Rice University Top Questions

Rice is awesome! The Residential College System is very unique, and happens to be my favorite aspect of the university. Everyone should come visit campus if you are able to and see what Rice is really like for yourself!

Rice is awesome! The Residential College System is very unique, and happens to be my favorite aspect of the university. Everyone should come visit campus if you are able to and see what Rice is really like for yourself!

The dorm system is unique in that it resembles the Harry Potter rooming system. There are different dorm buildings that have their own unique history and traditions, and there are some small rivalries during activities like Beer Bike. This school is also unique in that it is a small school in a big city. This means that students can easily contact their instructors and be known while experienceing the cultural eventsonly available in a big city.

I love Rice and never regret coming here. We've got an amazing dorm culture, small size, and a beautiful campus with 100-year old buildings. Some of our Professors are famous and their research is being used all over the world. Rice students do live in a bubble, yes. You have to push most of them to get "beyond the hedges" and many students are much more academically focused than socially focused. That's Rice. Something that I've got to mention is a few of our traditions. Rice's biggest tradition is Beer Bike, a day in the Spring where every student on campus wakes up at 5AM to cheer their college on in a University-wide competition. The week that leads up to Beer Bike is called Willy Week (after our founder, William Rice) where colleges play "jacks" (Ricespeak for pranks) against each other. Willy Week is nothing less than a pump-up week. All the colleges blast loud music, have special events, and college pride shoots through the roof. Each college has a team that chugs beer (chuggers) and then rides bikes (bikers) around a specially built campus track. At the end of it all, we have a campus-wide water balloon fight. We're such a small school that we can actually do things like that. We've also got the infamous Baker 13. On the 13th and 31st of every month, an adventurous group of students run around campus to each college completely naked with cans of shaving cream. When they come to your college, you throw water balloons at them. The goal of the naked runners is to get inside your college and spray shaving cream everywhere. You wouldn't expect a small, southern school to do this, but we certainly do. I love Rice and never regret coming here. We've got an amazing dorm culture, small size, and a beautiful campus with 100-year old buildings. Some of our Professors are famous and their research is being used all over the world. Rice students do live in a bubble, yes. You have to push most of them to get "beyond the hedges" and many students are much more academically focused than socially focused. You should expect that given our ranking and reputation. But we know how to party and drink. Like what seems to be every elite college's motto, Rice's motto is Work Hard, Play Hard. If you think about it, it fits us though.

The orientation for freshman and first-time transfer students at the beginning of a new semester is awesome. I do not think that any other school could have offered an experience that could compare to it. It was that great. We spent a week getting to know people and playing games. They gave us a family and friends before the school year started. This orientation happens right before school starts and I feel that it is better when it is done this way. It was one of the most exciting times of my life.

Nothing much about it is unique. All the colleges are the same with different benefits. I personally do not find anything unique, but different yes.

Rice's living arrangements are carefully constructed using the college system to create a very close-knit community. We are a small school with a big reputation for academic excellence.

The college system by far makes Rice unique. It is this system that makes the student body very inclusive.

The college system! There's an instant community for every student, if they want it. Plus, we're wacky in some ways (Beer Bike, Baker 13, dressing up statue Willy)...

Rice is a really cohesive community because of the residential college system. The residential college system makes life interesting and creates a strong focus on an enjoyable undergraduate experience.