Rice University Top Questions

My classmates are brilliant, focused, dedicated, and competitive, yet still friendly and helpful, and also fun, interesting, committed, and involved.

Lots of racial interaction. However, not lots of socio-economic differences. Most Rice students, regardless of race, come from a two-parent, upper middle-class household. There are aberrations, of course. But they don't matter. Everyone talks to everyone--not many cliques. Rice students are casual. People don't really dress up for class. Jeans and a T-shirt, pretty much year-round. Rice students are fairly apathetic. Usually the upcoming orgo test draws a lot more attention and discussion than the upcoming election.

Rice's student body is a mix of personalities, racial groups, religious groups etc. The one thing the student body has in common: everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming.

In my experience, different types of students tend to interact quite often at Rice. It's such a diverse place; you're going to have a variety of different people in every part of you life at Rice. Whether socially, academically, or both, I interact with Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Northerners, Southerners, foreigners, rich kids, poor kids, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics every day.

Rice's Student Body is great because in general they are very laid back. Regardless of your background, financial situation, religion, political stance, etc you will never feel out of place.

Rice students are very accepting, kind, and down-to-earth. You won't find that preppy or snobby attitude here. Different religions are not only tolerated but are embraced-- with the curiosity of Rice students, most people just want to learn more about different religions. The dress code to class ranges from pajamas (for the few late comers) to cute dresses (for the few who wake up that early); the majority of students fall somewhere in between, and no one is actually judged based on their appearance in class. You will meet so many people who are different that you simply by looking down the hall! The student body is just so diverse (both ethnically, religiously, regionally, socio-economically) that you can't avoid it. Although statistically the majority of students are from Texas, the people I have met come from all over the world...in fact, the majority of my friends are from Ohio. The campus is more conservative than the average college campus, i would say, but by no means are we Republicans; I would still say that the liberals are more prevalent, but the diversity makes discussions quite interesting.

The Rice student body is incredibly diverse and generally interesting, but in general I'd say we work hard and party hard. Half the student body is from Texas, but the other half is from all over. As someone from out-of-state, it has been interesting getting to know Texas culture, but I have also met many students from my home state (Maryland) and many international students. Most students are laid-back, wear comfortable clothes to class, and are often politically apathetic. People are generally pretty down-to-earth, and most people mix and mingle. The athletes are one group that often keep to themselves, and certain ethnic groups do form, but in general everyone is friendly with each other. The college system encourages people from all different backgrounds to interact and get to know each other, especially because all freshmen live on campus.

Rice is very open. There are religious communities, and LGBT societies. There are political organizations of every strain, and people from every background. I can honestly say that at no time while I was at Rice did I know or care about the political leanings, socio-economic background, future salarly, or any other such aspect of the people around me. People at Rice just don't care. If someone walked into a dining hall and looked at the tables, you'd notice that there just weren't any patterns. If you get into Rice, the other students know you must at least be relatively smart, and that's all that matters. I can't tell you about the demographics at Rice, because in four years of living on campus, I just didn't notice them. And I'd wager that 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my classmates didn't either.

I feel like Rice is really inclusive - we have hundreds of clubs, and if there is not something you are interested in you can start your own club. We are racially diverse, sexually diverse, and accepting of varrying ideas and opinions. Rice is in the South, so it is more conservative than its counterparts in other regions of the country, but liberal for a Southern school. Students have friends in groups around campus and there are not too many cliques. Rice students tend to be friendly, and residential colleges can turn into small communities (for better or worse). If you don't know someone, you know someone who knows them. Very diverse; everyone comes from a different background and has something unique to offer.

Rice is mostly southern, but there appears to be a decent amount of diversity. Clothing styles vary all over the place. While some kids are social and party a lot, others do little but work or study. Whatever your type, there are students like you at Rice.

Rice is diverse. They push diversity. Maybe not as diverse racially, but people come from all over the world to go to Rice and many of the people here can speak 2-3 languages fluently. (which is impressive, because my spanish is still struggling) I'm looking at these questions and it says "what do most students where to class" .. that actually depends what time it is. If you have a nine o clock, you will see a lot of sweat pants and no make-up.

Rice's student body is heterogenous and accepting. Most students wear t-shirts most of the time. Rice is recognized as a school where inter-racial relations are excellent. About half the students are from Texas, and the rest are from around the country (and world). Students are very politically apathetic, and are typically pretty moderate, with a little bit of a libertarian streak.

The sudent body is not nearly as diverse as Rice promises it to be. Most students, regardless of race, are from upper-middle class backgrounds. No one at Rice is outwardly hostile toward any minority and students are generally tolerant of all sorts of people (people may ignore each other, but no one picks fights). However, I feel like there is a lot of segregation of different groups and that not many groups interact regularly. A lot of students are very sheltered. Coming from a low-income area and household, I found it hard to really connect with a lot of Rice students because they had never experienced the kinds of difficulties that come with such an up-bringing and were completely oblivious to the reality of poverty in any way besides padding their med school resumes. Rice is predominately in the center politically, but people are largely apathetic about politics and unwilling to discuss politics.

Rice's student body is interesting to say the least. From my own personal experiences, i've had great experiences with race relations and enjoying the company of people of multiple nationalities. In my close group of friends there's a Columbian kid, a black kid, two asian guys, a turkish girl, two white girls and myself, a white male. However, i have heard from other friends that there is less racial interaction at their respective colleges. The one thing about the student body that is seen across the board, is that no one cares about how wealthy you or your family is. No one cares whether you drive a brand new Mercedes or an '89 ford taurus. No one cares if you're on financial aid or if your parents pay for everything. Your wealth, or lack there of, doesn't stop anyone from being your friend.

Rice is pretty diverse and there is a great deal of cross-cultural interaction. We are in fact too hypersensitive about politcal correctness and "diversity training." Every opinion has to be respected except the opinion that not every opinion should be respected. During orientation week diversity training, one guy got reamed for asserting that America is the best place to live. Everyone jumped on him "how can you say that? What experience do you have living in other countries?!?!" turns out he grew up in Singapore, studied abroad in Italy, and had just gotten back from a summer in China.

I've never seen any evidence of a class divide. The athletes tend to stick together, but most everyone else interacts freely with one another. Students aren't fixated on future income, being more interested in what contributions they'll make.

Our campus is a very diverse one. We have alot of ethnic clubs that are not only geared in recruiting student of that ethnicity, but we have alot of other students joining them and even taking officer positions for those clubs. LGBT clubs get alot of recognition too, and they have their annual drag show, which everyone likes to participate in and watch. I feel that any student can find their niche here. Students are usually dressed in jeans and are very casual. Many also look like they've just woken up and are still in their pajamas and brings breakfast to class. Students are not too politically aware or in touch with current affairs. But we have many groups promoting the presidential elections and the Baker institute encouraging students to attend talks.

Rice students are pretty diverse, racially, religiously, socioeconomically, etc. There are some groups that form around those identifiers, but many more that don't, and given that most of your initial friends are from your college, you'll find it pretty hard to restrict yourself to one of those identifiers. Rice students share the trait of not caring very much what others think of them (or maybe of having fun playing with what others think of them) and wear whatever they want to class. This usually means pajamas. Rice students are politically aware, but not politically active. There is, for most students, a very academic detachment from issues outside the campus, but some students choose to make some causes very personal to them.

Rice is incredibly diverse and welcoming. While there is definitely some racial segregation at meal times and in terms of sports participation, no one ever makes racist comments in a serious light. Rice students are primarily middle class, so we don't get a lot of the wealthier snobby kids. I love that academic and extracurricular interests offer the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life who share things in common with me.

Rice's student body, while not as diverse as the nation at large, is much more diverse than the average upper-tier college. It doesn't have as many LGBT people as would be expected, but those that are there are treated with respect. The people who may feel most out of place at Rice are African-Americans, who often form groups among themselves to gain a sense of community. Racism, however, is not extremely prevalent, especially considering the location of Rice. Half of Rice students are from Texas, the other half from around the nation and world- we have quite a few international students. Financially, many Rice students are upper-class; however, there is an excellent financial aid program at Rice. Many of my friends come from middle or even lower-class socio-economic backgrounds, and do very well. It's a liberal campus, but Republicans are to be found. We are fairly politically aware, but Rice politics tends to overshadow national politics. Money is not often discussed at Rice, but more often funny stories, current classes, or upcoming parties. The student who might feel out of place at Rice would be the student who never relaxes but always studies; living at the library once in a while is fine, but it's important to come out once in a while too!