I graduated from Rice in 1998. I'm happy that I went there, and satisfied with my college experience.

First and foremost, I don't know where epinions got the information that students at Rice study four hours a day. Maybe my experience wasn't typical, but I never studied that much, except when finals came around. On average, I studied about two hours a day (outside of class), occasionally cramming in a lot more.

The best (and worst, depending on how you look at it): The college system. At Rice, upon admission you are assigned to a "college" which is simply a group of students, arbitrarily chosen and grouped together. It has nothing to do with what your intended major is. You will be in this college for your entire 4 years at Rice. Right now there are 8 colleges, soon there will be 9 or 10.

The college has its own dorm (sometimes dorms); if you choose to live on campus, you live in that dorm and your social life generally revolves around that college, although eventually you will meet people from other colleges, but only if you try. That's where the problem comes in - it is sometimes difficult to meet people from other colleges. Also, you get to know everyone in your college very well. This can be great as you will definitely develop friendships with people from very different backgrounds. It can also be horrible, as the rumor mills are sometimes overactive. As a side note - if you have a personal problem related to your college, you are allowed to change colleges. All colleges are co-ed; in some, men and women live on the same floors, right next door to each other. If this is a problem for you, I believe each college has same-sex floors (mine did).

Academically, Rice is first rate. Vary rarely did I have a professor whose knowledge I called into question. Most students have their stuff together, and don't slow down the learning process for others. People studying most majors can take a large amount of their classes outside their major. For example, as an economics major, I took 4 years of foreign language, a lot of science, some music classes, and a couple political science classes, among others.

The pass/fail system encourages students to take classes they would not ordinarily take. You can choose one class outside of your major each semester (with a limit of 4 classes over your undergraduate career) to take pass/fail. You can designate a class as pass/fail up to 10 weeks into the semester, and if you do well in the class, you can change your grade from a "P" to whatever grade you made. So, not only does this encourage a diverse course load, it also encourages students to succeed.

Studying abroad is encouraged, and a summer work abroad program (which was initiated while I was there) grows in popularity every year. Rice's reputation for excellence will get you pretty far, at least in the southwest (especially Texas). I've heard that Rice is less well known in other parts of the country, but that the situation is improving.

While the work is sometimes intense, there is always time at Rice to get involved in any number of activities (athletics, intramurals, music, theater, social/interest groups/clubs) found at universities 20 times as large as Rice, which is probably why many people end up involved in multiple activities.

Of course, there's always time for partying, although Houston isn't really the best college town. In fact, it isn't a college town, which is why most social life occurs on campus. Rice has one of the few "wet" campuses around. There are two bars on campus, one geared towards graduate students and the other for undergrads. The Pub (undergrad bar) was opened in the seventies when they had trouble with students going off campus to drink and then having DWI problems. Student social fees may also be to purchase beer for college parties, although if you wish you can direct that your fees not be used for alcohol.

The administration takes a liberal view towards the actions of students; as long as you are not hurting yourself or others, you probably will not be reprimanded. A weird thing about Rice is that on the 13th, 26th and 31st (if there is one) of every month, a group of students runs through the campus wearing only shaving cream. Sometimes it was grotesque, but I'm glad it and any number of eccentric behaviors are tolerated at Rice - makes things interesting.

When it comes to drinking, they still try to enforce Texas law although they don't always do the best job (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). For example - if you drink your way past intoxication and become ill, the campus police will direct you towards a drunk-sitter, or if necessary, the hospital. Only if you are belligerent, driving or otherwise endangering yourself or others (or blatantly breaking the law) will you be disciplined.

As a small academically intense school, athletics are not always granted the importance that I think makes the college experience what it is. One reason I chose Rice over similar schools was the fact that they participate in Division I athletics (they are the smallest division I-A program). Unfortunately, too many students really don't care; perhaps this will change if Rice teams do better! Don't get me wrong - there are also die-hard fans out there too.

If I had to do it all over again, I would choose Rice without reservation.



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