<p>anonymousgal - Go with your “gut” feel about which school you think you would fit in. I have 2 kids at Rice that had great offers from other schools. They probably would have done well anywhere but they really liked Rice. At Rice, you have a built in family with the residential college system. Most kids want to live on campus unless they get bumped off (you’re guaranteed 3 years on campus). They have no problem getting around campus and Houston since they always have friends with cars. They also are involved in a club sport and still manage to get good grades. They’re both in engineering program although the one that is in BIOE has lots of projects.</p>