<p>first off, know that i'm not trying to bash rice. i think its an amazing school, and if i get accepted in april, i'm most likely coming in the fall. what i want to discuss/ question is why rice seemingly has a very low ranking in many college ranking systems, and how they also have a low peer assessment compared to schools like duke. i mean rice is even with duke(just using duke as an example) in the acceptance rate, % of kids in top 10%, and sat scores, but yet duke is often 10 spots or so ahead of rice. is this just a texas bias (which i could understand, seeing as every1 is jealous of us texans :) ) or do people just not notice rice for the school it is because it is not on the east coast. i mean people always mention the ivies, duke, mit, caltech in the same sentence, but rarely do i see rice among those. even in texas, people ask me why i would want to go to rice over UT (they say something to the effect that UT has better engineering, it has a business school, and has better sports/social life than rice.) any theories on why rice gets no love?</p>
<p>Well, in Texas it seems like it's mostly a case of "my alma matter (insert UT or A&M) is practically the greatest school on Earth. There's no way that little private school can compete." On the national level, it probably has to do with a combination of the size and location away from the coasts.</p>
<p>does rice have the alumni connections that ut and a&m have? i mean obviously both schools have way more alumni than rice, but when it comes to networking for jobs, do any of you know rice grads that have just had to go on the reputation of rice alone w/o alumni help when looking for jobs?</p>
<p>My daughter is a Rice grad and everywhere she goes, when she says she went to Rice, they say, "You must be really smart." THAT is Rice's reputation.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild -- am I right in assuming you feel that Rice offers a better experience than Penn, if one were in a position to choose between the two?</p>
<p>One thing I like about Rice's rep in TX is that when you say you go/went to Rice, you get respect and people know you must be smart, but it's not like saying you go/went to Harvard, where people are like "oh, you must think you're sooo smart?!"</p>
<p>Basically, people respect Rice students, but don't feel completely intimidated/threatened by them and get all weird.</p>
<p>As far as alumni network, you're right that Rice won't have nearly the #'s, but from what I know, top employers know Rice is a top school, and it's highly likely (esp in TX) that you won't need an alumni to get your foot in the door with Rice on your resume. UT and A&M students may have more reason to need alumni contacts... if that made any sense.</p>
<p>yeah i guess i'm just thinkin that rice didnt get enough respect, but your comments show me that it does. thanks.</p>
<p>Rice doesn't get enough respect. We still get a lot.</p>
<p>I didn't think Rice was that prestigious (I'm not originally from TX) but I told my karate instructor today that I was going to Rice and he made a huge deal out of it. Whenever a parent's friend asks me "So have you decided on a college?" and I respond "Rice", they always act as if I had just cured cancer or something. </p>
<p>I'm finding more and more that Rice has a really good reputation, especially here in south TX.</p>
<p>Rice has an amazing reputation with people that KNOW about colleges. And generally it is in the top twenty for college rankings. Everyone is always very impressed when I tell them that I go to Rice (as long as they themselves went to college and pay some attention to the academic world). And Rice also has an amazing reputation with both grad schools and employers. I'm pre-law and have found out that Rice is a huge feeder school for law schools like UVA and Duke. And part of the reason that the repuation is so high is becuase there is no grade inflation here. People know that Rice is hard and that makes your GPA worth a lot more.</p>
<p>It's pretty disappointing that at least where I live (outside Washington, DC) Rice doesn't have such a great reputation despite its obvious strengths. I think a lot of the reason for this is that Texas in general doesn't have such a good reputation here. That's not to say that anyone thinks badly of Rice itself--there isn't anything for them to complain about--but few people I've talked to have heard of it. Of those who have, when I mention that I'm applying to Rice I get the sense that they don't understand why anyone outside of Texas (especially any liberal living outside of Texas, like me) would ever want to go.</p>
<p>I, however, am hoping to get a break from the arrogance and fast-paced culture of the East coast for a few years, as I will probably end up returning one day. But we'll see. I don't think my parents are too crazy about that idea.</p>
<p>Rice's "problem" (if you want to call it that) is the stature of its graduate programs. While Rice is outstanding for undergraduate work, the fact is that its grad programs are not particularly stellar or recognized on the world stage. In fact, Rice isn't even the #1 university in Texas in this regard. UT-Austin is the strongest university in Texas in terms of faculty/departmental quality per sources like the NRC, London Times, USNWR grad rankings, etc. (As an example, UT is #1 in Texas in 30 of its 37 ranked academic depts. per the NRC.) International and academic rankings typically look at the quality of graduate programs, which is why UT is ranked higher overall as a research university. This is also why UT even has a higher peer reputation score than Rice at the undergrad level - spillover effect from its faculty accomplishments 'aura'. Universities typically don't receive the same respect for undergrad quality as they do for research accomplishments.</p>
<p>The other problem, as stated by others, is that Texas fairly or unfairly gets a bad rap in many circles. There are amazing cultural resources and diversity available in the major Texas cities, yet political perceptions tend to overshadow this. This same bias against Texas is a likely reason the peer reputations of its top research universities, while respected, are not higher. </p>
<p>And contrary to what many uninformed people outside the state think, there are thriving liberal areas within Texas. Austin is one of the most liberal cities in the country and the ethnic diversity of the urban cores of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio contribute to a wide political spectrum.</p>
<p>i never understood why texas has a bad rep. maybe its cuz i live in texas, but it really isnt that bad</p>
<p>In blue states, Texas is perceived as 1) a very conservative state, although there are many others, but also 2) arrogant and proud of it. And Bush hasn't done much to dispel either of those stereotypes...</p>
<p>it makes me so sad that texas has such a bad rep in the rest of the nation. but. there are alot of parts of texas even i don't like too much (Laredo, san antonio.. and the tiny towns in the country where the whole population is below the poverty line). but being from the austin suburbs i'm usually pretty proud to say i'm from texas. but austin is a fab city and i think/hope that most people realize that.</p>
<p>the suburbs of the big cities are generally nice. keep austin wierd lol</p>
<p>Rice</a> University | News & Media</p>
<p>Trust me, people outside of Texas have great respect for Rice University.</p>
<p>Rice = great school. However, if you are looking for people outside of texas to be "Rice, o m g!!," you are probably not attending the right school. I would say only the most educated ppl outside of Texas are aware of it. It is funny b/c in the east coast, the kids that were the most aware of it were those who played baseball (Rice has a great baseball team!).</p>
<p>they should be primed for another cws run and an nc this year!</p>
<p>It also has the problem of its size .... it's something like half the size of the next smallest of what are normally considered the elite major research university (excluding Caltech).</p>