Thank you for your comment. I’ll sit down with my family and make the true final decision tonight. I appreciate it.
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My son loved Houston. He made lots of great friends and was very active both on campus and in Community service and political activities in the city. While he no longer lives in Houston, he stayed there for his internships and he still has many friends who stayed in Houston. It is a vibrant city. Not sure other than weird zoning what complaints you might have heard. The traffic there can be a challenge, but that’s true for any major metropolitan area.
Adding one more vote for the convenience of getting to Rice Village, and all that is available down there, access to the vast medical facilities and Medical Centers across the street, the museum District and the light rail. Also two airports make getting in and out of the city, extremely easy.
Houston is the largest city in the country without zoning laws. Results in a lot of weird combinations.
Many use deed restrictions to create small areas of restrictive use for land.
The heat & humidity is the most common complaint.
The positive is that the oil & gas industry creates a lot of jobs. However, when oil is down in price, the local economy suffers.
There are many areas that are vulnerable to the community industry. The zoning in Houston is amusing (which is why I mentioned it) But I don’t think it is interfered with anybody’s quality of life with the exception of a few bars next to churches, lol. That is not the reason for anyone to not choose Rice. Speaking as someone whose child spent four years at Rice, it is a non-issue.
What happened to the interest in baseball? Rice is a division 1, and their baseball team has at least in the past, been quite impressive.
Rice is just a four year experience. The OP has expressed an interest & intent to live in Houston after college, yet is unfamiliar with the city.
The money & restaurants are great, but many refer to Houston as something that cannot be printed here.
Giving up substantial savings at, at least, a semi-target IB university should be justified.
The undergrad business school at Rice is young and encourages transfer applications so OP may well have a second chance for Rice if unhappy at U Virginia. U Virginia has a great long-term track record regarding career placement.
OP: If you are not admitted to U Virginia’s business school after a year at Virginia, you can apply as a transfer student to Rice’s undergraduate business school.
I have no desire to steer the OP in either direction, but find some statements and questions to be of concern for one with such an outstanding alternative.
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If the student prefers an urban to a suburban/rural area, these are all worthwhile considerations. What they decide now may change in four years. And yes, most of the south contends with heat and humidity, but guess what -there’s air conditioning :-). I used to love seeing the pictures of the Rice students sitting out on the lawn and enjoying the sun in the winter months while those up north were freezing their bottoms off.
Looking forward to hearing what the OP decides. No need for a debate about their decision.
With the possibility he may not get accepted to the business school at UVA?
If he wants to live in Houston (or anywhere in Texas), Rice carries a lot more weight than UVA just from the alumni network.
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Good luck at UVA. It’s an amazing school.
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My son lived in the Montrose section of Houston these last three years. For what it is worth my northeast prep and Ivy League kid loved the Houston vibe. Line dancing, diverse food, bilingual community, club rugby and soccer, rodeos, spartan races, etc he couldn’t have been happier there.
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What did you decide?
These might be helpful to OP, although possibly a bit late:
The first thread you attached is from 2023. Since then UVA has adjusted their Finance program into a 3 year program while Rice has recently adjusted their IB program in a meaningful way.
Details are up thread as well for future readers…
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