<p>I was actually down to Rice, Duke, and Emory last year. I chose Rice, and here’s why:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Residential college system –> very unique and allows for an inclusive atmosphere, and you also get to meet a very diverse group of people (every single residential college has athletes, music majors, science students, humanities students, etc.) –> reduces cliquey behavior that I observed at Duke and Emory</p></li>
<li><p>While Rice doesn’t have a medical school, the world’s largest medical center is next door.</p></li>
<li><p>Rice is a small university… 3300 undergrads. Emory is much larger (about 6000 undergrads).</p></li>
<li><p>PLENTY of research opportunities, especially in the biosciences (Rice recently built a new 8 story bioscience research center in the Texas Medical Center). However, Emory has a lot too, especially with the CDC close to campus.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are interested in doing engineering major, choose Rice. Emory doesn’t offer engineering degrees –> if you want an engineering degree, you have to do the dual-degree program with GA Tech.</p></li>
<li><p>Rice is known for happy students. We ranked #1 in Best Quality of Life and #8 in happiest students. </p></li>
<li><p>Hopefully you can visit all three schools. Only you can decide which school is best for you.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You can’t go wrong with either. However, I disagree with alam1’s argument that you should go to Emory because it has more of a national appeal. Just because Rice has more Texans (and keep in mind Rice is very prestigious in Texas and Texas is the nation’s 2nd largest state) does not make it inferior to Rice. Rice is consistently often ranked just as high, if not higher, than Emory on most college rankings. Personally, I think the academics at Rice are slightly better, but the differences are minute since they are both top 20 universities.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision! Can’t go wrong with either choice.</p>