magd

1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The current attorney general and the good-looking Bush nephew went there
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh

patsmom

Come on, guys, you have to get this post up to #101!! Surely there are at least 17 more reasons. I'll add one...

1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The current attorney general and the good-looking Bush nephew went there
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh
85. The ENORMOUS squirrels (some are as big as cats!)

mysticpizza

1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The current attorney general and the good-looking Bush nephew went there
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh
85. The ENORMOUS squirrels (some are as big as cats!)
86. reminds me of the food (rice)
87. in the city with amazing shopping
88. the rice box on the application

sudu1989

89. I really like their site.

*This really is one of the main reasons I applied to Rice .*

90. They have a really good alumni network.

lauras50

91. The amazing events available on the campus calendar. Today alone there was "What is existence", Star gazing at night (Rice Space institute); Brown Bag Seminar on Study of Women and Gender; a Symposium - The Hacienda and the Plantation: Historical, Political, and Cultural Legacies; Autrey Symposium, - Aristotelian Natural Philosophy; Keck Seminar Series: Life in a crowd: macromolecular crowding and confinement effects on protein interactions in living systems; the movie TRUE WEST by Sam Shephard, and that was just today! Check out the campus calendar for an amazing banquet of intellectual and fun offerings!

Clendenenator

1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The hip-shaking music videos on YouTube when you type in "rice university"
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh
85. The ENORMOUS squirrels (some are as big as cats!)
86. reminds me of the food (rice)
87. in the city with amazing shopping
88. the rice box on the application
89. I really like their site.
90. They have a really good alumni network.
91. The amazing events available on the campus calendar. Today alone there was.........Check out the campus calendar for an amazing banquet of intellectual and fun offerings!

***I changed #43 (my own post) because I decided that I agree with whoever said it was a bad thing. I don't know why I put it up in the first place. I hate Republicans and I am a guy who isn't gay.

Joe (Caltech '04)

"1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus"

What? Clearly none of you have been to Stanford. Or dare I say it, Caltech. (But Stanford would be the more typically-cited place.)

Clendenenator

I don't know what Caltech looks like, but Stanford is, in my opinion, not as nice looking as Rice. The main quad is pretty, but a lot of other parts are really ugly.

But, in the manner of fairness, we'll vote on it. Who else thinks it should be changed? Maybe add the word "arguably?"

february_rain

As someone who goes to Stanford about every other week, I can honestly say that I like Rice a lot more. Sure, the Oval is gorgeous at Stanford, but IMO, Rice is a lot greener overall and has a LOT more trees, which puts it on top for me.

I've never been to Caltech though.

torrestowers

1. Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The hip-shaking music videos on YouTube when you type in "rice university"
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh
85. The ENORMOUS squirrels (some are as big as cats!)
86. reminds me of the food (rice)
87. in the city with amazing shopping
88. the rice box on the application
89. I really like their site.
90. They have a really good alumni network.
91. The amazing events available on the campus calendar. Today alone there was.........Check out the campus calendar for an amazing banquet of intellectual and fun offerings!
92. Project Runway winner Chloe Dao's boutique is just a stone throw away. Lot 8

patsmom

Really? I LOVED Chloe on Project Runway! I didn't know she was in Houston. I'll be sure to check out her store is S ends up attending Rice! Thanks for the heads up, TT

mysticpizza

Best-looking Spanish architecture of any college campus
2. 5th highest endowment per student
3. #1 quality of life
4. #1 class/racial interaction
5. One of the two smallest research universities in the country
6. Shepherd School of Music
7. Residential college system
8. Very close access to the Texas Medical Center
9. Champion Baseball team
10. Amazing profs
11. Nanosci!
12. The people there
13. Classes offered
14. In Houston
15. Rice-Baylor
16. "Southern Ivy"
17. next to the Lightrail
18. 300 acre downtown campus
19. Rice Village
20. Brilliant and nicce and helpful students
21. Small number of people
22. Accesible Adminiostration
23. School of Engineering and Architecture
24. The Marching Owl Band (MOB)
25. Still the best value in higher education
26. Produced the only PhD to quarterback an NFL champion.
27. Loads of fun
28. Yummy ethnic food in restaurants in the area
29. Warm weather (usually)
30. Only university to host both the superbowl and the G7 summit
31. Baker Institute speakers
32. Chris the hamburger guy at South Servery
33. Passport to Houston perks (free light rail and bus, discounted museum/theater/symphony tickets)
34. $5 tickets to the Astros
35. the honor code
36. Jake Poteet
37. Screw Yer Roommate (It is exactly how it sounds)
38. The Outer Loop
39. Jarett Dillard
40. Azalaes
41. Being in Texas for Blue Bell Ice Cream
42. Having school colors be the same as the Ravenclaw house colors in Harry Potter
43. The hip-shaking music videos on YouTube when you type in "rice university"
44. 40,000 single males more than single females in Houston.
45. So many study breaks!
46. O-week.
47. Competitive Powderpuff
48. Beer-Bike
49. House of Pies
50. RUPD
51. Rice Coffeehouse
52. Mike Gustin's Bio class.
53. Elmo went there. I'm not joking.
54. Club Sports are so easy to join.
55. Clubs for everyone's interests.
56. Wiess College
57. The 180, 45 and 90 in the engineering quad... lots of fun to climb
58. My girlfriend is going there.
59. Interim Decision option (at least it's a reason to apply)
60. NOD
61. Baker 13
62. Niels from this season of Beauty and the Geek is a Rice grad.
63. Willy's Pub
64. Piece of the Berlin Wall on campus
65. Dalai Lama and Pr. Clinton have spoken on campus
66. Prof. Houston's Public speaking class
67. Pres. Kennedy gave his "ask not what your country can do for you..." speech at Rice
68. Itzhak Perlman, whom many consider to be the world's premier violinist, has conducted and played at the Shephard School where his daughter graduated from last year. He dubbed it the second best school for orchestral studies behind the famed Juilliard
69. Collaboration over competition amongst students
70. Larry Izzo, 3-Time Super Bowl Champ with the New England Patriots, was an All American at Rice
71. Lance Berkman, 4-time All-Star with the Houston Astros and all-around good guy, was an All-American at Rice.
72. The zoo is very close (I don't know. I just like zoos)
73. Classes outside
74. Easy/flexible distribution req.
75. Easy to double major as result of #74
76. Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HuMed)
77. Sephiroth226 is there.
78. Gives dad a reason to crack random 'rice' jokes whenever we go out to eat.
79. It is after all "RICE UNIVERSITY"
80. Owl mascot
81. Tons of residential college spirit
82. Wonderful Live Oak trees (don't have them in the N.E.)
83. Generous Merit Aid (thank you, Rice)
84. Students are friendly, and great to prefrosh
85. The ENORMOUS squirrels (some are as big as cats!)
86. reminds me of the food (rice)
87. in the city with amazing shopping
88. the rice box on the application
89. I really like their site.
90. They have a really good alumni network.
91. The amazing events available on the campus calendar. Today alone there was.........Check out the campus calendar for an amazing banquet of intellectual and fun offerings!
92. Project Runway winner Chloe Dao's boutique is just a stone throw away. Lot 8
93. At one point in time, Rice owned Yankee Stadium

torrestowers

Yay we are almost there! I remember something about Rice owning the land that NASA Houston/ Clear Lake HQ is on and in exchange for cheap rent, NASA built some buildings on the campus. If someone could verify/ make this comprehensible we could be one step closer!

Consolation

All of the above are negated by the fact that it's in Texas. <G>

torrestowers

Are you from Texas or have you visited Houston? I am not a texan so I would never describe myself as a "proud texan" nor do I fit any stereotypes of what a texan is, but you have to realize that most universities anywhere are very different from the surrounding city. The truth is that while in a university your contact with the surrounding city is very limited so the things that you dislike about Texas or any state/ city you are in you rarely see. Maybe you can give a little more details of why you think Texas is such a horrible place to be.