice students (foolishly or not) compensate by taking way too many hours. Twelve hours is minimum, and almost nobody does that, and it's not uncommon for people to take over 20 and in some rare cases, over 25 hours. If you know how to plan your schedule wisely, though, it's no problem at all.</p>
<p>Both my kids are busy, busy, busy with jobs (one work-study, one regular Rice job), club sports, schoolwork, parties/social events/Rice organizations, etc. DS is engineering major, and has two science classes with labs. He was used to having lots of down time in high school, so he is adjusting to the faster pace of college (but loving it!). DD is an academ, and has lots of work, also, but much of it is reading and writing. She has time to take part in many, many Rice organizations and activities. Both of them have FULL plates, but they seem to have lots of time for fun, and there is a good balance to their activities.</p>
<p>The weeks of midterms (this week for example) are overloaded with schoolwork, but generally people have enough time to get involved in activities or do fun stuff or whatever. It seems like there is alway some work you could be doing, but you'll get used to that and adjust so that you can do other things too.</p>
<p>Classes at Rice do require a lot of work, but it's definitely not a study 16 hours seven days a week feeling. Most of us keep ourselves pretty busy, but a lot of the time commitments go to non-class related activities. I currently take 15 hours of classes, have a 10-15 hour a week research job, am captain of a club sports team, am very involved in my residential college, and still have time to hang out with people, go to parties, and linger for an hour or two at dinner every night. I'd say that the standard for Rice students is to be really busy, with a long to-do list, but still finding plenty of time to enjoy life.</p>
<p>As a student, I would say that I get a pretty good amount of work. I still have time to relax and not do class-related stuff.</p>
<p>A lot of being a college student is learning how to prioritize. There are times when you could just hole yourself up in your room and be able to get everything done, but then you would have to sacrifice sleep and a social life. Most of the time I find myself deciding which readings to skim instead of read thoroughly, or maybe don't spend as much time on a graded assignment as I should. But I get by with decent grades, and I do plenty of stuff outside of class--perhaps too much, in fact. My mental and social well-being are much more important than grades, in my opinion.</p>
<p>It's what you make of it. At Rice, there's definitely an attitude that 15 hours (about 5 classes) is a light/easy workload; however, most of my friends who go to other colleges, including ivy league ones, say that it's standard to take 4 or 5 classes, not 6 or 7. And as a humanities/social science person, I am tired of the "academ=slackadem" stereotype...it's just not true. While my engineering and science major friends may spend hours in the lab or in their rooms collaborating on problem sets, I'm constantly reading and writing papers. It's just a different kind of work, and generally a more solitary one. So yes, there is pressure at Rice to take on a heavy workload; however, it's really up to you. I know many people here who never stop studying, and many who barely squeeze it in.</p>
<p>Do you find the workload at Rice to be overwhelming?
Sometimes. It's 4:09AM and I'm studying for an exam. So right now, it's very overwhelming, but generally, I do find time to relax...there's always parties/socializing during the weekend!! Good balance? Depends on how you manage your time.</p>