Rice has been near the top/at the top of the Princeton Review happiest students/best quality life so many times it is ridiculous.
Rice and it isn’t even close. Rice is much smaller than those other universities and it is the only one with more undergrads than graduate students. Undergrads are the prime focus and getting actively involved with research is incredibly easy due to its small size. Professors will be more than happy to have you, it’s a close-knit community.