I saw this thread since you first posted it and almost created an account that night to give my 2 cents on your speech, but this thread has turned into something else entirely now (LOL). So I signed up to respond on the new theme. Here goes . . . .
If the difference in cost was HUGE, I can see more of an argument for going with the least cost, but environment has always been very important to my overall happiness. If I had not been happy in my environment at college, I would not have thrived there as I did. I think you’ve already figured out you want more out of the college experience than you got out of the high school experience. You feel like you missed a lot, but your hard work paid off! Now you get to choose the experience you want for college. If your gut is strongly telling you that one option is definitely not a good fit for the experience you want and you have the opportunity go to somewhere that does feel like a good fit, I’d go with your gut.
That said, I agree you need to give Rice another chance, trying to take your HS friends and brother’s girlfriend out of the equation. Pretend you didn’t get into UT and just focus on whether you feel like you could fit there if you didn’t have the UT option, or didn’t know anyone going to UT. I was a very social guy in high school and don’t feel like I missed anything, but the REAL and lasting life-long friends I made were in college.
Unless someone goes away to boarding school, the people they know in high school are limited to the community where their parents planted their roots. But now you are lucky enough to get to choose where you want to spend the next 4 years, and you will spend those years with other driven people pursuing their dreams from all over the country and the world, all with different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. It’s the ultimate melting pot and a phenomenal opportunity to broaden your horizons.
There were a few other people from my high school who went to my university (UCLA) including my best friend growing up who was valedictorian and had a full (athletic) ride, but that’s not why I went there. He was constantly training and spent most of his time with his teammates, which I expected. I met new friends who are still like family and we all keep in close touch. The people who stuck to the people they knew in high school really didn’t seem to grow as much. I learned far more from the people I met there from all walks of life than I did in any classroom.
I even ended up going into business with my best friend from college. Amazing to think that a simple “hello” on that fateful day we happened to end up in the same orientation group months before school even started began an inseparable friendship that completely changed the trajectory of my life.
But I chose my university over others because I felt like I fit there. As much as I enjoyed high school, that small bubble can be like a soap opera and I felt a smaller college would be similar. I wanted something different - a huge school in an urban city with endless people to meet and things to do. Everything about it energized me and made me feel alive, and I thrived there because the environment was such a great fit for me.
Then I went to a smaller, private university in a more suburban environment for law school. My instincts screamed no, no, no, but everyone said . . . how can you turn down this opportunity?! So I went, and once I got on the hamster wheel, I felt like I couldn’t get off without letting too many people down. Looking back, that was stupid. It was my life, not theirs. I didn’t listen to my instincts and was miserable.
But that’s just me. Big and urban was amazing, and small and suburban was suffocating. It’s the opposite for some people. They’d be completely lost and feel like they were being swallowed up in a large university, and need that small school environment to thrive. Everyone is different. You now need to decide between small in Houston or huge in Austin? Each provide a completely different college environment and experience.
When visiting Rice again, try to look at it just in terms of whether you could be happy there and thrive – INDEPENDENT of your high school friends, or how close to home you will be. If Rice still doesn’t feel like a good fit after you give it a fair and objective chance, don’t make the same mistake I did for grad school. Life is too short. Part of growing up is learning to tune into your gut instincts and trusting them. We can all guess, but no one can make a better guess at what is right for you than you can.
Anyway congrats! Two incredible opportunities you are deserving of, and I wish you ALL the best. Don’t forget you are incredible, and get some sleep already! 
