<p>Rice is one of my favorite colleges, but I know that some folks aren't real high on Texas. Houston is a very cosmopolitan city and I thought some might want to know more about the city where Rice is located. Check out this link:</p>
<p>How a combination of ambition, entrepreneurship, trade, and tolerance made Houston America's booming opportunity city</p>
<p>Yay! I got in a couple days ago, and if I don't get into some colleges releasing decisions on Monday (cough Ivies), then I am completely set on going to Rice.</p>
<p>My biggest worry with Rice is reputation. Around here, unless someone's really familiar with colleges, I get a "Rice? Brown rice?" Really dumb, I know...</p>
<p>So I want to ask, how is Rice's reputation in Texas? And the rest of the nation? Would it really help for grad school placement?</p>
<p>I'm just kind of concerned about name recognition in terms of job employment and grad schools. Not TOO worried about what the common man on the street thinks about when I say I go to Rice University.</p>
<p>I'm not from the Texas area, but in the DC metropolitan area...would really like helpful input on this.</p>
<p>H, Houston is also a city that offers a suffocating summer, an ubiquitous stench of oil and industrial waste, and a lack of zoning that makes it an urban hodgepodge that is hard on the eyes. </p>
<p>Most cities offer positives and negatives. For this Texan, Houston remains the city I like to visit every once in a while but prefer to leave as soon as my "bidness" is done. </p>
<p>Rice is a wonderful school, but it would be even greater in a different city.</p>
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Houston is also a city that offers a suffocating summer
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<p>Note to readers: that's a Texan who wrote that sentence. Still, I have enjoyed visiting Houston one summer, and I think Rice should be on the radar screen of a lot of sci-tech-liking students.</p>
<p>while hjousaton may be kind of bring, the area near rice is awsome - the village...great college area</p>
<p>hotasice,
In Texas and in the Southwest, Rice is the gold standard. UT, Texas A&M and several other Texas colleges dominate much of the local conversation, but Rice is definitely known and appreciated. More broadly, however, Rice is not widely known as its graduates are fewer in number and many stick around Texas after graduation. But employers and grad schools definitely know the school and I doubt that you'd suffer much among folks that have any familiarity with the school. </p>
<p>xiggi,
I'm with you on the industrial sections and the summer weather in Houston-it's not all peaches and ice cream (which would melt very quickly under the very high humidity). Frankly, I like Austin best of all of the major Texas cities. But for folks who aren't familiar with it, Houston is a surprisingly progressive city and Rice is in a nice part of town.</p>
<p>Houston has several outstanding museums (many within walking distance from Rice), a good arts scene, an amazing variety of cuisines and restaurants, and my personal favorite - the Beer Can House.</p>
<p>from NYT</p>
<p>My daughter is a Rice grad. She was willing to attend any college NOT in Texas (her home state). She visited Rice under some duress, and fell in love with it. She had a great 4 years. Most students are NOT in Houston for the summer, which is the worst season. They get to enjoy wearing flip-flops in February and having a warm fall. The cultural opportunities are tremendous. She felt that Houston offered much more than her native Dallas. Besides the city museums, ballet, symphony etc., Rice has a conservatory-level music school and there are performances most nights of the week. The college theater (residential colleges) are also excellent. The area of Houston where Rice is located is really nice and the campus is gorgeous. I would have preferred a stronger athletic scene, but intermurals are popular and a lot of students participate.<br>
Rice's reputation is excellent. It has already opened many doors for her, including an excellent job industry despite graduating with a degree in vocal performance and, now, a 70% scholarship to Vanderbilt graduate school.
You can't go wrong.</p>
<p>The link in post #8 to a NYT article is humorous, including a billboard advertisement slogan of a used car dealer offering low prices because "The Owner Has Brain Damage".(Does this void the warranty?)</p>
<p>Houston is upgrading its highway system extensively...unlike the other car-focused city of L.A. where politicians still pin hopes on public transportation projects that only reach a fraction of the city's sprawling population.</p>
<p>I like Houston's entrepreneurial spirit and business friendly environment.</p>
<p>One thing I wonder about though is the gigantic houses...how much does it cost to cool a 4,000 sq. ft. home during a stifling Houston summer?</p>
<p>I'm sorry Hawkette to take this <em>totally</em> off topic, but your statement about icecream melting faster in higher humidity -- is that true? Would ice cream melt faster in 95F and 70% relative humidity than at 95F and 40% RH? I tried googling for an answer and couldn't find one, and it's been 33 years since I took organic chemistry. Sometimes my curiosity about everyday things gets the best of me :)</p>
<p>Another Texan here. I always feel as if I've never given Houston a fair chance, because I fly in on business, then leave ASAP. But I'll tell you, the weather has never been pleasant. The summers are not quite a humid as New Orleans, but close. And when it rains, the streets flood at the drop of a hat.</p>
<p>But in Texas, Rice is very highly regarded. </p>
<p>PLEASE don't try to drum up even more applicants for Rice...it's hard enough to get in as it is!!!</p>
<p>Ahh yes, the old "Owner has brain damage" sign. It was destroyed by a tropical storm about 25 years ago.</p>
<p>Anyone know Rice's preference for in-state or OOS kids?</p>
<p>I think it's slightly easier to get in from out of state than from in-state, as Rice is very prestigious within Texas, so all the amazing Texas kids apply to Rice. But on the national stage (or out of state, rather) Rice isn't quite as popular as say, Cornell or Duke in terms of # of applicants, but it does attract applicants of similar caliber to apply.</p>
<p>Overall Rice gets about half its students from Texas and half out of state for its incoming freshman class. And though Rice is going for geographic diversity, it's still quite difficult to get into Rice, be you from Texas or not...</p>
<p>I visited Rice last week and I fell in love with the school. I'm from OOS and those who know of the school think it's cool and those who don't are like "Where's that?" I really think I'm going to go there.</p>
<p>Down here, Rice is more prestigious to the locals than any other school in the country except maybe Harvard or Stanford. I tell my friends, co-workers, and employer that I'm applying for transfer to UPenn and Amherst and they look at me weirdly. </p>
<p>I've lived in Houston for a while now, and it's only problem -- besides the heat of course -- is that it's sprawling. Hugely so. It is however, ? one of the fastest rising metropolitan areas? in terms of jobs, tech, women ? Tech I'm sure about. Jobs -- Yeah. Women? Who knows?</p>
<p>Also, you guys might also relish the fact that our cost of living is like 1902120391290312 times lower than almost any other city. Especially the cities that house much of the top 25.</p>
<p>In Texas, Rice has such a great name in the same way that Dartmouth would in Boston or U Penn would in Philadelphia. I think that people who make the effort to visit the school will find it quite an attractive place to go to college. </p>
<p>As for the OOS component, there are a lot of Texans, but that hasn't kept the quality down. And to put it in context, don't forget that Stanford has a similar number of Californians. Both states have huge populations with lots and lots of great students and applicants.</p>
<p>hawkette:</p>
<p>Having spent a lot of time in that part of Houston, I, too, am a big fan of Rice. But my residency question was more about direction: over the past 10 years, Rice has held about a 50/50 IS and OOS ratio. During that same time period, Stanford's instate kids have declined. </p>
<p>Thus, does Rice 'prefer' Texas kids, such that kids from OOS might need higher than median scores to be competitive?</p>
<p>PS -- Does Rice not publish a CDS?</p>