"like" Rice
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
We have a kid at Rice and had the same concerns about Texas. But as OP knows, Rice has a lovely, very lush, very walkable campus. It's located in a nice area with lots of shops and residents. It's very safe. The world's largest medical center is nearby so the vibe of the neighborhood is very professional and comfortable. Rice has a very manageable size - about 8500 including grad students. It has a superb residential college college system. They're always engaged in friendly competitions with each other. Even the most introverted kid is going to find their cohort. Rice financial aid is outstanding so there's a strong middle class presence. And the students are both very friendly and exceptionally smart.
Houston is a very liberal, multicultural city. It probably has one of the best food scenes in America. The weather is great for most of the year. In the end, the fact that it's in Texas seemed incidental. Right-wing Texas politics seems very far away from Rice. This isn't Amarillo. Our kid applied ED and got in so we never had to make a choice. But I don't think there's any other school like it. Maybe Yale with its residential college system. But Houston is better than New Haven. And Rice is better at STEM. Also, Rice isn't very snooty or elitist. Perhaps Dartmouth if you're really into winter sports. But Houston has more opportunities than Hanover. WashU has a kind of country club atmosphere and feels like a rich kid school. I don't know anything about Tufts or Middlebury. I really can't think of any other school that has both the academic quality and vibe that Rice has. It's a unique school. |
Anonymous
| Caltech has houses. Duke is trying to start them. |
Anonymous
Not the same. I went to NU (and lived in one of the res colleges) & sib went to Rice. Both are great schools, both are great cities, but the vibes are very different. And honestly, if your kid doesn’t want to be in TX (politics, weather, whatever), then they don’t want to be in TX. |
Anonymous
|
I have had kids at both Rice and Dartmouth and while technically Dartmouth has a residential college system, it really is just in name only. There is no sense of identity based on which college you are in. All it does is limit who you can room with the following years because they have to be in your college.
I honestly feel like Rice is truly unique. Your residential college is your identity. You usually eat with people from your college (a couple colleges usually share a dining hall). Intramural sports teams are based on your college. Each college hosts a huge party each year. Plus there are no fraternities or sororities or eating clubs, so the college is really important to your experience on campus. I think it will be really hard for colleges like Duke that have fraternities and sororities to develop a residential college system. |
Anonymous
Yea, OP. Yale. Just send your kid to Yale. No problem. God I hate DCUM. |
Anonymous
|
While I’m going to guess that the location in Indiana and the Catholic aspects will rule this out for your kid, if those aren’t a dealbreaker, Notre Dame has a similar residential college system and community feel.
When I was looking at colleges 20+ years ago, I ended up debating between Rice and Notre Dame. There are very few other similarities between the two schools, but this question reminded me of at least one thing that must have drawn me to both back then. FWIW, I went to ND in part because I didn’t like the idea of Texas, but looking back now, I can really appreciate how great a choice Rice would have been back then! |
Anonymous
Well, the question was about comparable schools to Rice. Yale might be slightly harder to get into than Rice, but not by much. |
Anonymous
| Princeton, Yale, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Duke. |
Anonymous
|
I was really interested in Rice for my kid because of that residential college system. He has decided it’s a reach and he doesn’t want to “spend” his ED shot on it, and he also isn’t sure it’s quite the right fit academically for him (not a trad’l stem major)
I think it’s pretty unique in terms of the houses really having continuity for the kids throughout the 4 years. I wish more colleges would take this approach which seems like it really encourages community. F&M has residential colleges but my sense was that it’s primarily a first year thing and doesn’t become a sense of affiliation/identity (not sure what the right term is) the way they do at Rice. |
Anonymous
| Princeton |
Anonymous
I love your post and the WashU comment is certainly true but it is also true of Rice. Rice is a rich kid school. There is not a private in the top 40 schools that does not have a rick kid feel. Some more than others. Duke certainly. The Ivies. BC. Any elite school is a rich kid school and has a rich kid feel. I agree with all of your post but the WashU comment is broader. |
Anonymous
| Duke. Their new residential college system called QuadEx seems to be comprehensive and well thought out. It’s had mixed responses from upperclassmen who were used to the old residential model, but it seems new classes enjoy it. Structurally it’ll never been a “true” system as there is an east and west campus divide, but all students are invited to their quad events (dinners, dances, random activities) and it seems that students are starting to form quad identities. |
Anonymous
| Duke |
Anonymous
| Gettysburg |
Anonymous
Princeton. DS goes there and loves the residential college system. Lots of support, friendly staff, great dining halls. Yale is also a strong contender (though DS chose P over Y!  )
|