<p>HELP! I need to decide whether I will attend Rice or Wash U very soon. Which city is better/more fun for a college student: Houston or St. Louis? Is the weather too harsh at Wash U? Which school offers greater access to humanities programs. I want to major in English but I also want the freedom to take a wide range of classes. Which student body is more supportive of its sports teams?</p>
<p>I currently live in houston and will be going to WashU next year. I have only visited St. Louis once and from what I saw I liked the city more than Houston. Here is a list of pro/cons that I am able to list.</p>
<p>Houston:
Pros: access to beach (galveston about 1 hour away), huge city with many things to do downtown (theaters, bars, etc), Museum district is nice, houstonians tend to be very nice people, mediocre sport teams (besides soccer), campus is very close to downtown, NASA
cons: it is a pain to travel anywhere around time (traffic is horrible as well as public transportation), Houston is huge and has a lot of people (you can travel an hour in one direction and still be in the city limits), museums cost money, its very hot and humid with a brief winter</p>
<p>St. Louis:
Pros: medium size city with lots of things to do, central park right in front of campus (larger than central park in nyc), free history, art museum, and zoo inside the park, good sport teams (cardinals, rams, not sure about hockey/basketball), easy to navigate city with public transportation (WashU gives a students free passes), MidWest Charm, The Loop (one of the top ten streets in America with eateries, bars, and shopping about a 10 minute walk from campus), 4 season weather,
Cons: no access to beach, Campus is about 15 minutes from downtown, </p>
<p>Please understand that I have lived in Houston for the past 10 years and have not found it to be a great city but at the same time I am lacking in my knowledge of St. Louis</p>
<p>I’ve posted this answer to this question on the Rice forum, but I’ll reprint it here:</p>
<p>I feel particularly qualified to answer this question since I have one son at Rice and one at Wash U.</p>
<p>Both are really fantastic schools and both my sons are very happy. You really can’t go wrong with either.</p>
<p>These schools have a lot of similarities – both have really friendly, down-to-earth, collaborative and happy students who are bright and interested in academics. The Rice student body tends to seem a little more quirky and less of the more social kids in high school (note I said high school because I think they come into their own while at Rice). The residential college system promotes greater interaction among classes, while Wash U’s South 40 provides a great community of freshmen.</p>
<p>Both Rice and Wash U have fabulous campuses – beautiful and with outstanding facilities. The location is also similar, with both next to a large public park (complete with golf course and zoo) and have light rail stops at the edge of campus. Wash U has the Loop within walking distance and Rice has Rice Village (which is a little larger and has more shopping and a wider selection of restaurants).</p>
<p>With regard to which is a better city, well I find it funny that an incoming Rice student from Missouri thinks Houston’s better (on the Rice forum) and an incoming Wash U student from Houston thinks St Louis is better (on Wash U forum). Both have their positive and negatives, but I’ve found that both cities are filled with really friendly people. From a parent perspective, Houston is a growing city with a large number of Fortune 500 companies with great internship opportunities, and St Louis is a declining city. Houston also has a more abundant amount of great restaurants. I’ve really tried to find good restaurants in St. Louis, and it’s definitely more limited. I’ve also found that on Parent’s weekend in St Louis that it’s difficult to get a reservation because there are only a handful of restaurants that are worth going to. In Houston, that would never happen. But from a student perspective, so much time is on campus that the cities are really a wash.</p>
<p>In terms of weather, Houston weather is hot and humid the first month and a half of school and that’s it’s pretty sunny, pleasant and mild for the rest of the school year (except for torrential rainstorms now and then a few cold days thrown in). My Houston-born son thought he was happy to leave Houston weather and was shocked at how cold and gray it was in St. Louis (and for how long).</p>
<p>But in the end, they both absolutely love their schools and couldn’t see themselves anywhere else.</p>
<p>Hey now! I live in St. Louis and can kind of help you out, at least with “Tha Lou”! Blackeyedsusan has a typical view of St. Louis over the last 3-5 decades, that it was once a great city that has fallen apart, and in many respects that’s true. However over the last decade the city (notice I said city as in St. Louis, the city and county are split and it seems like two completely different towns) has seen a great resurgence.
It is true that you may have to search a bit, but its gettin alot easier to find some truly world class attractions in St. Louis. </p>
<p>Just some places to check out if you visit again, other than the Loop (washu makes it seem like that’s all there is in st. louis) Washington Avenue in downtown, North and South Grand, Cherokee Street, Lafayette Square, Midtown Alley, Central West End, Old North St. Louis, Lacledes Landing, “The Grove”, Maplewood. Those are mainly dining/shopping districts and they are definitely thriving. </p>
<p>If you have any more questions about St. Louis let me know!</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for the info, RuskiBear. I didn’t mean to imply that St Louis doesn’t have attractions or areas of interest, just that in terms of job growth and new business, it’s in a state of decline, where as Houston is in a state of growth. And I do love visiting St Louis! Of course, the main reason is because that’s where my son is! But if you compare St Louis and Houston, I think Houston is more dynamic and varied.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wouldn’t disagree on that either. Hopefully with a Washu degree (waitlisted fingers crossed) I can help fix the mess that has become St. Louis city hall and get more investment in the city, like the Chinese air hub at Lambert I’m praying gets done. [MIDWEST-CHINA</a> HUB COMMISSION AND LAMBERT AIRPORT REACH AGREEMENTS IN CHINA FOR JOINT AIR FREIGHT STUDIES | STLtoday](<a href=“http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/business/PR03301011163652]MIDWEST-CHINA”>http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/business/PR03301011163652) for more information.</p>
<p>Saint Louis I think, and hope, is on its way back. People are finally starting to realize you have to invest in your city if you want anything out of it, and that mentality can be seen with all the recent redevelopment the city has experienced. The urban core is still here from when we were the 4th biggest city in the country! We just need people, as hard working and innovative as they were back then, to fill it up.</p>
<p>My son may land up in St Louis at WashU 
Still worried about his dislike for cold though! Perhaps next winter will be mild?</p>
<p>Last few winters have been pretty mild. I think I only had 2 snow days this year and we get it off for pretty much everything 2 inches or deeper. Also this spring already seems hotter than usual</p>
<p>FYI… most of the museums near Rice do not charge Rice students. Rice also subsidizes city transportation. Like WashU, Rice is in a very “green/parklike” location of Houston by Hermann Park, a golf course, Houston Zoo (which is also free to students), museums, and the world’s largest medical center. WashU is in a great location (I visited the campus twice and was strongly considering going to WashU), but I feel like Rice’s location has slightly more to offer.</p>
<p>slik nik, That is why people should visit schools. What is best for one person may not be best for someone else. Like I have often said; it is all about fit. Best fit of school for a student and best fit of student for school. Either way, you can not go wrong with either Rice or WashU. Glad that you found the best fit for you.</p>