O-Week begins Aug. 16

Rice University’s newest parliament of Owls will flock to campus Aug. 16 to participate in O-Week, the weeklong orientation program to familiarize incoming students with their new campus, residential colleges and classmates. O-Week is coordinated by the Office of Student Success Initiatives at Rice.

Rice University's newest parliament of Owls will flock to campus Aug. 16 to participate in O-Week, the weeklong orientation program to familiarize incoming students with their new campus, residential colleges and classmates.

The 971 students that make up this year’s freshman class were selected from a record pool of 17,947 applicants – the highest number of students that have ever applied to the university in its 102-year history. This year’s admissions rate was 16 percent – a significant drop from eight years ago, when the rate was 26 percent.

This year, 41 percent of incoming students had a perfect academic record in high school. More than half of the incoming class — approximately 61 percent — had combined SAT scores of 1500 or higher, and 21 percent had scores between 1400 and 1490.

“Yet again, the students in our freshman class are simply outstanding,” Vice President for Enrollment Chris Muñoz said.

Forty-two percent of Rice’s incoming students call Texas home, 44 percent hail from 44 U.S. states other than Texas and 12 percent are international students. Muñoz noted that the international students represent 26 countries — up from 16 countries represented in 2011.

Move-in day will kick off around 7 a.m. Aug. 16 when upperclassmen and Rice Owls football players greet the new arrivals and help them move their belongings to their residential college rooms. Parents and family members are invited to participate in New Families Orientation, which will include presentations by Rice President David Leebron and other faculty, staff and student representatives as well as information sessions on a range of subjects, including academic advising, financial aid and wellness.

After saying “goodbye” to their parents, new students will gather for matriculation at 7 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse, where Leebron, Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson and Student Association President Jazz Silva will welcome new students to their next four years on campus. Later in the evening, the freshmen will make the ceremonial march through the Sallyport into the Academic Quad to mark the official beginning of their college career. Tradition holds that students should not pass through the Sallyport again until their graduation day.

Activities and presentations throughout the coming week will introduce new students to the ins and outs of life at Rice by providing academic advising, assistance with class registration, introductions to Rice values and policies, small-group discussions, faculty lectures, community outreach and opportunities to explore Houston. In addition, the new Owls will enjoy traditional Texas cuisine and the company of their classmates during a barbecue dinner at the president’s home Aug. 17.

Other activities scheduled for the week include a pep rally at Tudor Fieldhouse Aug. 18 and the annual Associates’ Dinner Aug. 19. Approximately half of the incoming class will participate in several public service projects to help the Houston community Aug. 22. O-Week will conclude later that day with the Welcome Back Day Festival in the Central Quad. Fall classes begin Aug. 24.

Public Affairs will again collect students’ photos, videos and tweets from O-Week to share the experience on rice.edu. Students have been asked to include #RiceOWeek15 on their posts, videos and tweets; a compilation of their communications can be found by clicking on #RiceOWeek15 at the top of rice.edu.