<p>Definitely apply to Rice!</p>
<p>Let’s address your concerns:</p>
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<p>Rice people are among the most friendly and most approachable people you will ever meet. There was a recent thread floating around CC about most accepting/friendly colleges located here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/518606-most-accepting-friendly-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/518606-most-accepting-friendly-colleges.html</a> which I see <em>you</em> originally authored it! haha.</p>
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<p>At =<3000 undergrads, Rice definitely will afford you the undergrad attention, small 5:1 student-faculty ratio, and small class sizes that you’re looking for.</p>
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<p>Houston is HOT. <em>Very</em> hot and humid, but you’ll get acclimatized soon enough! AC is on full blast 24/7, never fear.</p>
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<p>Have you ever visited Rice’s campus? It’s incredibly lush and green to the point of it being park-esque. Many trees around it. If you were on Rice’s campus, you wouldn’t have known it’s actually situated right by downtown Houston. My friend who’s lived in Houston and near Rice all his life doesn’t really consider Rice to be part of Houston because Rice is just so different and just so much better and much nicer than the rest of the city. It’s definitely got a suburban feel to it, and a lot of grass and quads. The Spanish Mediterranean architecture of Lovett Hall will blow you away! Lots of pretty buildings, no doubt.</p>
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<p>Rice doesn’t have a journalism school or department (as far as I’m concerned), but its humanities and English departments are pretty good, even though Rice traditionally is known for engineering and sciences (besides architecture and music). </p>
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<p>In 2007, Princeton Review ranked Rice as #1 for Best Quality of Life and #3 for Best Overall Undergraduate Academic Experience; at Rice it’s definitely a work hard play hard environment–ask anyone who’s at Rice or knows a student there! Rice ranks fairly high and well on the list of the top 20 colleges with the best social life. </p>
<p>Rice doesn’t have any Greek life, as its founder didn’t like elitist organizations (as he described it), but its residential college system is highly unique (more so than those of Yale and Harvard) because it’s incredibly integral and essential to the overall undergrad experience. This unique feature of Rice is a huge draw for many prospective students and a favorite among its current students.</p>
<p>Rice is also a wet campus, so no one needs to go off campus for parties and alcohol–it’s all available right there on campus. But of course, no one will force you to drink if you don’t want to. With Rice’s baseball team headed to the College World Series this weekend, it can get a bit hectic and crazy with lots of school spirit, but that’s part of the fun!</p>
<p>Haha, sorry for such a long post–but DO apply to Rice! 
It’s an amazing place!</p>