Here’s another look at the topic of value. Like Forbes, Money magazine publishes a ranking of best colleges for value (cost vs earnings). Here are their top 10 private colleges with their overall (public and private) ranking number:
Princeton
6.. Stanford
MIT
Harvard
Vanderbilt
Cal Tech
Yale
Duke
Rice
Washington & Lee
Rice ranks ahead of 5 of the 8 Ivies and 12 of the 14 in the Big Ten… As far as reputation is concerned, the only thing that matters is whether employers and grad schools know about Rice. They unquestionably do.
Rice has the benefit of being in the fourth-largest city in the United States. Along with its traditionally strong economy and affordable cost of living, Houston is a multi-cultural hub: restaurants, concerts, museums, professional sports, etc. Houston offers two airports with non-stop flights to most U.S. cities. Bush Intercontinental is an international airport with non-stop flights to many cities around the world.
Rice also has the benefit of being less than two miles from the largest medical complex in the world (Texas Medical Center) which houses the traditionally, top-ranked MD Anderson Cancer Center. The campus is right in the center of Houston but has a beautiful, defined campus that offers an “oasis-type” feel in the middle of the big city.
Rice should be a consideration for any student who considers himself/herself an elite school candidate. Top employers, graduate schools, professional organizations, and internships are more than aware of Rice and its prestige.
Don’t let some uninformed goober from your hometown dissuade you from seriously considering Rice (or any other top school for that matter) just because he has “never heard of it”.
"For undergraduate teaching, USNEWS ranks Brown is #3, Dartmouth #5, and Rice #8. Maybe as a whole all the other T20s are more prestigous/chosen more often, but for undergrads, Rice among Brown, Dartmouth and Pricneton lead the pack and that is undeniable. "
Many exaggerated statements in this thread but "undeniable"only means according to US News. According to the same rankings, Georgia State is at 3, Arizona State is 10, UM-Baltimore is 12 and the maligned UM (large lecture halls at Michigan any day of the week) is 13 and Yale at 14!
How much credibility would you put in a teaching ranking where ASU is ahead of Yale? close to zero, but ok I’ll grant Rice is at 8, there but you have to grant that it’s not all that much ahead of Michigan and behind schools much larger it.
“Like Forbes, Money magazine publishes a ranking of best colleges for value (cost vs earnings).”
Another ranking that does not support the greatness that is Rice. This list is filled with public universities because that is where you attend if you want value. If you want to say to attend Rice over say Williams (#39) that’s reasonable. But not Michigan is #8 or any of the private universities ahead of Rice.
If you add both rankings, this is what many people do if they just looked at the rankings the first time:
Rice - composite of 33 (lower the better)
UM - composite of 21
Only if you define value as lowest cost, which neither Forbes nor Money did. For some reason you’re choosing to ignore the working definition of “value”, which is stated right in the quote to which you replied…
Rice is an unusual school in many respects. You say it intrigues you, so maybe some of those things are attractive to you. We looked at Rice for our S19, although in the end he decided he wanted a smaller school and did not apply. It is a very impressive school academically, with an interesting history and a strong financial position that enables it to keep tuition down and attract an economically diverse student body. It has the feel of an LAC although it is a university, and it is in Texas rather than in the Northeast. It has a residential house system. It is located on a beautiful campus but it is right in the city of Houston in a great neighborhood. I thought it was amazing.
What makes Rice special? It’s perhaps one of the only “universities” (not counting LACs) that truly gives you a small school setting but with large school resources. Unlike other T20 school, Rice is really one of the best places to attend for undergrad. You can always go to grad school at any other T20.
Rankings smankings. Let that stuff go. This is my favorite ranking tool. Once you pick a method and see the ranking, be sure to refresh it a few times http://www.rankyourcollege.com/jggtcmethod.html
It clearly seems like Rice isn’t the school for you. If you need to ask someone for a school you never heard about, you’ll likely wish you went to a more well known school.
Rice just isn’t well known outside of Texas, and its super small size doesn’t make it useful for networking. The Houston weather sucks too, it makes you miserable.
Sorry, but a “new” poster who signs on to slam a school or a poster’s question about a school doesn’t pass the smell test. And its just plain wrong. As has been said MANY times here, quite often those who need to know about Rice know about Rice, when it comes to networking or interviewing, etc.
There are lots of excellent schools that people are unfamiliar with. Thats why people come to CC to learn!
Many small schools, Rice included, have excellent networking opportunities. And as for the weather, yes it gets hot and humid, but its easier to go into the air conditioned buildings than to freeze and dig ones car out of the snow up north.
The OP said it was research and rankings that led them to Rice. If the student and/or the parent look at some rankings (eg best value, etc) and maybe read Rugg’s Recommendations, fine. But those looking only at things like USNews without looking at why a school is a good fit is going to look like they are aiming for the bumper sticker.
this thread is called Rice vs t20, the OP mentioned ranking and t20 throughout. It’s clear that rankings are important to the OP, specifically US News. The schools subsequently mentioned are all in US News t20.
You may want to look at it from the kids’ perspective once in a while.