<p>I still don’t think it’s a myth. I know several incredibly well-qualified applicants from the Houston area (some who even applied ED) who were rejected or wait-listed. I think the caliber of the applicant pool from Texas is likely stronger as a whole. Think about it – the cream of the crop of every large high school in Texas applies to Rice since it’s the best private school for thousands of miles. If you were a top applicant in Texas and you wanted a smaller college environment (as in non-UT), you would apply to Rice because the next best school is where – Northwestern? Vanderbilt? Duke? Nothing close to here. It’s a whole different ballgame than if you lived in the northeast!</p>