Franklin and Marshall

Anonymous wrote:How is a “residential college” different than a dorm with some classrooms in the building and maybe a cafeteria on the 1st floor?

At Rice and a few other schools you stay in the dorm all four* years.

*3 years for most people at Rice as you generally have to live off campus one year.

How is a “residential college” different than a dorm with some classrooms in the building and maybe a cafeteria on the 1st floor?

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't see past Texas's public image. Rice is a liberal school in a liberal city. There is a lot to do, from entertainment to research and internships. Houston has a low cost of living and bright chances for employment with good employers. Go enjoy 4 years, avoid harsh winters (summer months are off anyways) do year round internships and research in nearby hospitals and companies, get employed and then if unhappy, transfer somewhere.

+1 but OP knows this since she has a happy kid at Rice. My DS who loved his time there also thought seriously about Tufts, WashU, and Carleton.

Most people can't see past Texas's public image. Rice is a liberal school in a liberal city. There is a lot to do, from entertainment to research and internships. Houston has a low cost of living and bright chances for employment with good employers. Go enjoy 4 years, avoid harsh winters (summer months are off anyways) do year round internships and research in nearby hospitals and companies, get employed and then if unhappy, transfer somewhere.

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids attends Rice and loves the residential college system. It is really community oriented (and not just a buzz phrase). My other kid would prefer not to be in TX for college but we are hoping he could find another college with a similar community oriented college. What other schools, not in TX, are like Rice? Thanks.

Yale.

Anonymous wrote:UCSD has residential colleges

Ok -but they are HUGE...so I'd take this one with a grain of salt. Especially since housing is not guaranteed past sophomore year. And that the school itself is huge upon huge.

Michigan has a residential college that been in existence for over 50 years.

https://lsa.umich.edu/rc

You get the best of both worlds. Small community based school but with all the available resources of a larger university.

Yale has a strong residential college system.

I wish more schools would do this!

Northwestern

UCSD has residential colleges

Union college has a residential system that looks amazing.

Emory
WashU
Tufts
U Chicago
Bucknell
Lehigh
U Rochester

I asked this a few years ago and both Wash U and Middlebury were recommended, althougj for different reasons as they are pretty different colleges - Wash U was recommended as an alternate to Rice with a similar smart, pre-professional vibe and friendly student body; Middlebury was recommended because it, too, apparently has “houses” like Rice, although I recall being told the overall house system isn’t nearly as strong as at Rice.

My kid wound up at Tufts, which he has found to be a very smart and collaborative group of students with a friendly, cohesive campus feel, which were aspects he liked about Rice, too. I still think he would have loved Rice, but he wasn’t interested to be in Texas and couldn’t get over that hurdle.

One of my kids attends Rice and loves the residential college system. It is really community oriented (and not just a buzz phrase). My other kid would prefer not to be in TX for college but we are hoping he could find another college with a similar community oriented college. What other schools, not in TX, are like Rice? Thanks.