Schools like Rice

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I loved Rice. I just got done with touring and attending classes and such. I loved it last year.</p>

<p>What I love about it is the nice people. I love the fact that everyone seems to love what they are learning. I even loved the classes. I am definitely applying ED. Sports mean nothing to me, so, I really couldn't care less about a school having big sports. One thing that is important to me, though, is to be able to change my major. I am not certain of my major. I already got in to TAMU and I was going to apply to UT Austin. But I know I won't have much chance to explore other majors and if I change my mind about my major, I might be out of luck. </p>

<p>I am wondering what other schools people recommend for me to look at if I do not get in to Rice? My SAT scores were 2090 and I am going to retake that. I am taking the SAT 2 tests on Saturday. I have already passed 6 AP exams. I am in the top 11% of my class. I have tons of ECs and volunteer work. I am 1st chair in varsity orchestra and in the city orchestra. I spend my summers teaching environmental science to children, outdoors, in 100 degree weather (I have to wear jeans most of those days due to being outside). That is volunteer work. I used to be hearing impaired which affected my reading SAT score so I am not sure if I could bring it up.</p>

<p>I should mention that I could not stand Carleton College. I have had family members attend there and family friends closely associated there. In fact, I was pretty much already told I would be admitted if I applied. But my family members who went there are arrogant and rude. I really thought that was just that side of the family, but every student and alumni I have met there have been the same way. Maybe it is just a fluke, but I feel like all this is pushing me away. How can I see such nice, kind people at Rice when all I seem to find are arrogant rude people at Carleton (including my own relatives!)? Sorry that I am probably offending those who love Carleton, but I just have no interest in going that direction. I have toyed with going there anyway if I do not get in to Rice and maybe it will be different. But, really, I have not yet had one good impression of Carleton that went beyond online reviews from strangers. Everyone I have known in person or met from there has been, just not for me.</p>

2

<p>Clearly you like schools in Texas, so I would start there. </p>

<p>People from Texas are sometime like that, they like everything Texan and don’t really care for anything from, say, Minnesota. And the reverse can also be true, some of the rest of the country finds everything about Texas annoying. To each his own.</p>

3

<p>Maybe check out Trinity University in San Antonio.</p>

4

<p>MrMom…it is funny you say that because my Minnesota family cannot stand those of us in Texas also. The feelings between us seem to be mutual! My aunt has really been pushing me to come up there. But I cannot stand it there. On another interesting note, my South Dakota relatives do not like the MN ones. Now, none of us “dislikes” each other…we just…don’t like the attitudes, ideas, etc. We can still have holidays and family reunions. My SD cousins and uncle and grandma told me to forget the MN schools. The nicest remark I have heard from any of my SD family is “Minneapolis is nice I guess, if you like cities, and that kind of place.” LOL…I have a diverse family! But I like who I am, and clearly, I am not a Minnesotan. (but I admit that I LOVED St Olaf).</p>

5

<p>MrMom, Rice is a very unique school. Not being able to identify schools similar to Rice is not a mark of provincialism but rather an indication that very few universities have most of the attributes which Rice is known for.</p>

6

<p>barrk…I was supposed to visit them on Saturday but because of the storms, we skipped it. I am visiting it next month though. Thanks!!</p>

7

<p>Yeah, you clearly have a burr under your saddle about Carleton, as this is not the first thread you have ranted against them on CC. I live in the Carleton area and have had mixed experiences – I know some great Carls, and a few I don’t care for so much. No one (except maybe your family?) is pushing you to go there, so really no need to mention it in all your threads. There are thousands of colleges to consider; it is quite different from Rice anyway, so unlikely anyone would be suggesting it based on your question about finding schools like Rice. You mentioned Wash U on another thread, is that still on your radar? What is important to you besides what you consider to be “nice people”? I think you wanted the opportunity to continue with music, but do you have a major area you are seriously considering? What are your cost constraints (you may have said on another thread, I don’t recall)?</p>

8

<p>Yes, but Texas is Texas, and those partial to it are often VERY partial to it, a little like New Yorkers or Parisians. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially as a starting place.</p>

9

<p>I only mentioned my feelings about Carleton to try to explain what I like, and don’t like. That is all. And really, I loved St Olaf, which was in the same town.</p>

10

<p>I think it is a little simplistic to decide that one college is full of nice people and another college is populated by rude people.
What specific qualities would you like to see in alternate choices?</p>

11

<p>Well it may be simplistic but not uncommon. Picking a good fit school is a very inexact science. In fact picking a favorite anything is an inexact science and sometimes you just have to go with your early impressions.</p>

<p>I hear reviewers rave about the house system at Rice and was interested in this thread for that reason. That seems to be what separates Rice from some of its peers. Maybe the question is whether a similar house system is used elsewhere? Or just more generally is there a place with a similar vibe? Vague and subjective but still worth asking.</p>

12

<p>I’m not sure exactly what Rice’s House System is like, but other schools do use one. I see references to around 30 schools using one, but haven’t found a comprehensive list.</p>

<p>Here is what I’ve found so far, whether they are the same thing as Rice is up for debate:
Rice
CalTech
Yale
Harvard
Chicago
Franklin & Marshall
Bowdoin
Vassar
Trinity</p>

13

<p>I can be more specific. At Rice, people wore actual pants or shorts. They could make eye contact and carry on a conversation. They all seemed very excited about what they were studying. Every student I came in to contact with, was very eager to tell me about how much they love Rice and why they are there. Many said they got in to other schools, but picked Rice. </p>

<p>At Carleton, the tour guide wore underwear/boxers and dark sun glasses. He had apparently been out with his friends late the night before, and needed coffee to recover, is what he told us. He kept laughing and when around other of the tour guides, he would make inside jokes. He kept saying to ask questions. But when I did, he suddenly got a bothered look on his face and would say in an angry tone “I don’t know.” The last time I asked a question, he looked right at me and then moved on. My questions were not bad. For example, he pointed to a building that he said houses the linguistics department. I asked if a lot of students took linguistics. That question he did not dignify with an answer. An earlier question I asked was when he said he played the cello, I asked what he did with the cello, as in, play with an orchestra there or anything. He acted bothered by the question and said “I don’t know” and seemed angry. He treated most of us that way. But at the end of the tour, someone did ask why he chose Carleton. He said he did not. He said he had applied to Harvard and Princeton and such and didn’t get in. So since Carleton was the only place he got in, he decided he better look. He liked it when he saw it and decided to come to the school. During the course of this visit and a previous visit and then off campus visit with a couple of people who went there, not one person seemed excited about their studies. I would hear a lot of “love it there” and “everyone is so nice” but that is about it. Oh, and “you really get to know your professors.” That tour and then visits with students later that day are what sealed my crossing it off the list. </p>

<p>I love learning. I get excited about what I am studying. I also value my relationships with people. I read in the Fiske guide where they referred to Carleton as the “grunge” and I think that was pretty accurate. I am not interested in grungy snooty people. I would not be interested in pretty snooty people either, but please, if you are going to be snooty, at least put on your pants. </p>

<p>So I guess to sum it up, I like people who get excited about learning, who care about other people, who wear their pants when giving tours and stay sober long enough to do it. Carleton was, literally, the only school I saw that I did not like. On paper, in books, online, it looks perfect for me. In person, and meeting the people there, it was awful. </p>

<p>At Rice, people sat around and told me how they were majoring in one thing, and then picked up a second major because they just loved those classes so much, and so on. Everyone seemed genuinely interested in their school and interested in sharing. </p>

<p>One other biggie…since I do not know what I was to major in yet, it is important to be at a school where I can try different things and decide my major later. I can do that at Rice. I already got in to TAMU, but I am expected to declare my major right away there (which I already did). I am applying to UT Austin, but my parents are discouraging that, telling me that I won’t have the chance to explore, I have to declare my major from the start there too. I am visiting Trinity University end of October. I want to apply to Wash U, but I am thinking if I cannot get in to Rice, I won’t get in to Wash U.</p>

14

<p>Have you looked at the Claremont colleges? William and Mary might also be a fit. All of these are competitive, but see what you think. St. Olaf sounds like a great back-up plan if Rice and the other top schools don’t pan out. Trinity U another good one.</p>

15

<p>@MrMom, that’s a good list. Almost all of them are extremely competitive to get into except F&M and Trinity. I looked up F&M in USNWR and their residential system does sound very similar to how Rice’s system is described. Here’s the clip:</p>

<p>“One unique component of life as an F&M student is the “Harry Potter”-esque living situation. All first-year students are assigned to one of five college houses, known as Bonchek, Brooks, Weis, New and Ware. Each house is overseen by faculty members called dons and prefects. In each College House, students live together, share meals and plan and attend events. First-year students must live in their college house. Sophomores, juniors and seniors can choose to as well.”</p>

<p>One difference is that at F&M lots of kids go greek which IMO kind of nullifies the college house system. I think at Rice they just remain in their residential college and don’t have greeks.</p>

16

<p>It seems to me that you are looking at less competitive schools, since you’re saying in case you don’t get into Rice. So I picked some schools that are around the same size as Rice and also have good to excellent academic reputations, but that are generally less selective than Rice. They range from the low to mid 30% range (Lehigh, Tulane, URochester, Wake Forest) all the way to Lawrence University, which despite being a top 100 LAC admits 78% of their applicants.</p>

<p>Southern Methodist
Tulane
Fordham
Pepperdine
American
Wake Forest
URochester
Case Western
Lehigh
Marquette
Lawrence University
Clark University
Denison
Puget Sound</p>

17

<p>Most of those schools are night and day different from Rice, particularly SMU. </p>

<p>WashU and Emory are the closest to Rice, and there are still significant differences. Lots of cross applicants with UChicago, too, but again, very selective.</p>

18

<p>Going to suggest an odd one for you that is not quite in the same category as ‘Rice’ but still would have a similar look and feel - The University of Tulsa is a beautiful campus - Has Division 1 athletics, an extremely friendly student body and is a school that has been growing of late. </p>

<p>The downside is that it is not quite as ‘elite’ as Rice is. The upside would be that admissions would likely be easier and may even be on the ‘safety’ side perhaps even allowing you to more easily qualify for academic scholarships.</p>

<p>Others to consider:
Drake University (DesMoines, IA)
TCU (Fort Worth)
and TAMU-Commerce (One of the friendliest campuses I ever visited - but decidedly a small state school that wouldn’t have the same academics as Rice)</p>

19

<p>Definitely look into Trinity - I think it is the second best school in Texas (UT and A&M are very good schools, but for most students classes of 200 compared to classes of 30 are a major disadvantage). This may be a little bit of a stretch but look at SMU. I think SMU is really improving, and has a much more diverse and interesting student population than it did a decade or two ago.</p>

20

<p>Why not apply to St. Olaf? It is full if nice, enthusiastic, brilliant students. Also, check out Hope College in Holland, MI. Another great school full if positive, warm, smart students. What is it about Rice that puts it on a pedestal for you?</p>