I'm sorry to hijack the Board but I need answers. My daughter was accepted and got the Trustee Scholarship. She is 99% sure she is going to Rice this fall as a freshman. She has boiled down her choices to 3 (Rice, Johns Hopkins, and UF honors). She also got into the best college of all: FIU, but wants to go away for school which we agree is best.

Her one big concern is the Residential College system. She wants to be able to interact with numerous people and feels that this will limit her opportunities. Also, she is concerned about blind roommate assignment. She wants to make sure she likes the person.

Lastly, a college counselor advised her that there are many weird people at Rice. She was there and confirms that some of the people were quirky but she generally loved the campus and the program. She really didn't have time to interact when she went for an official visit some months ago. Now she is concerned that "everyone is weird."

I have always had a good impression of Rice and I am pushing her to go to Rice (actually UF would be real cheap but that's another story since this is her least favorite of her final 3) but want to lessen her anxiety. She loved Hopkins but they offered less in guaranteed scholarship money.

Please give me some info!!!!

I'm no help for you but congrats! I'm sure you're proud.

College People are weird, not just Rice people. That being said Congrats!!! Cant go wrong with any of the choices!!

Weird. lol. All nerds are weird. Brings back memories. My first roommate was a little off. But that's college. Just have to take a leap of faith. Hopefully the Rice fans can help.

Quote:a college counselor advised her that there are many weird people at Rice

Find a new college counselor... As said, name a college that doesn't have weird people?

(04-26-2017 09:32 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  Weird. lol. All nerds are weird. Brings back memories. My first roommate was a little off. But that's college. Just have to take a leap of faith. Hopefully the Rice fans can help.

This was my first thought. And weird how? Like playing Quidditch in the quad wierd or sacrificing puppies weird?

I'm currently a junior at Rice

(04-26-2017 09:19 AM)TheFIUtheproud Wrote:  I'm sorry to hijack the Board but I need answers. My daughter was accepted and got the Trustee Scholarship. She is 99% sure she is going to Rice this fall as a freshman. She has boiled down her choices to 3 (Rice, Johns Hopkins, and UF honors). She also got into the best college of all: FIU, but wants to go away for school which we agree is best.

Her one big concern is the Residential College system. She wants to be able to interact with numerous people and feels that this will limit her opportunities. Also, she is concerned about blind roommate assignment. She wants to make sure she likes the person.

The residential college system doesn't really affect who you hang out with IMO. Sure, the first few weeks of school during your freshman year those are the people you know best, but that fades pretty quick. You meet people from your classes, clubs, parties, etc. Moreover, the colleges are close in proximity to each other. I'm in Lovett, but I quickly met lots of the people from Will Rice as we shared a "servery" (dining hall). 3 years into Rice, I'd say probably 1/3 of my friends are from my college and 2/3 are not.

With regard to the roommate, I had great luck with the guy they assigned me as a freshman. We are still good friends to this day. Sure, some folks don't end up being best friends, but I haven't heard too many horror stories. They have you fill out an intensive questionnaire in June/July before they pair you and I'd recommend being brutally honest.

Lastly, a college counselor advised her that there are many weird people at Rice. She was there and confirms that some of the people were quirky but she generally loved the campus and the program. She really didn't have time to interact when she went for an official visit some months ago. Now she is concerned that "everyone is weird."

Rice definitely has its fair share of quirky folks. A smaller, but still existent population of truly "weird" folks. But the people who are "weird" are generally harmless.

The majority of people are well-adjusted, friendly, and enjoyable people to be around. At any school, you find your group and run with it.

I think the reason people say "Rice kids are weird" is that because of its small size (3900 undergrads, both a blessing and curse), the weird folks amongst us are magnified. But again, weird at Rice usually just means socially inept, yet harmless.

I have always had a good impression of Rice and I am pushing her to go to Rice (actually UF would be real cheap but that's another story since this is her least favorite of her final 3) but want to lessen her anxiety. She loved Hopkins but they offered less in guaranteed scholarship money.

Please give me some info!!!!

My experience is 50 years in the past, but I generally agree with EO18. I loved the diversity (weirdness?) of the people I met at Rice, and I do not mean racially, but the diversity of personality, experience, geography,, and viewpoints. I met kids there from France, England, Norway, Panama, Hong Kong, and Oklahoma. met people of all kinds of political and social opinions. Put 20 geniuses in a room, and you should not expect them to be cookie cutter the same.

The college experience is a good one. Hard to describe, but I would have no qualms about any of my grandkids being in such an environment.

Likely her roommate has the same worries about her. Nearly all the time it works out, and if not, she can find a new one her sophomore year. Making new friends and learning how to deal with new people is part of the learning experience.

(04-26-2017 09:39 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(04-26-2017 09:32 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  Weird. lol. All nerds are weird. Brings back memories. My first roommate was a little off. But that's college. Just have to take a leap of faith. Hopefully the Rice fans can help.

This was my first thought. And weird how? Like playing Quidditch in the quad wierd or sacrificing puppies weird?

I hear the puppy sacrifice is a rich tradition at Rice.

(04-26-2017 11:40 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  

(04-26-2017 09:39 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(04-26-2017 09:32 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  Weird. lol. All nerds are weird. Brings back memories. My first roommate was a little off. But that's college. Just have to take a leap of faith. Hopefully the Rice fans can help.

This was my first thought. And weird how? Like playing Quidditch in the quad wierd or sacrificing puppies weird?

I hear the puppy sacrifice is a rich tradition at Rice.

You're thinking of Baylor.

One more thing - although Rice has grown a lot since I was there, it is still small enough (3965 undergrad) that by the end of her freshman year, she will probably know close to half the student body.

Rice students are weird, but it is a great school. It is also in a great area of an amazing city.

(04-26-2017 09:19 AM)TheFIUtheproud Wrote:  I'm sorry to hijack the Board but I need answers. My daughter was accepted and got the Trustee Scholarship. She is 99% sure she is going to Rice this fall as a freshman. She has boiled down her choices to 3 (Rice, Johns Hopkins, and UF honors). She also got into the best college of all: FIU, but wants to go away for school which we agree is best.

Her one big concern is the Residential College system. She wants to be able to interact with numerous people and feels that this will limit her opportunities. Also, she is concerned about blind roommate assignment. She wants to make sure she likes the person.

Lastly, a college counselor advised her that there are many weird people at Rice. She was there and confirms that some of the people were quirky but she generally loved the campus and the program. She really didn't have time to interact when she went for an official visit some months ago. Now she is concerned that "everyone is weird."

I have always had a good impression of Rice and I am pushing her to go to Rice (actually UF would be real cheap but that's another story since this is her least favorite of her final 3) but want to lessen her anxiety. She loved Hopkins but they offered less in guaranteed scholarship money.

Please give me some info!!!!

IrishRowdy is right about Rice being located in an amazing part of Houston. We certainly took advantage of the arts, nightlife, and nearby parks/biking trail when I was at Rice in the 1980s.

Can't comment on the roommate and residential college concerns as I was a graduate student. I can draw direct comparisons to the two other universities I attended and earned degrees from. My undergraduate school had fraternities, and I think the residential college system is better for student interaction.

My biggest Rice takeaway was the amazing talent of the people who surround you. And some of those people are from very different backgrounds. I call that diversity, and not weirdness.

Good luck to your daughter.

I love Rice village. I remember when two row barley brew pub was just across the Ginger Man. I love me some Ginger Man!!

Congrats! If she is accepted into Rice and is having most if not all of her way paid, I think you and her both will be thrilled with the decision to attend Rice. I'm pretty sure the university spends quite a bit of time trying to match up roommates who should be compatible (like most universities do these days). It's not tough at all to match up students with similar interests. The college system at Rice is great - one indication that it works to me is that so many students live on campus their whole time at Rice.

(04-26-2017 09:19 AM)TheFIUtheproud Wrote:  I'm sorry to hijack the Board but I need answers. My daughter was accepted and got the Trustee Scholarship. She is 99% sure she is going to Rice this fall as a freshman. She has boiled down her choices to 3 (Rice, Johns Hopkins, and UF honors). She also got into the best college of all: FIU, but wants to go away for school which we agree is best.

Her one big concern is the Residential College system. She wants to be able to interact with numerous people and feels that this will limit her opportunities. Also, she is concerned about blind roommate assignment. She wants to make sure she likes the person.

Lastly, a college counselor advised her that there are many weird people at Rice. She was there and confirms that some of the people were quirky but she generally loved the campus and the program. She really didn't have time to interact when she went for an official visit some months ago. Now she is concerned that "everyone is weird."

I have always had a good impression of Rice and I am pushing her to go to Rice (actually UF would be real cheap but that's another story since this is her least favorite of her final 3) but want to lessen her anxiety. She loved Hopkins but they offered less in guaranteed scholarship money.

Please give me some info!!!!

The residential college system is what sets Rice apart and what makes Rice Rice. It's the Oxford-Cambridge system. And while each residential college has it's own government and social activities, by no means does this limit you from making friends across the campus. Afterall, you meet many more people in classes. What makes the residential college system so great is that you become more a member of a college community than as a class of 2021. After Orientation Week, you are fully integrated into your residential college, and not set apart as Freshmen. Consequently, you'll have more opportunity to informally interact with upperclassmen, which accelerates one's learning and maturity process.

Again, for most of us who attended Rice, our fondest memories of college life is within the residential college system framework.

(04-26-2017 02:35 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Congrats! If she is accepted into Rice and is having most if not all of her way paid, I think you and her both will be thrilled with the decision to attend Rice. I'm pretty sure the university spends quite a bit of time trying to match up roommates who should be compatible (like most universities do these days). It's not tough at all to match up students with similar interests. The college system at Rice is great - one indication that it works to me is that so many students live on campus their whole time at Rice.

As for the roommate question/issue, in the vast majority of cases (provided one is honest in their application and description of oneself) the matches are compatable, and initial Freshmen roommates remain roommates for multiple years. In those cases where you find that you're incompatable, it's pretty easy to switch within the residential college. In my Freshman year, there were several roommate switches within the first 3 months on campus. No problem.

Notes from the class of '82, so take it with a grain of salt.

Rice kids ARE weird. But it's the creative interesting quirky weird on the whole, not the intense serial killer weird (those kids go to UT) or the psycho cult leader or follower weird (those are the Aggies).

As noted several times, the college system does not force you to avoid anyone. You don't get assigned classes or seating in a room based on college after orientation week. Many many campus groups are across the campus, how could it be otherwise? Lovett did not have enough players for a rugby team on its own.

Roommate assignment? Both of my kids were assigned roommates at the school they went to (not Rice, they were wait-listed, big congrats to your daughter). It's no big thing after the first day.

As for her three choices. I can't say too much bad about UF since two of my good friends are profs there. But they were just as weird as Rice kids. I never think of Johns Hopkins as an undergrad destination. Great grad schools. Rice wins in a landslide.

Is quirky weird, suppose to be a negative? I like quirky weird. Don't know anything about Rice other than seeing the campus and the people walking around it..night and day. Looks safe enough compare to a lot of others I've seen. Again, quirky weird, is not a bad thing....

Being around the Rice band for 3 hours was better than the football game. Most were, quirky weird, in a good way. As for a roommate....

sometime differences makes for the best. You both get to learn and share and grow.

There are plenty of folks at Rice (myself included, I think) that would fit in fine at a state school too, so we're not all "weird."

Growing up in Boston and being around people at all the schools up there, we aren't much different than most elite private colleges/universities. There just aren't as many in the south so I think that is partially why we get our "weird" rep.