<p>I've heard from somewhere Rice is not all that well known outside its area. I dont think thats true because I've known it to be a higher tier U since before I looked at any colleges out of state. Can someone fill me in? Thanks</p>
<p>Why does it matter?</p>
<p>PS: yes, yes it is.</p>
<p>Rice is just as well-known as the other top 20 but not top 5 schools. This means</p>
<p>(a) it very well known in its region of the country and
(b) it is quite well known by anybody who is affiliated with top schools in really any way. “Affiliated” could mean the person is a student, a faculty member, or simply interested in good schools.</p>
<p>In other words, Rice is not nation-wide a household name (very, very few colleges are), but in my experience it is known by anybody who should know. And those colleges that are household names also happen to be some of the oldest universities in the world–this is undoubtedly the main factor.</p>
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<p>exactly. Employers, grad schools and places that need to know do know. And thats whats important</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers.</p>
<p>@trbls If your prospective employer knows your school is a top one, that helps.</p>
<p>I live in NY and it’s well known here as a top southern school.</p>
<p>@Yoster</p>
<p>yeah. Rice isnt quite the household name worldwide (yet) but it is rapidly becoming so. I guess due to the internet and our research being publicized, we are getting tons of good press. The 2003 national championship helped a lot too</p>
<p>@elbeeen. I don’t know where you live in NY, but where I live in NY, no one knows of Rice.</p>
<p>Agree ^^^
At my school, I think maybe 20 people out of 5k know of Rice. :l That’s good for me though, less competition! ;D But at my ‘rival’ school, Rice seems to be more popular.</p>
<p>The people who need to know about Rice will know about Rice. Mass market popularity is of little significance.</p>
<p>Many of the published rankings show that Rice is one of the more selective universities in the United States. In order for it to be selective, it must get a lot of candidates. While a large number of applicants are from Texas, over 50% of the student body is from outside of Texas (rest of US and international). Rice is admitting over half its student body without lowering its standards. These results imply that it is well known both in Texas, in the rest of the US and internationally, and attracts top-notch applicants.</p>
<p>Some folks call Rice (and/or Duke, Vandy, and Emory) the Harvard of the South. When my husband and I hear this – we politely correct them. “You mean Harvard’s the Rice of the Northeast.”</p>
<p>And better still – the classes, research and extra-curricular opportunities, closeness to profs, and wonderful, down to earth friends that define my son’s experience at Rice are exceptional. And if some folks haven’t heard of the second smallest American research university that has its own non-partisan think tank … well, I think the word’s getting around fast. (But not too fast, I hope.)</p>
<p>we broke 12,000 applicants this year. It seems to be a 10% increase each year almost (from experience - dont have stats on this yet). Looked like 10,000 was 2 years ago.</p>
<p>Now that the freshman class size has been capped, this steady increase in applicants will increase our selectivity.</p>
<p>If you are looking from a prospective employee standpoint, I think Rice is pretty well known and highly respected. I went to a BoA info session today for commodities trading, tech analysts and debt analysts. Only 5-6 rice undergrads were there to attend the program but there were 20 people from BoA (including global head of BoA commodities trading division). In the last 3 weeks, I have attended info sessions from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, BoA, Bain, Deloitte and Accenture. There must be a few I missed but there are barely 10-20 rice undergrads attending and these firms bring in their whole Houston contingent. For a small school, with maximum of 50 people interested in pursuing finance or banking path after graduation, I think there is a huge demand from these firms.</p>
<p>What I’ve found is that Rice is well known (and usually liked) by those who need to know about it. I’m not from the South, so I never considered Rice on the level of Harvard, Yale, etc. But when I arrived in Houston and told people I go to Rice, I can tell that <em>they</em> regard Rice just as highly as I regard East Coast Ivys. It’s an awesome feeling.</p>