Given your list provided up front, I would say Rice - it has three minors so might have focus areas in the following: the minor in Classical Civilizations , the minor in Greek Language and Literature , and the minor in Latin Language and Literature .
If you apply to Tulane, ED is very important. It has similar Minors. You can get in non-ED but it’s a school heavily dependent on demonstrated interest,e tc.
I would personally (not knowing about the departments) recommend Rice over Tulane or apply to both. The reason I say this is based on your previous list - Tulane is much more a party atmosphere (often high on top party lists) - doesn’t mean you have to be but given its in New Orleans, it’s heavily greek, and it’s got an extremely wealthy student body.
It just seems to me, Rice fits better with the schools you noted up front - of course both are unlikely admission wise.
I think in the “close to Texas” realm - the Ts make the most sense - Tulsa and Trinity. Southwestern and Hendrix would make quality offerings at a much lower budget as well.
I have current senior at Tulane, though not in Classics. As others have suggested, take a good look at faculty and offerings to see if that fits your D’s interests.
One of the things I really like about Tulane is its flexibility and students’ ability to major and minor across colleges and pursue ‘exotic’ combinations that might not be possible elsewhere. You don’t have to declare a major until end of Sophomore year, lots of time to explore. There are distribution requirements but, again, they are very flexible. It’s possible to take graduate level classes as an undergrad. My daughter will end up with two bachelor degrees and a certificate.
There is greek life at Tulane but it is a far cry from SEC level greek. Greek and non greek mingle easily. In my D’s experience (she is not in greek) there is no exclusivity, she often goes to events with her greek friends.
Just to second this. S23 is there as well - and not in Greek life. Walk around campus and most students are wearing some sort of Tulane swag (the school hands out LOTS of stuff!) and only randomly will you see someone wearing something with a greek/house letters. Lots of students participate but it’s not the end-all be-all.
Oh, Tulane by reputation is much more of a party school than Rice is. The thing I will say about part of that dynamic though is that at Tulane there’s always something to do such that most students don’t have a fear of missing out on any one specific thing since there’s something going on tomorrow. So while that type of environment can be a risk for a student that would have difficulty balancing social/academic, the last number I saw was a graduation rate of ~85% which is slightly lower than Rice but still quite high.
Younger DS also did not participate in Greek life at Tulane, though he did go to some parties in frat houses, IIRC. Rice is less of a “party school” by reputation, but they do have events like Beer Bike, Baker 13, etc. One of my older DS’s Rice roommates taught a mixology class videoed from their dorm room living room his senior year. Needless to say it was not a sanctioned class Rice village had cute shops/restaurants.
Thanks for the comments on Tulane. The party life and other factors mentioned here make it sound like it’s not a good fit for my daughter. I appreciate your input!
Why are you saying Rice might not be a good option? Rice kids are a bit more “quirky” (IMO) than Tulane kids. Rice has the residential college system, which my s loved. More students want to stay ON campus at Rice, whereas many moved OFF campus at Tulane.
The downside of Rice, for my daughter, is the smaller and more limited Classics and Archaeology offerings. We visted the campus and she likes the college system and the overall feel of student life and the student body (from what we could tell from a campus visit).
As a general comment on archaeology, its study may be enhanced through methods and insights from the geological sciences. For this reason, students enthusiastic about archaeology may benefit from considering colleges with an available geosciences program. In any case, archaeology curricula often extend to full-credit summer field courses similar in some ways to those of the geosciences.
Rice village had cute shops/restaurants.