<p>An anecdote: a class already was overpacked- 22 out of 19 students were enrolled. I sent an eMail to the professor (Dr. Huston, for any Rice people reading this), asking if I could talk to him about letting me at least sit in on the class in the hopes that someone would drop it. He said it was fine and I should drop by his office the next day. We ended up chatting for about 30 minutes, with maybe five of those about the class and preparation and the rest was just friendliness. I could go on about how great a guy he is, and how it’s awesome that a teacher as good as he is (he’s not allowed to win any more faculty awards) is teaching an intro English 200 course, but what’s more useful is that he had significant experience at some northeastern schools (Wesleyan for undergrad, and Yale for grad and taught there too) and told me that he believes that Rice University is the best choice for most undergraduates. </p>
<p>So, that someone with significant Ivy experience is extolling Rice is significant, and also consider Rice’s endowment- the last I heard it has the third highest endowment to student ratio in the nation (behind Harvard at one and someone, maybe Stanford, at second). A senior was telling me how easy it is to get funding here; if you want to do something valuable, they have resources, almost no question about it.</p>