O-Week Issue

Going away to college for the first time can be stressful. Leaving behind family and friends to go to a school known for being academically rigorous is far from an easy transition. That’s why the Thresher is publishing its inaugural O-Week Issue, a guide for new students to give tips on adjusting to life at Rice. Whether you’re wondering where you should eat, where you can get student discounts or which distribution class to take, we’ve got it all covered.

Guide to Rice’s serveries

Food at Rice is consistently ranked as some of the best college food in the country, but even delish.com can’t tell you where to find the best hoisin roasted cauliflower. (We wouldn’t trust them with much after they used a picture of FLO Paris food to represent Rice’s dining — yikes.) Fear not, for the Thresher has enlisted a group of expert food eaters to give you the rundown of food at Rice, one servery at a time. Read more>>

Best places to get Rice student discounts

Attending Rice is expensive. With yet another tuition increase, students are expected to fork up $63,000 a year – a sum of money that makes every skipped class hurt. As a result, Rice students have no shame in scrambling for free T-shirts or getting the best bang for their buck. Here’s my comprehensive list on how to milk your “Rice student” status in all aspects of your college life – you’ve only got four years to do so. Read more>>

Exploring Houston without a car

Houston is a big city, but don’t despair. You can get around town without a car. And really, no one wants to deal with Houston traffic anyway. This guide will give you the details on the different (and environmentally friendly!) modes of transportation and name a few cool places you can get to with each one. Read more>>

Mastering the distribution requirement

Each of the three distribution areas — Humanities (DI), Social Sciences (DII), and Natural Sciences and Engineering (DIII) — offers different perspectives and skill sets that you can integrate and apply to your own area of study.  It may seem difficult to fit extra electives into a schedule filled with major requirements, but knowing how to pick the right distribution classes can help you create a balanced schedule that works with your four year plan. Read more>>

Public parties: Rice’s sweatiest tradition

Publics are just what the sound like: They are parties open to anyone on campus. There’s lots of dancing, lots of loud music and lots of people. They can be kind of sweaty and they get a bad rap sometimes, but, at the end of the day, you get so few opportunities in your life to dance it up with people you care about. We at the Thresher have toiled our nights away at work to compile a handy guide to help you navigate the Rice party scene, sacrificing our time, sweat and grades to keep you in the loop. Read more>>

What to watch for in Rice Athletics

From coaching debuts to star athletes to the bubble, there will be plenty of things to look forward to in athletics. Here is the Thresher’s list of key themes to look out for in the upcoming semester. Read more>>

Places to get a job on campus

It’s not the most exciting topic in the world – not like the best public parties, sports games or even distribution classes – so if you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you’ve already decided you’re interested in getting a job at Rice. Whether for federal work study, paying off student loans or just having some extra spending money, working a job while in college can be extremely beneficial. Fortunately, there are a number of opportunities to make money during the school year here on campus. Read more>>

Rice bucket list

Don’t worry, you can have a very fulfilling Rice career without checking off all the items on this list. But if you’re bored, here are some recommendations from the Thresher staff. Read more>>

Annotated campus map

Tours of Rice will often skip over some essentials. Here at the Rice Thresher, we’ve created this map to highlight some cool campus spots. Read more>>

On a Tangent: How to design your room

Originally published July 2018

If you’ve been too busy to plan your dorm decor or think you don’t care at all what your room might end up like, I’m going to tell you right now: A dorm room without decoration truly looks like a prison cell. When you have people over for crawl st--- um, late night chats, it’s nice to show off your room and have a cozy place to chill. Even if you use your room only for sleeping, coming back home after a stressful day to a comforting and personal space--a space that’s yours--is not something to sneeze at. Read more>>

Aug. 10, 2018, 4:15 p.m.: This article has been updated to add the Annotated campus map.

Aug. 15, 2019, 12:17 a.m.: This issue has been updated to reflect changes at Rice. The article “What to watch for in Rice athletics” has been rewritten.