Rice University

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Is anyone here from (or has been to) Rice university in Houston, Texas?

I am interested in going there for college and was wondering what it is like.

i.e.
Political Atmosphere ( liberal, conservative, neither, both?)
Social Atmosphere (Is drinking big on campus? can an aspie fit in easily?
Academic Atmosphere (do the professors like teaching? do the students like learning? Is learning highly valued? Is it focused on teaching graduate or undergraduate students?)

I am planing on applying to their engineering school to get a degree in Chemical Engineering.

If you could answer these questions or otherwise provide advice it would be appreciated.

Thank you!

I've been there many times, but not as a student. I've had several friends many years ago who did go to school there. Also, I once knew a former member of the Board of Governors for whom a significant portion of the library is named.

My original intentions were to go to Rice University, but I couldn't afford it and so I went to Texas A&M University instead.

From what I know of the place, I would say that in terms of academics, Rice is easily the premier private school in Texas. Admissions can be very tough.

As I understand it, Rice is strictly a full time university. If you can only go part time, it won't be at Rice. The basis of my understanding on this is that I knew someone who dropped out of Rice when he had one semester to go to graduation (something I thought was a stupid thing to do). A year or so later when he decided he needed to go ahead and get his degree, they were more than willing for him to go back to school full time but refused to let him do so part time. If, as an aspie, you need to work at a reduced workload, Texas A&M would likely be a much better choice.

I've been told that Rice does have a bar/pub on campus so you don't have to leave campus to find something to drink. Considering the area, that could be very important if you don't drive.

Rice is a small school and so there would be fewer people to have to deal with. Classes would be smaller than at many other places and the students are mostly going to be very hard working. I think it is quite an intense educational environment.

You might consider Texas A&M, too. Texas A&M has an excellent Chemical Engineering Department as well.

Thank you!
I don't think I'll have as much of a problem with the workload as I will the sudden onset of independence, I'm more worried keeping myself focused than anything. I know it sounds very "Un-aspie", but I have multiple time consuming things that I am super obsessed about, I'm just lucky that one of those is learning.

I haven't really looked at Texas A&M, the other college in Texas that I was looking at was Texas @ Austin, mostly because of their top-notch chemical engineering program. I might look into Texas A&M now though.

Thanks again!

P.S. I'm still looking at Rice, so if anyone has anything that they might want to share it will still be greatly appreciated.

Rice is a good school, nice campus, but it's really expensive. To be perfectly honest, in the long run the school you go do doesn't make that much difference. The most important two things are: 1.) that it's ABET accredited, and 2.) your overall GPA (the top jobs in chem. engineering usually need over a 3.5 or 3.0 depending on company).

Considering the numbers of applicants for available slots at any of the three, it might be best to apply to all three.

Thanks!