Rice University Top Questions

Not at all. There may be more fo those people here than other places, but the majority of students are active, fun-loving students that work hard but find pletny of time for fun and partying.

To some extent, yes. Rice students are smart, many are geeky, but most are also friendly, fun-loving, and very sociable people.

Mostly. The residential college system allows for free-flowing into and out of campus-wide parties and private parties, allowing anyone, no matter who you are, to join in on the activities. Rice students typically may not sound excited about what they do simply because there is so much that they have to do, but they actually like it so much that many start their own organizations and join existing clubs that involve their majors. As for freeloading, Rice sponsors many free events with free food, free prizes, and you're free to come no matter who you are, and Rice students definitely take advantage of this free-dom.

No, although we do study pretty hard we also know how to have fun. Most of my friends are regular (meaning non-athlete) students and they aren't the type of "quirky" students I was told I would find here. Everyone is different in their own way, but despite the stereotype there are very social students here.

Yes. There are tons of people who have never been social in their entire life and stay in the library on Saturday nights until it closes. These people are very socially awkward and it is difficult to carry on a conversation with them. The other stereotypical group is also accurate. These people study hard during the week, living lives similar to those described above... but then when the weekends come, they go crazy. Partying is not done casually here. All drinking is to the extreme and random hookups are rampant. I think this is because a lot of Rice social people were not social in high school and don't understand the whole "dating" scene, so it doesn't exist here. It is very unusual to be asked out on a date. Rice partiers use alcohol as a crutch to make them feel like they are more social.

They are exaggerated but oftentimes accurate. Most of them only apply to a select group of people, but on such a small scale, each stereotype is more salient and magnified.

Yes and no. There are more nerds that not but there are a handful of fun, outgoing students.

I think that science and engineering majors do have a lot more work to do, but maybe that is just my ego talking.

I think so.

In my opinion none of these stereotypes are true. As an SE turned Academ I can tell you that I work harder than I ever did as an SE and Academs are certainly not stupid. Academs tend to care more about having a job that is applicable in the real world to helping people and understanding the world. Contrary to popular belief Academs do get jobs, go to law school, become business people, get in to grad school and even med school. SE's on the other had do not work nearly as hard as they would like you to think and they really are not as nerdy or socially akward as people say. Overall, they two groups are just different and Rice has tons of both types of people and great classes and programs on both sides of the spectrum so don't think it is just science and engineering and if you come here don't think that the Academs don't do really important work too!

The reality: A lot of Rice students come off as socially awkward because they'd really and truly rather be studying. Most of us are here to explore our academic passions, and those passions shape the people we are. Whether our homework is monitoring petri dishes in the lab, watching 1920s cinema, composing electronica, reading Faust, or building 3D models of condos in Guam, we tend to enjoy it. We get into it, and we're generally going to blow off invitations to dinner or keggers if we have deadlines to meet. Which is not to say we don't relax: there IS a lot of drinking at Rice. On campus. Underage. In dorm rooms. As long as you're smart and partake in moderation, you can get away with it if you want to. The college system is intriguing to most new students, and it operates like a more inclusive type of fraternity life. But a lot of students get disenchanted with it and find their own social niches outside of or in addition to the colleges. The campus is in the heart of Houston, and that means good theater, professional sports, concerts -- and crime. I've had 2 bikes stolen in as many years, and countless laptops go missing every semester. People feel very safe in the campus bubble, and Rice Police works hard to protect that feeling, but if you leave your first-floor dorm room unlocked and your laptop in plain sight when you go out of town for the weekend, you have to realize you're setting yourself up for trouble. A few people care about varsity sports, especially baseball, and basketball and football are trying to grow their fan bases. We're not the worst team in our conference, but we're not exactly in the Big Ten.

Yes, in general. However, as a Rice girl, I can vouch for the fact that the girls are NOT ugly.