<p>Elrod, if Rice dropped down to D3 athletics, it would take away a huge part of what makes the school so attractive. Baseball may not be as popular as football and basketball, but it’s part of what makes Rice Rice. Besides, it’s not like the school is short on cash and needs to downgrade its athletic programs.</p>
<p>Plus on the rare occasion that it occurs, it’s fun to watch the football team score 77 points and have NCAA records broken in one game.
I’m from the northeast and I’ve gotten the “Rice, where’s that?” comment.</p>
<p>ha…funny thread…we had the same “feedback” when attending a wedding in Baltimore after son visited Rice…East coasters all shuddered at the prospect of moving to Texas on purpose. No flames please, born there.</p>
<p>“What’s your second choice?”
Rice University
“<em>confused look</em> Where is that?”
Houston, Texas
“You want to go to school with hicks?”</p>
<p><_< <em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>S is at Rice (from Northeast). We attended Owls Weekend after he was accepted. We left NYC in April, during an early spring Nor’easter, last plane out of NYC! The temperature was somewhere in the 40’s, and it was a typically gray northeastern excuse for spring. We arrived in Houston to see 75 degree weather, flowers everywhere. First stop: Starbucks, across from the galleria (we had just checked into our hotel and wanted coffee). Any doubt I had about Houston was instantly gone: very cosmopolitan, ultra friendly, and nice weather.</p>
<p>Lemme tell you, it’s even worse as an alumni recruiter for Rice. Y’know how difficult it was to convince Californians to leave the gorgeous terrain around Los Angeles and San Diego and consider moving to <em>Houston</em>?? ;)</p>
<p>Seriously, Rice has its viewbook, and then it has another flier, just as large as the viewbook, that’s called something like, “Houston-- It’s Cooler Than You Think!” </p>
<p>College fairs would go something like this:
Me: Hey, let me tell you about Rice University!
Them: Rice…? Where’s that…?
Me: Well, it’s in Houston. …wait! Wait, where are you going!? It’s not that baaaad…!</p>
<p>Everyone who’s anybody in hiring or grad school admissions knows Rice, though, and it’s very well-respected.</p>
<p>I think there’s a campaign going called, “Houston - it’s worth it”. ;)</p>
<p>But, uh, I’m a native Houstonian, so I can’t really talk about biases that occur outside of Texas - anybody in Houston who hears that you’re going to Rice will be very impressed.</p>
<p>Although the people in your HS might prefer Penn and Hopkins, the folks in the grad schools, particularly the medical schools, at Penn and Hopkins consider Rice grads to be among the best-prepared in the country.</p>
<p>I asked my sister who has lived in HOuston for 20 years about Rice–I wondered if it was a place where Houstonians sent their kids to school. Her answer–“Naah…they can’t get in.”</p>
<p>Rice is DS’s first choice school. Today I was speaking with my generally very conservative accountant (he lives in NY) and I told him about Rice and our hope for merit scholarship. I could not believe it when he told me he would recommend taking out full value loans for MIT or Duke if DS would be accepted there. I’ve gotten similar responses from other NY friends and relatives who think big names will open more doors. I, for one, am very content with the prestige associated with Rice and concerned far more about the overall experience and academic/research opportunities DS would have at this incredible school! I can’t imagine the burden 100K+ in loans for an undergraduate degree would put on me or DS in this very frightening economy.</p>
<p>I’d suggest changing accountants. (-:</p>
<p>Most of my family went to Duke. Son passed on Duke for Rice. He made the right decision. Rice is in a league of its own.</p>
<p>I’m with Berkleymom! How can you be “conservative” AND recommend that kind of debt for undergrad?</p>
<p>Rice junior D is very happy and can’t imagine being anywhere else!</p>
<p>rice is incredibly prestigious in texas, especially houston.</p>
<p>Whoever thinks that Rice should consider dropping athletics down to DIII is incredibly ■■■■■■■■. Do you realize why Duke has risen in the rankings over the last twenty years is due in part to their basketball team’s success in the 90s? Do you realize that Rice’s baseball team’s success, and our football team finishing in the top 30 and winning a bowl game to get a 10 win season is a reason for why Rice has had more apps this year than any other year?</p>
<p>Yeah, west side wolf is right in that aspect, men’s basketball amd baseball and football are big and popular. </p>
<p>however, women’s swimming? women’s and men’s cross country? wmen’s volleyball?</p>
<p>Rice wastes money funding these d1 programs and their recruiting and these sports’ athletic scholarships.</p>
<p>Seriously, let’s be honest, very very few people care about these sports, they don’t improve the school’s ranking, they should just be downgraded to division III.</p>
<p>Actually, a study commissioned by Rice in 2004 found that Rice should have <strong>strongly considered</strong> dropping to a Div. II or III school. Staying a Div I is probably what was, from a financial standpoint, “■■■■■■■■”, as you say, westside wolf. The sports department is bleeding money every year. [Rice</a> smallest school in top tier of NCAA - College Sports - ESPN](<a href=“Castle scores 20 as top-ranked UConn beats Providence 74-65 in foul-filled game - ESPN”>Rice smallest school in top tier of NCAA - ESPN) The recommendation was made to stop the massive financial losses the school experienced from its sports department (then estimated at $10 million a year) but the Board rejected the recommendation and chose to stay a Div I school. Hence the need to raise fees (tuition, parking, to name a few) and the need to increase the size of the school.</p>
<p>I believe that basketball may pay for itself, as well as football and baseball paying for themselves as well as several other sports. theendusputrid, there’s a problem with you idea, considering that there’s the issue of Title IX, in that there has to be the same amount of scholarship money(or maybe it’s sports or number of scholarships, I’m not sure) for guys and girls. And let’s be honest, according to your argument nearly all universities should disband swimming, cross country, and volleyball, because how many of those sports make ANY money at ANY school. I mean I don’t know how many schools tout men’s cross country as the money maker, not even powerhouses like Arkansas and Colorado. What makes money for them? Football and men’s basketball, and baseball in Arkansas’ case.</p>
<p>Westside wolf,
According to the McKinsey report of 2004, none of the Rice teams are covering their own expenses. The baseball team has done well nationally, but still operates at a deficit. The McKinsey report shows that the athletics dept was losing $10M a year 5 years ago.( Who knows what it is now.) Pg 52 shows that ALL teams were operating at a deficit. <a href=“Rice”>Rice; This is a sobering document, but very interesting reading. Start reading at about pg 41. Pg 49 shows that Rice spends more per student on sports than any of their comparable schools by a longshot. Read the full report.</p>
<p>That’s good reading, jym626. I’ll certainly admit that my source on that info was biased, as he plays one of the big 3 sports, and he likes to spout his mouth off too. But it is possible that things have improved a little bit in 5 years, but probably not to the level of what he told me.</p>