<p>@ring<em>of</em>fire:</p>
<p>First of all, the Gallup Poll you cited is outdated… created in 2003. A lot changes in six years… not much, but reputations still change. Secondly, this is the poll of the GENERAL PUBLIC. Gallup even admits it: “from time to time Gallup measures what colleges the general public considers to be the best in the nation.” Sure, I bet there were some educated, intelligent people who responded, but I bet the majority of the responses were from the average American who only know of HYPSM and of their state schools. This Gallup poll is not a poll of educated individuals. These respondents also tend to know of most of these schools through athletics. Seriously, Penn State, Ohio State, Texas A&M above Columbia, Brown, and Cornell? Give me a break!</p>
<p>One of the conclusions of the report was as follows: “The very highly rated California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, and Washington University in St. Louis, all in the top 10 in the U.S. News ratings, are mentioned by less than 1% of the general population.” Just because certain elite colleges, like Rice and these others, did not make this list does not mean that they are unknown outside of their region (they are not merely regional schools). Employers certainly know about CalTech, Dartmouth, and probably WashU throughout the country. This is just one poll, and you cannot make your lofty generalizations based only one poll. </p>
<p>Anyway, both Rice and Duke are great schools. However, I feel that you personally cannot say that Rice is unknown outside of Texas because you do not know Rice well enough to make such claims; you only heard of Rice during your first year at Duke. I have known of Rice for the past 3 and a half years. In addition, Schee10 and I have researched Rice very deeply, have talked to a countless number of friends, relatives, and others about the school, and have discovered that people know and respect Rice outside of Texas, even in places like California and Ohio. Sure, it is not as well known as Duke, but it is definitely known outside of Texas.</p>