<p>It seems that a lot of top elite private schools have a big rivalry with the nearby top elite public school. UNC-Duke and Stanford-Cal come to mind. So, is there a big rivalry between Rice and UT Austin?</p>
<p>Not really… we beat them at almost everything.</p>
<p>UT and Rice are very different schools - too different to be direct rivals. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both academically respected. </p>
<p>Academically, I think there’s a little competition because we’re the two best schools in Texas and the southwest. I see a lot of UT vs Rice threads here on CC, especially for engineering/CS majors. There’s definitely not any type of rivalry like UNC-Duke or Stanford-Cal though. A lot of the top professional schools that UT excels at (like business and law) are not even offered at Rice.</p>
<p>The only athletic rivalry with Rice would probably be in baseball as someone on the Rice forum pointed out.</p>
<p>Rice is a food. I prefer fried rice to white rice.</p>
<p>Rice? 
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<p>Seriously though, I think comparing Rice to UT is kinda comparing apples to oranges. UT is a gigantic public school with an amazing football program, very good academics (for the most part), and regional prestige. Rice is a small private school known mainly for its academics, and, I expect, is more prestigious at the national level. Both are great schools. I think they’re both “the best school in Texas” in different ways.</p>