StudentsReview :: Rice University - Extra Detail about the Comment
-or-
Search for Schools by Region
 

or within distance of city

Similar Schools
Harvard University -- Cambridge, MA
Stanford University -- Stanford, CA
George Washington University -- District of Columbia, DC


  Who's got the Best?

Perceptual Rankings:
You Make 'Em.
We Post 'Em.
You Vote 'Em Up.
You Vote 'Em Down.
Aww yeah.


Rice University

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityA Faculty AccessibilityA
Useful SchoolworkB Excess CompetitionA
Academic SuccessA- Creativity/ InnovationA
Individual ValueA+ University Resource UseA
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyA+ FriendlinessB+
Campus MaintenanceA Social LifeB+
Surrounding CityB Extra CurricularsA
SafetyA
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Afraid, Arrogant, Approachable

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Helpful

Male
ACT:33
id='quarter' class='snapshot' style='color: #009704; line-height:80px';float:left;
SAT2210
Quite Bright
Lowest Rating
Useful Schoolwork
B
Highest Rating
Individual Value
A+
He cares more about Useful Schoolwork than the average student.
Date: May 18 2010
Major: Electrical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
I just finished my freshman year at Rice and I know for sure that there's no other school I'd rather be at. Rice has for the most part met and surpassed my expectations regarding both academics and student life. Where should I start?

The campus itself is beautiful and houses literally thousands of majestic oak trees. The buildings are designed in the vein of Spanish architecture and are fluid throughout the main campus; some buildings do stand out, but not in a bad way. The small size also means easy transportation from one side of campus to another. Most people walk, but you can also bike or take one of the buses, which run around the main campus very frequently throughout the day. Rice is very insulated from Houston itself. You don't ever really have to leave campus if you don't want to. Near Rice is the Medical Center and Rice Village, where students can go to eat or shop. The walk to the Village is about 20 minutes, though usually you can find someone with a car to go with, or take the bus that shuttles students there on the weekends. If you ever need to go somewhere further than this, Rice offers the Zipcar service, which allows students to rent out cars (only have to be 18+ and insurance is included!) at an hourly or daily rate.

The academics here are top-notch. Classes are all taught by well-known and well-published faculty. Most of the professors are good instructors and very approachable outside of class. While many of the intro-level classes are rather large (for example, there were over 250 students in my physics class and 150 students in my calculus class last semester), class sizes taper off once you've selected your major and are taking classes accordingly. Students tend to be more collaborative than competitive. I would say that exception to this are many of the pre-med students but that's hardly surprising. The various departments are continuously publishing studies, innovating technology, and hosting events, conferences and competitions. There is a reason why Rice produces more patents per million dollars in research grants than MIT or Cal Tech.

A ton of academic, social, health-related, and other resources are available to Rice students, so much so that I couldn't even fairly begin to name them all. These resources come from instructors, departments, peers, college masters, and the administration itself. The bottom line is that whatever is going on in your life, there's someone or something at Rice that can help you with it. PR consistently ranks Rice students among the happiest of university students in the country, and I'm sure this has something to do with it.

Student life in general is awesome. Instead of having the Greek system Rice has 11 residential colleges and each student is a member of one. The colleges are the focus of student life, and each has its own system of governance, student events, rooming guidelines, etc. Both college and university-sponsored events tend to be very enjoyable experiences. The residential colleges are where students live, hang out, do work, and party. Even only somewhat outgoing people get to know the people in their hall pretty quickly. In my experience, hallmates get along pretty well most of the time. People tend to be laid-back and friendly in social situations. Sure, you come across arrogant and stuck-up people on occasion, but that's the case at any school. The quality of the rooms varies on what residential college you're in and where exactly in it you are, but I'd say that most rooms are at or above the quality of those at comparable schools. Rooms in the newly built and remodeled colleges (specifically Baker, Will Rice, Duncan and McMurtry) are REALLY nice. Some people are under the false impression that Rice is a party-less, sexless campus. This is complete and utter bullshit. The non-existence of parties and sex at Rice is directly correlated with the amount of time a student voluntarily chooses to spend in seclusion. Generally, Rice students work hard AND play hard. From what I've seen, the alcohol and hook-up culture is prevalent here. Of course, if that's not what you want, you can easily avoid it. But if it is, you'll have no trouble finding it.

Overall, I am definitely still in love with Rice after my first year here.

Ask a Question or add a response!
Rice University
Rice University
Rice University
Compare RiceSave Rice