Vanderbilt versus Rice?

Gh0st3737
Sun, 23 Apr 2017 04:44:45 +0000

(Part 2 of 2)

Common Concerns: Many people seem to be concerned about Rice being in Texas. To this I would like to point out that while Texas is usually a solid red state, all of the major cities in Texas lean left and Rice students in particular voted 90%+ Clinton/3rd party. In fact, in the Architecture building window there was a sign 2 weeks ago that said “No Ban No Wall.”
Another concern prefrosh often have is a perceived lack of diversity due to ~40% of the incoming class coming from Texas. I completely understand why this may seem alarming, but something many people fail to fully grasp is the size of Texas. It actually takes about the same amount of time to drive from Houston, TX to El Paso, TX as it does to cross 3 state borders and drive from El Paso to Los Angeles, CA. There is a wide range of people in Texas and diversity rankings prove this, for Rice is ranked the 5th most diverse college by Best Colleges and 24th by US News (preceded by 4 other TX colleges).
People also often cite the weather as a big concern. While Houston does get pretty darn hot, most of the unbearable weather and unflattering humidity occurs during the summer. In fact, I think the weather during the school year is actually a pretty big plus, because apart from California or Florida, where else can you go the whole year wearing practically only shorts and the occasional sweatshirt? Plus, hanging out outside or in the courtyard is pretty much possible and comfortable all year round. I will concede though that Houston is definitely humid.

I will say that Rice may not be for you if…

You want a social system dominated by Greek life,
You want to go to big sports school filled with “Ra ra ra” enthusiasm,
You cannot stand humidity,
You have to go to a place where it snows,
You can’t handle rice runs,
Or you want to go to a large university.

I hope this was helpful!