<p>I was saying that since these world rankings emphasize strength of graduate programs, Rice is not going to be ranked high because they are an undergraduate focused institution. Therefore, since Rice does not have very strong grad programs, it is not as prestigous as HYPSM throughout the world, even though Rice’s undergraduate programs are equal, if not superior, to some of those at HYPSM (depending on the department). I should have connected these dots better for you in my initial argument.</p>
<p>Basically my point was that if Rice was a bigger university and had a strong grad program, it will be more prestigious. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT (with the exception of Princeton) derive most of their prestige from their graduate programs. However, if Rice followed suit, it will then lose it’s undegraduate focus as well, which is the quality that makes it unique in the list of top 20 universities (only Princeton can also claim such an emphasis on undergrads).</p>