Is Rice Overrated?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>Go to <a href="http://www.brody.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brody.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It rates the top 50 schools based on an evaluation of prestge. The results:</p>

<p>Our rankings of the top 50 colleges by prestige:
1. Harvard
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Stanford
5. Dartmouth
6. MIT
7. Amherst
8. Williams
9. Columbia University
10. California Institute of Technology
11. Brown
12. Duke
13. University of Pennsylvania
14. University of Chicago
15. Swarthmore
16. Northwestern University
17. Cornell University
18. Johns Hopkins
19. University of California-Berkeley
20. Bowdoin
21. Georgetown
22. Harvey Mudd
23. University of Michigan
24. Wellesley
25. Washington University of St. Louis
26. NYU
27. Notre Dame
28. Carleton
29. UCLA
30. Claremont McKenna
31. University of Virginia
32. Pomona
33. Middlebury
34. Vassar
35. Colgate
36. University of Wisconsin-Madison
37. University of North Carolina
38. William and Mary
39. Vanderbilt
40. Bates
41. Emory
42. Smith
43. Wesleyan
44. Davidson
45. Grinnell
46. Rice
47. Colby
48. University of Texas-Austin
49. University of Southern California
50. Tufts</p>

2

<p>Is this a joke? "Based on prestige"? What methodology is used for that.</p>

<p>I could create a website with "rankings of prestige" and stick Rice in the number one spot. It wouldn't prove anything more than this one does.</p>

3

<p>what the f??? Rice is UNDERRATED for that poll. I don't believe it a bit. How can LACs like Davidson and Grinnell and Colgate be ranked ahead of Rice? And how is UT only 2 under Rice? Exactly what is prestige? For me, going to Rice is way more prestigious than going to colleges like Smith.</p>

<p>On a side note, Wash U seems ranked about right. It is really overrated, imo.</p>

<p>Background info: <a href="http://www.brody.com/college/resources/college_rankings.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brody.com/college/resources/college_rankings.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The following “prestige rankings” were compiled by Brody counselors based upon their experiences at schools and counseling applicants, as well as after review of a number of primary and secondary sources. The purpose of the rankings is not to indicate which college is best for you, or even which college would provide you with the best education, but rather to convey to you our beliefs about which colleges are the most prestigious: i.e. which schools garner the most respect, in a general sense, from employers, graduate schools, and the American public.</p>

<p>We realize the myriad flaws inherent in any such ranking system, but we feel that too often applicants operate in a vacuum concerning the relative reputations of schools. This vacuum is inevitably filled by local prejudices, more broad rankings systems with more serious flaws, and random circumstance. With our rankings in hand, we hope applicants can go to schools knowing generally how they stack up against each other in terms of prestige. Other factors such as weather, specific programs, “vibe”, resources, etc. they can (and should) discover for themselves or with personalized professional guidance. </p>

<p>Colleges that did not make our list inevitably defy the type of nationwide analysis done here, and should be judged by local standards and specific major/program details.</p>

<p>And, of course, a few caveats. </p>

<p>Faced with the task of comparing liberal arts colleges to universities, we decided—despite the difficulties—that the project called for a complete, unified rankings list. The result was that smaller liberal arts colleges, despite sometimes superior prestige within elite circles, sometimes fared worse in the general calculations (and particularly so for such lesser-known schools). When faced with schools A and B, where school A was much better known and more highly regarded by the public but both schools we felt were equally respected by, say, law schools evaluating applicants, we gave a slight edge to school A.
Generally we ignored the superior reputation of one program within a school (e.g. Wharton within Penn.). For science and engineering undergraduate programs in schools known almost exclusively for such degrees, however, we attempted to fit the schools within our rankings, with only limited success. No engineering-minded high school senior should reasonably decide whether to attend, say, Cal Tech based in any major part upon its comparison below with, say, more liberal-arts minded Harvard or Swarthmore.
These rankings are subjective! No one can rank colleges with any degree of certainty. We use this list primarily because we think it’s the best one we have and serves a valuable purpose.</p>

4

<p>The authors explain their methodoogy. For most schools, there might arguably be adjustments of 2 or 3 or places one way or another, but when compared to US News rankings, Rice seems to clearly fare the worse. I doubt the authors had any bias toward Rice</p>

5

<p>Astrofan,
The 2005 London Times Poll ranked Wash U 58 and Rice 150; also, as to Southern schools, Duke,Vanderbilt and Emory were all rated above Rice--so
he Brody poll is not an aberration.</p>

6

<p>Everyone I know views Rice as a prestigious university. I'm probably biased because I live in Houston... and probably because I haven't really heard anything about Colgate or Smith or other small LACs. Who knows, maybe I live in my own Texas bubble.</p>

<p>Actually, I wasn't arguing the merits of colleges like Duke, Vandy, and Emory. Those are well-known schools. I just found it hard to believe that lesser-known schools like Colgate were ranked ahead of Rice, on basis of "prestige." For me, one factor of prestige is how well-known the college is.</p>

<p>P.S. I don't want to argue about whether Wash U is overrated bc on the Wash U message board, this topic is exhausted. If you want to see why many people think Wash U is overrated, there's more info on the Wash U message board.</p>

7

<p>"Headquartered in the North Shore of Chicago, Brody was created and is run exclusively by Harvard Law School graduates, and we work hard to try to achieve the absolute best results for each and every client."</p>

<p>hmmmm....</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
Everyone I know views Rice as a prestigious university. I'm probably biased because I live in Houston...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That is, indeed, probably the case. Living in Washington, though many have heard of Rice, most do not view it as a 'prestigious' school or one that is worth attending over higher and certain lower ranked schools in the NE.</p>

<p>Of course, popular opinion is not the most accurate indicator of a school's caliber; however, regional biases tend to skew one's conception of prestige. While living in Houston, I never thought much of Brown in comparison to Rice; however, the attention that Brown is given in this region caused me to alter my perception of the two schools.</p>

9

<p>Like most universities, Rice has a strong regional following and is quite well-known in Texas and the South for its academic quality. I think this poll clearly underrates Rice and, for that matter, most of the schools outside of the Northeast. In my opinion, virtually all polls overvalue the Ivy League schools, Berkeley and Stanford. I am not saying these aren't good programs - clearly they are - but I am saying that these schools aren't that much better than many others.</p>

<p>Ultimately, as long as potential students, their parents, graduate schools, and potential employers think that some universities are better then the rankings will continue to reflect that they are better. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and universities (including Rice) have learned to game the system to enhance their rankings. If everyone were totally honest and objective, schools like St. John's College of Annapolis and Santa Fe would be considered in the top tier of universities but it isn't in any polls I've seen. In addition, there would be more attention paid to the quality of individual departments within each university. Some universities benefit in their overall rankings because they have a few high quality departments. The bottom line is that the top tier of universities have the prestige to attract the best students and rankings. Whether they really deserve those rankings based on faculty, curriculum, and the quality of their graduates is a different question.</p>

<p>My view is that the best college choice for most students is the highest ranked regional university in the geographical area where the student wants to live after graduation. If your child hopes someday to work in the DC area as a lawyer in the Justice Department or as a research physician at the NIH, the Ivies would be the best choices. If they want to live in the Atlanta area, I'd seriously cosider Emory. Stanford, Berkeley, or possibly a college like Harvey Mudd would be most desirable on the West Coast. Similarly, people who want to live in Texas, Louisiana, and the Southwest should look at Rice, UT-Austin, and Tulane. </p>

<p>However, I am also a firm believer in the concept that hard work pays off. Anyone who takes college seriously and works hard, no matter where they go, will find that there are many opportunities available in graduate schools and employment. I certainly know people who started in the community college system and are at the highest levels of business and government today. I also know people who attended the very best schools and have done very little with their lives. </p>

<p>Almost every university has many fine professors and programs and every university has access to virtually unlimited resources via the internet. The only missing ingredient is an eager student. Sometimes we parents are so anxious to give our children every advantage and make their lives easier that we forget that, at some point, our children have to pick up the ball and run with it.</p>

10

<p>ok everything that i was gonna say has been said. but that is definitly some bs. that is definitly underated.</p>

11

<p>I think at one point, we need to define what prestige is. Secondly, we need to truly correlate prestige and its effect on undergraduate education. Finally, we need to see how prestige works its way in the public eye versus employers, grad schools, etc.</p>

12

<p>DRJ4 is correct.
Which is the best at football, baseball, or baketball? It at least varies from year to year because the teams change. Nonetheless, over a quarter century span, there are some constants in the academic arena, and the Ivys probably have a historic edge, followed by the schools as ranked by US News. Any given school is within 3-5 rungs on the academic ladder as viewed by graduate schools, professional schools, and employers, given regional preferences, etc. But the US News rankings are as good as it get, and have become for better or worse the self-fulfilling standard.</p>

13

<p>Rice is underrated...</p>

<p>What u shd do is use the US NEWS rankings... those are the most comprehensive and well done ones...</p>

14

<p>how did you come to that conclusion? what do you have it to compare to, or what methods do you agree with at the very least? we don't have access or methods to find out if rice educates you better than dartmouth, example. more than that, since prestige is factored in, that's not even the entire issue. people's notions are updated much more slowly than USNEWS's annual methods.</p>

15

<p>Rice would appear to be severely underrated in that list in terms of actual quality of instruction and academic experience. However, it's true that among those who know little about higher education (and who are physically distant from Houston) Rice is not well known. Among those who do know a good bit about higher education, it is much more respected than that list would indicate.</p>

<p>Such lists should never be used in deciding where to attend, though, especially if you have a good idea of what you want to study. Each institution has its strengths and weaknesses, and it's that that needs to be researched. </p>

<p>To cite a couple of examples, if you wanted to do Hispanic Linguistics, you'd be far better off at Ohio State than at Yale or Princeton. For undergraduate Latin American Studies, UT Austin and Tulane would most likely be the best choices. And the choice between those two would depend not on prestige (1 and 2 in the field), but on your personal preferences for type of school, location, and, of course, questions of finance.</p>

16

<p>Yes, it is overrated. You know how colleges like to say they produce distinguished individuals? Well Rice likes to say they want to take in distinguished individuals and produce distinguished individuals. Is that kind of snooty? This whole "Harvard of the South" title they're trying to steal from Duke -- I just don't see it happening.</p>

17

<p>You seem kind of bitter....</p>

18

<p>I must admit that I have never heard of Bowdoin or Carleton or several of the other schools that are ranked above Rice. I can just assume that these schools are also regional and only well known in their districts. So it doesn't really seem fair that some of these so called "regional" schools are ranked better than others. Even though I live in Kodiak AK, Rice is still fairly well known. I imagine a tiny remote island in the Pacific is about as far from Houston as you can get. If I went and asked around I doubt that I would find anyone that has heard of Carleton or some of these other schools. I believe that this list is very biased. There is no way that this list can just be excused on the basis that Rice is "regional" and not as well known as some of the other universities. The creaters of this list had basically no clue what
they were doing and obviously didn't bother doing enough research.</p>

19

<p>I think at one point, we need to define what prestige is. Secondly, we need to truly correlate prestige and its effect on undergraduate education. Finally, we need to see how prestige works its way in the public eye versus employers, grad schools, etc.</p>

<hr>

<p>Good points. To which should be added: what field of study is the student interested in? Oceanography? Dairy Science? Aerospace Engineering? Philosophy? Accounting? Music? Sociology? There can certainly be overlap, but in principle the ranking for each is quite different.</p>

<p>With reference to getting in to grad schools and getting good support, it's the "prestige" (perceived quality) of the specific program that counts, not the overall prestige of the institution.</p>

20

<p>rice is the harvard of the south.....</p>