Rice divides its classes into three basic categories: D1 (Humanities), D2 (Social Sciences), and D3 (maths and sciences). D stands for distribution. To graduate, Rice has distribution requirements to ensure that you are "well rounded" in all the subjects. For example, my major is political science, a D2. To graduate, I will have to take 12 credit hours (normally four classes) in D1 and D3 classes. The math and science majors complain a lot about distribution because their majors have harsher requirements. For comparison's sake, Political Science is very lenient about required credits and there is a lot more choice for electives than other majors allow.
However classes are seriously difficult. Most students here were top of their high school class and quite a few of them are struggling to maintain even a B average. Grading is curved and it takes a bunch of work to get an
A. The amount of homework assigned is sometimes unreasonable and whenever exam time comes along, students withdraw into their rooms or library to study. Again, the amount of homework is ridiculous. As a freshmen, I have classes that assign 200 pages of reading a week. Balancing homework is difficult for all majors, and many students think that in Rice's continual quest to be comparable to the Ivy League colleges, they assign more work (apparently more work = better school). There is definitely a lot of pressure to succeed here, and some students don't even eat meals in the cafeteria because they are too busy studying. Studying definitely will take up a majority of any student's time at Rice, but students are not outwardly competitive. Students are friendly and helpful, and it's definitely common to see late-night study groups cramming before the big midterm.
Class size honestly depends on the major and the year you are. Engineering/science students have it the worst. My roommate is a pre-med major and his intro Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy, etc classes have over 80
students in them (he describes them as "typical lecture hall classes"). My largest class has been an Intro to Sociology course which had 80 students in
it. The luxury of Rice, however, is that these large classes don't last long. Keep in mind that I'm a freshman and one of my classes has 4 people in it. You definitely wouldn't find that at a state university. Rice prides itself on its (I believe) 5:1 student faculty ratio, and it is a great way to build relationships with your professors. Even the professors of our large classes
encourage the students to come to their office hours, and I've never had any difficulty talking with a professor about the class/assignments.