<p>I've been talking to my older sister about universities I'm planning on applying to, and she doesn't think rice will suit me because it's in Texas. But is the area around Rice, and Rice itself, a very Southern place. Do they speak with southern accents, very southern baptist, etc?</p>
<p>Sorry if this may come out offensive or anything :S</p>
<p>Short answer: no. Houston is a very diverse and cosmopolitan city (as well as being the 4th largest in the country), and Rice is situated in one of its more affluent areas. Your sister’s fears are most likely baseless.</p>
<p>Dorian is correct. Many people I know back in Boston have these weird ideas about Texas. Rice is also right next to the largest medical center in the world. People travel from all over to work here/be treated here.</p>
<p>Finally, Houston’s mayor is openly gay (and a Rice alumnus). I would call that somewhat progressive.</p>
<p>When visiting DD at Rice, the only time we noticed any “southern” or “Texas” atmosphere was for the rodeo 
It is a large metropolitan and diverse area. Rice is a multicultural campus. The area around Rice is upscale with a large variety of restaurants and shops.</p>
<p>Bahaha. I live in Texas, and it always cracks me up when I go to other states and people ask weird things like " do ride horses to school and raise cattle in your backyard?" Don’t worry, OP, Rice isn’t really “southern” or anything. You would be fine there.</p>
<p>PyroQueen, I’m a Texan who lives in Maine now, and I get comments like that! When I told one woman my son was going to attend UT, she said, “Texas? Why would he want to go to school THERE?”</p>
<p>hh, the main thing you’ll probably notice is the accent that people have. Before long, you’ll be saying, “y’all.” It’s such a convenient word! Saying, “Let’s go to y’all’s house,” sounds so much better than, “Let’s go to you guys’s house,” which I hear in the northeast.</p>
<p>LOL. I remember people used to ask if I rode horses to school. I live no way near Southern. The accents are sometimes there, but not noticeably. I have a friend who goes to Rice and she loves it. I visited there once and there’s a mix of people: black, white, Asians, ect… Houston is definitely an up-an-coming city, so it’s no raising cattle there (except the rural areas of course).</p>
<p>@MainLonghorn- 
I say yall all the time.</p>
<p>This question comes areound umpteen times. The answer is the same (see posts 2 and 3). I am going to add it to the “post topic redux” thread list :)</p>
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<p>Never. I will not use that word.</p>
<p>hahah thanks guys appreciate the input. I just told my sister :))</p>
<p>well, we’all know what we’re talkin’ about :)</p>
<p>I will say that one of the really nice things about being in a large, metropolitan city in the south is that people are progressive, diverse, open-minded etc. yet still retain some aspects of the southern hospitality. </p>
<p>People around you are very nice and willing to help. I even had a nice conversation when waiting in line in the DMV. Who knew? ;)</p>
<p>Haha, OP, when I told my mother I wanted to apply to Rice she said “surely you aren’t seriously thinking about going to Texas, right?”</p>
<p>Short answer: Houston isn’t southern. Rice isn’t southern. Even the people you’ll meet at Rice that are from Texas are almost never southern. Do not worry about the stereotypes. :)</p>
<p>*NOTE: I’m using the adjective southern to define the negative stereotypes. Southern hospitality does exist down in Houston, for sure.</p>
<p>@Antarius - Four years at Rice and you haven’t started using “y’all”? You are my idol. I’m resisting as much as possible. ;)</p>
<p>I grew up in Texas and I still won’t use the word “y’all”. I’ve always found it kind of grating to hear.</p>
<p>I think that yall have given her some really great advice! Rice is a great school and has a nice campus. The people are some of the friendliest you will ever meet in your life. Many of the older people in Houston have a conservative bent, however for the most part the young people are very progressive (even by northern standards.)</p>
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<p>Keep resisting. </p>
<p>Dunno, I never tell people that Rice is in Texas. I say that Rice is in Houston. There seems to be a big difference.</p>
<p>My D and I visited Rice and we were impressed by how friendly everyone in Houston was to us. We flew there for a short weekend and did your campus tour Monday. I’d say the folks off campus were actually more open than some the ones on campus. We definitely liked the environment and southern hospitality there. Rice is D’s first choice school, still!</p>
<p>It always annoys me (a native Texan) how people talk about the South as if it is some kind of inferior culture. If anything, it is the other way around. Anyway, no major city anywhere in the U.S. is very different from all the others. I think that’s a shame. The ‘melting pot’ used to be a conservative term to refer to immigrants being ‘purified’ of their native culture. Now ‘progressive’ seems to be a liberal term meaning almost the same thing.</p>
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<p>Wait, what?</p>
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<p>When the governor of Texas believes that his state can secede from the United States, it is very challenging to take Texas seriously.</p>