3 out of how many exactly? I know literally hundreds of Hopkins students that loved their time there. You have a small sample size to say the least. I personally know 5 people that transferred from Rice to Duke/Stanford because they did not fit in with the nerdy/quirky vibe at Rice - but this means Rice’s undergrad life isn’t great right?
See above for quantified counselor ratings of Hopkins versus Rice nationwide. I too had a high school counselor who had been at her job for 3 decades. She strongly recommended Hopkins over Rice and Emory. Should I have trusted your counselor more than mine? In retrospect, a resounding no.