<p>I live in Atlanta and I'm matriculating at Rice in August. I didn't even apply to Emory largely because I wanted to get away, but here are some other reasons.</p>
<p>I absolutely love Atlanta, but, after visiting, I like Houston a lot, too. The two cities are actually rather similar...modern, transient, and sprawling. I felt very at home in Houston in the horrible traffic and the desolate downtown area. No one goes to downtown Atlanta unless they work there...hangouts are Buckhead, Midtown, Virginia-Highland, and Little Five Points. Based on what I heard from Rice students when I visited, Houston has similar, more peripheral hotspots. While this may seem strange to students from other cities (especially those in the northeast), this is simply how the two cities have manifested due to extreme growth over the past 20 years or so. This lack of a true downtown, however, is beginning to change in both cities due to the influence of the New Urbanism movement.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, if you want to relax for a weekend, Rice is only 50 miles from the beach in Galveston, and 160 miles from great college parties and live music in Austin. Emory is 250 miles from Savannah, the only other worthwhile city in GA. Well, I guess you could count Athens--another good college town. But, it doesn't really compare to Austin. Also, the North GA mountains are an hour or two away. It's really pretty up there, but I'm a beach kind of guy.</p>
<p>That being said, there is one thing I like about Rice's location in Houston better than Emory's in Atlanta. In order to get just about anywhere from Emory's campus (even the city center of Decatur), you have to take a bus, shuttle, or car. A lot of Rice students don't have cars and don't feel like they need them. Rice is much closer to "the action" in Houston while Emory is more reserved. Plus, knowing a LOT of kids who go to Emory, campus life there often leaves something to be desired, and a lot of them end up wishing they had brought their cars. They often complain of the same cliques throwing the same kinds of parties every weekend. This is not to say that parties at Emory suck (I've been to plenty...they know how to throw down), but just that the Rice social scene seems to have more options. It's hard to beat the camaraderie and uniqueness of the Residential College System (I absolutely love all of Rice's quirky traditions), and Rice, again, is really close many of Houston's cultural activities (museums, parks, nightlife, and shopping). Lastly, Emory students have absolutely no school spirit/pride. If you're into that, you may feel somewhat disconnected. Rice, on the other hand, bleeds blue and gray. Everyone is extremely proud of their university, its athletic teams (esp. baseball), and their residential colleges.</p>
<p>Academically, the schools are pretty different, but both have a lot of strengths.</p>
<p>Yes, Rice is known for engineering, architecture, music, and the hard sciences, but the humanities and social sciences there are extremely underrated. I'm choosing Rice as a Hispanic Studies major (intended) over Claremont McKenna (the government/polisci liberal arts powerhouse of the west coast) not only because I like the social scene at Rice, but because Rice has stellar language and area studies departments, in addition to the Baker Institute and a top-notch Political Science program. </p>
<p>Emory is famously great for business and the natural sciences, but they also have great programs in just about every other department. I know people there for music, philosophy, biology, and African Studies...each of them have great things to say about the high quality of education they're receiving. If you're planning on going to Emory for engineering however, beware. Their engineering department, well, doesn't exist. This means you will have to do joint-enrollment with Georgia Tech. I know even more kids at Tech than I do at Emory, and most of them are miserable. Academic and even social life at Tech is very "sink-or-swim," and it is (esp. the intro courses) notorious for grade deflation. They're only there because it's ridiculously cheap in-state and because their engineering programs are highly acclaimed. So, if you want to go to Emory for its personalized private school status, you should avoid Tech at most if not all costs.</p>
<p>Still, I like Rice. The faculty seems to be teaching you on a more personal level there, classes are smaller, and their graduation requirements give you more freedom. Emory seems to make you take a lot of core classes that might be frustrating if you can't exempt some of them with AP credit. </p>
<p>And, yes, being from the south, I can say that Rice does take the #2 spot behind Duke in the ranking of the "Southern Ivies," especially in the eyes of southerners. Emory, however, is very close at #3. I'd say Vanderbilt is #4, but I'd understand its placement as a tie with Emory. I think the reason why a lot of people may put Vandy before Emory or even Rice is because of sports publicity and some of their grad programs. Undergad, however, is a whole different story. Rice has an unparalleled undergrad experience that may place it right up there with Duke's because Duke also focuses a lot on grad programs. I'm not a huge fan of taking rankings too seriously in any sense, but they're somewhat useful.</p>