The quality of a Rice education is already known beyond national borders. My daughter is an international student in the Class of 2019. We are from Europe and Rice was my daughter’s first choice.
It doesn’t matter how fantastic Rice is, Houston is not viewed as a sexy destination. Outsiders have many reservations about Texas and there are too many myths/stereotypes out there. If Rice wants a more diverse student body then they have to spend some money on PR because humility and nonchalance are overrated. U Chicago is one of the biggest example of how to beat Ivies at their own game. Rice also needs to join a better athletic conference as that gives free PR.
Houston is not that bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XvU-kPQDR0
Any further thoughts on how an increase of this magnitude might affect yield?
Chicago does have a distinct advantage over Houston in the too many myths/stereotypes and sexiness rankings. But we all know what they say about outsiders who stereotype.
Rice’s location in the Hermann Park/Museum District/Texas Medical Center area of Houston is a far sexier destination and a much more enjoyable place to be than the south side of Chicago, where University of Chicago is located. Houston has a lot going on. The University of Chicago is a gray-stone campus in a gray city where the weather is gray day after day. I was lucky to be able to visit both campuses before making a decision, and while I wish Rice had some of Chicago’s professors, though we have wonderful profs here, I love Rice, and I highly recommend Houston as a destination, and even more so Rice as a college destination. And what athletic conference is Chicago in, and does anyone care?
My daughter visited both Rice and UChicago, and chose UChicago. Both campuses are quite beautiful, but Rice is a bit more so. UChicago is mostly traditional Gothic architecture, and Rice is American Southwest architecture.
In terms of safety, Rice is hard to beat. UChicago is certainly in a less safe neighborhood. Thefts occur occasionally. Muggings less so but they happen. I haven’t heard of any violence towards students though. But I would also counter that UChicago is actually in an interesting neighborhood, unlike the rather bland neighborhood that Rice is in.
But both are among the top schools in the country, and you really can’t go wrong. Next week, my son and I will be touring colleges, including Rice. I think he would be very happy there.
@hebegebe Many students that like Rice also like the University of Chicago and apply to both. They are both terrific schools in terrific cities. The weather is very different. It is 75 degrees right now in Houston as opposed to 30 in Chicago. It may be a little bit cooler next week. Houston is hotter at the beginning of the school year vs. U Chicago. I hope your son enjoys his visit to Rice.
I was originally in love with UChicago and Columbia because of the ‘city appeal,’ but the burden of the Core ultimately led me to choose Rice. At Rice, engineering and humanities double majors are the norm. In fact, the latest Rhodes Scholar was a classics and biomedical engineering double major; and he majored in classics becauase it was a fun escape from the sciences. At Columbia, double majoring across schools requires applying to the 3-2 program and spending 5 years as an undergraduate; at UChicago, you can’t be a Math major without taking a class in the arts. For some people, this is exciting, but it felt restrictive to me.
Good Luck at Rice. 
@“Vergilius.Maro” Good decision. Not only it saves time but money as well. It’s all fun and games if you are on financial aid but if you have to pay your cost of attendance then an extra year can be very expensive. You can use that money for a master’s degree. It’s not like you picked between Harvard and Texas Tech, at Rice you are still attending one of the top 20 colleges in a major US city with similar quality peers as Ivies.
It seems to me right now Houston is hipper then Chicago. She the final four was I. Houston everyone was talking about the culture and the food scene. The sports networks are always raving about Houston I remember also at the Minneapolis super bowl people were saying it should’ve been in Houston
https://www.gq.com/story/houston-restaurants-capital-of-southern-cool
IMO, individual opinions about the vibe of the city of Houston vs Chicago is really besides the point and not relevant to this discussion. Its a bit of a red herring here.
^ Maybe. But to the extent that the increasing “vibe” or “hipness” of Houston is real and persists, it could have a huge effect on Rice. Look at the experience of Columbia, an also-ran in the Ivy sweepstakes by the late 70s, to arguably now bumping up against HYP for pride of place. Exactly paralleling the huge change in NYC’s fortunes over this period.
Most students spend most of their time on or near campus at many schools. For years the challenge Rice had was the “its in Texas” complaint, from people who had never visited.
The funny thing about Houston was their whacky zoning, or lack thereof. You could have a liquor store next to a church, LOL.
I think that weakens your argument. NYC has become much more desirable than Chicago over the last 15 years, yet in that time UChicago has risen much more than Columbia, to the point that they are considered peers.
Location certainly adds to desirability for some students, but Houston is so spread out that I’m not sure Rice’s location makes much difference. UChicago is clearly a model that Rice currently pursues. Maybe the comparison between Rice and UChicago should be on things other than locations.
Regarding location the question is: “Does it hurt Rice that it is in Houston?”
The answer is short and simple “No!” Houston is a wonderful, dynamic and vibrant city with a one-of-a-kind welcoming culture. You won’t find a better place to learn and grow.
I’m from Minneapolis, and Houston was a definite draw for me, but to each his own. Post-Rice, having lived in Cambridge, MA; SF and Westwood/LA, I’m still a fan of Houston, especially the area around Rice. If Rice had the opportunity to up and move to Boston tomorrow, my position as an alum would be: Are you crazy? Heck no.
DS17 got a fee waiver but refused to apply, because it is in Texas. I really hoped that one of my kids would apply/attend/get a merit scholarship ! The new FA initiative dashes that hope as well.
Rice is a wonderful school and am glad to see applications are up.