<p>The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2012” are:
- Williams College (Williamstown MA)
- Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)
- Princeton University (Princeton NJ)
- Harvard College (Cambridge MA)
- Rice University (Houston TX)
- Pomona College (Claremont CA)
- Washington University (St. Louis MO)
- Yale University (New Haven CT)
- California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA)
- Hamilton College (Hamilton NY)</p>
<p>so proud :)</p>
<p>Here is Rice’s College Rankings in the 2012 Princeton Review. Pretty impressive!</p>
<p>Rank : List </p>
<h1>1: Happiest Students</h1>
<h1>1: Best Quality of Life</h1>
<h1>5: School Runs Like Butter</h1>
<h1>5: Town-Gown Relations are Great</h1>
<h1>6: Lots of Race/Class Interaction</h1>
<h1>8: Best Athletic Facilities</h1>
<h1>13: Great Financial Aid</h1>
<h1>18: Best Health Services</h1>
<p>Not to say anything bad about Rice, but I always find those lists on the verge of ridiculous. How can schools with COA approaching $60k for the full pay family be a value?</p>
<p>MD Mom, the difference is that Rice brands itself as a better “value,” and not a better “bargain.” Rice does a whole lot to live up to its value claim without making itself cheap. </p>
<p>For examples, Rice practices need-blind admissions, 100% of every student’s demonstrated financial need is met, admitted students from families with household incomes less than $80k get financial aid that does not include loans, there’s an extremely high graduation rate with low student debt, and Rice enjoys some of the best starting salaries for graduates of any university. Plus, it has a 90+% placement rate into medical school and a similar percentage for placement into first-choice graduate programs. </p>
<p>All of these things coupled with the excellent quality of life (due to campus beauty, access to professors, strong sense of community, etc.) make Rice an extremely good value for any ambitious student capable of earning admission.</p>
<p>i really really really LOVED what you just said about Rice 
im SOOO excited to go!!!</p>
<p>@MDmom…this year COA was much closer to 48K. Not cheap, but a long way from “approaching 60K”. If you look at the competitveness of Rice admissions (<20%)and the type of student it attracts (700+SAT, many valadictorians, 100+community service hours) you can’t find many other schools for that low price.</p>
<p>Add to that the amazing campus, great dorms and the first class education it provides and it is a great value.</p>
<p>I am biased because my D is freshman there this year, but we really looked closely at value/$$, and decided it was a steal compared to many Ivies or even schools like CMU (59K) or Oberlin (55k) or Northwestern (55K).</p>
<p>I was looking at the list in post #2 for the higher number, but to me a value is a bit closer to $35k.</p>
<p>You really need to take all the rankings with a grain of salt. Their primary objective is to sell books/magazines. USNWR has Rice ranked #117 among the world’s best universities based on 24 subject areas.</p>
<p>[World’s</a> Best Universities; Top 400 Universities in the World | US News](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/top-400-universities-in-the-world?page=5]World’s”>http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/top-400-universities-in-the-world?page=5)</p>
<p>[World’s</a> Best Universities: About the Rankings - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/articles/2011/10/18/worlds-best-universities-about-the-rankings-2011]World’s”>http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/articles/2011/10/18/worlds-best-universities-about-the-rankings-2011)</p>