Being from a state with a relatively small population may be a slight advantage. Rice may not draw as many applicants from NH as it does from other places. After Texas, the state with the most students in the class of 2021 is California. It may be harder to get into Rice from Texas and especially from Houston as the school is very well known and many of the top students in Texas and Houston apply. Here is an article from CC that addresses the residency question, http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rice-university/1917174-rice-and-texas-in-state-representation-p1.html