<p>Rice is a name that I keep seeing all over this site. I have heard of it and know it is in Texas and know that it has a very good repuation. However, what makes Rice such a good school? Why do so many people want to go to Rice?</p>
<p>It's tiny as heck. And it's in Houston. So you basically get the best of both worlds, in terms of the size of the school and environment around the school.</p>
<p>It's also excellent for internship opportunities.</p>
<p>It has a beautiful campus (one of the few places in Houston I would consider pretty), friendly students, and great professors.</p>
<p>Many students in Houston/Texas want to go to a selective school, but they don't want to leave Texas (you have to go pretty far to find highly ranked schools other than Rice), so they apply to Rice as a reach, and if they don't get in go to UT or A&M.</p>
<p>Rice was just ranked #3 by the Princeton Review for Best Undergraduate Experience. Though all rankings are suspect (to be generous), it is still a statement of Rice University's commitment to undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Does everyone who wants them get internships in Houston, or is there a national network?</p>
<ol>
<li>Combines the feel of LAC with major research university</li>
<li>Generous merit aid (there's a lot of money in the school...it's ranked somewhere in the top 5 for endowment per student)</li>
<li>Residential college system</li>
<li>Cheaper than peer institutions</li>
<li>Beautiful campus</li>
<li>D1 sports if you're into that (terrific baseball team)</li>
<li>Very talented student body</li>
<li>Very diverse</li>
<li>1 to 5 faculty to student ratio. Focus is on undergrads - professors are open and willing to help students out in any way they can. And when they do have to do research, they hire undergrads and give them valuable research experience.</li>
<li>Great for pre-meds (and the Rice/Baylor program)</li>
<li>Top music school</li>
<li>Top archeticture program</li>
</ol>
<p>I could go on and on ;)</p>
<p>Only drawback in my opinion - hot, humid weather</p>
<p>to post 5, there is a national network (as with any school) and internships are not limited to Houston. that is essentially the job of the career office when one looks for a job over the summer. they match you up with alumni in your area.</p>
<p>I agree with misterme's list, but on a more intangible level, the thing that really sets Rice apart from other top academic schools is that the students are really smart but don't take themselves too seriously. There's not the sense of entitlement at Rice that there is at the Ivies, Duke, etc. And on a possibly related note, Rice is really good with interaction between different races and classes. I really don't notice a separation between races, and people aren't generally judged on their financial standings.</p>
<p>I am a new Rice student and absolutely love it. I would never consider going to another school. There are a ton of things that set it apart from other universities. First of all EVERYONE is brilliant. I know freshman who came in with over fifty AP credits. That is not unusual here. Almost all of my new friends turned down at least two ivies to come here. Yet despite all of this the students are sooooooooooooo nice and friendly. I have not met a single snobby or stuck up person yet. The profs are great and you have a ton of flexability when picking out your schedule. How many other universities allow you two weeks of class time to pick and choose your schedule? Also if you come here you never have to worry about fitting in. They do such an amazing transition during o-week that you already have several friends by the time classes start.</p>
<p>"I know freshman who came in with over fifty AP credits"</p>
<p>is that possible?</p>
<p>my school doesn't offer enough ap classes to get 50 credits</p>
<p>Some came from TAMS, which is a "first two years of college during your last two years of high school" school, except that it's actually really reputable. One of my friends came in with more than 70 hours and is graduating in three years. I came in with 45, and I went to a regular high school.</p>
<p><em>cough</em> regular high school <em>cough</em></p>
<p>that's right regular high school for regular people like me</p>
<p>I came in with 45 credits out of a non-magnet public high school (although I won't be using all of them), and I certainly know people who have more.</p>
<p>nick - I wasn't dissing your high school. I went to pretty regular high school myself. I was just teasing NYSkins about his - I know people who went there, and it's a bit of a running joke.</p>
<p>Yeah, people come to Rice with A LOT of AP credit. I came in with 27 hours, which isn't that much compared to many people. I know someone who did all of her distribution with AP credit.</p>
<p>Okay, so my high school deserves an asterix by the adjective "normal."</p>
<p>I thought of another good thing about Rice, though, that kind of comes with the unbearably hot weather: air conditioning. Other schools may not have weather as bad as we do, but our buildings all have air conditioning, and it almost works too well. I'm freezing in my dorm right now.</p>
<p>I find it odd that sometimes the Houston heat makes a nice counterpoint to the temperature in my room. Still, I like it cold for sleeping, so I think I'll keep it.</p>
<p>The heat in Houston is really not all that bad. I am from AK and was really worried about how hot it would be down here. Personally I find the climate to be perfect. Sometimes the humidity bugs me but that is usually not the case. It is especially nice in the early evening and morning. You get used to it really fast and now I am cold when the temperature drops into the seventies. In my hometown it almost never climbed above the 60's in summer!</p>