Rice University Top Questions

I guess there may be the stereotypes that Rice students are anti-social and nerdy and that they study all the time, but that's true of any high ranking school.

People tend to think of Rice students as smart and geeky.

Rice students are hardcore, work hard, party hard, are mostly nerdy, extremely unique, and love the word "free."

Some of the stereotypes about Rice students are that no one likes to party, have fun, etc. and that all of the regular students are continuously stuck with their nose in a book, re-programming a computer, or anything else "nerdy."

There are two extremes at Rice: you either study hard and sell your soul to studying (aka live in the library), or you study hard and play hard.

The biggest stereotype is that we're all nerds. And that's true, but I'm comfortable with that, as my definition of nerd is "someone who is passionate about academic pursuits and the quest for knowledge on a life-long basis." Nerds come in all flavors, and I'd say that (here I am waxing stereotypical...oops) even our scholarship football athletes are nerds too, I know quite a few of thems are engineering or physical science majors, so they are strong academically too. And obviously nerds come in all flavors, from Women and Gender studies nerds to Economics nerds to Bioengineering Nerds to Physics and Math nerds.

Rice students are nerdy, socially awkward, and pretentious. The professors only care about their research and not about students themselves. Rice culture is cult-like due to the college system and there is no place for those who don't fit into each college's culture. Many students come into Rice never having been cool in high school, but then they magically become cool once they enter this small school environment.

That Rice is just a brainy school and that all students are nerds!

One recurring stereotype is that hard science and engineering majors work much harder than other majors, and many non-science majors are given a hard time (all in good fun though).

That Rice students are smart.