I cannot offer too much to the discussion except to add what our touring experience was with A&M, Baylor, and Rice. We toured last summer all three schools. D16 did not know too much about any of the schools but had the most interest in A&M.
Our first visit was Baylor. She liked the campus. It was not too big and not too small, plus it is really pretty. While it was very welcoming her biggest turn off was it is still a religious school. There were religion class requirements. She is a christian but did not like the idea that she would be mandated to take certain classes. The dorms were fairly nice and she liked the activity center.
We then drove to A&M. The size of the campus was overwhelming. It spans 5200 acres. Walking the route that we did, in the heat of the day was taxing for even our daughter. She has asthma and was having some issues. They are very steeped in tradition and seem to have a large ROTC program. Greek life was huge. My daughter did not want to stay and see the dorms. She pretty much crossed it off her list that day even though they offered in state tuition for her grades and scores. She felt lost in the sea of people and was concerned about the sheer size of the school. The buildings felt older in a not good way (1970 or 80’s feel) and she is not big on greek life. She also felt that both Baylor and A&M were in pure college towns. She did not get the idea there was much to do outside of the school. (again this is from a then 16 year old perspective)
Last visit was Rice. This is school she feel in love with. Smaller campus, no greek life. If she wanted to venture out Houston has a ton to offer and the students get discounted passes and tickets to events around town. She loved the way the dorm living was modeled. She liked the way the colleges were divided up. It’s far enough away from home that we won’t be bothering her and close enough that she can still come home for a weekend every now and then (4 hour drive). I’m sure there was much more but that’s what I remember off the top of my head.