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[quote=Anonymous]These are such different schools. Even before the current disturbances, Columbia has always been a cold, stressful college. Undergraduates are an afterthought. It can be a very lonely school. There's a big international cohort, which largely keeps to themselves. The Core Curriculum is not for everyone. Neither is Morningside Heights. NYC can be a tough place for four years as an undergrad, particularly for those who are not wealthy. When we visited, we did not get a good vibe. Students seemed unhappy. DC quickly dropped it off their list.

Rice and Amherst seem like much better places for undergrad. The thing about Amherst though is that it seems to be having an identity crisis presently. Not just the school, but the entire community - see The New Yorker article about Amherst. Like it's a very privileged community that's been tying themselves into knots for years now. And everyone is walking on eggshells. I think it would be tedious to spend four years in such an environment. Amherst is not big enough to ignore the cloud that seems to be hanging over it.

Of the three, Rice seems to be the most comfortable in its bones. It's a beautiful campus in a nice area. It's always been primarily focused on undergrads. It has the residential college system, which is great. Yale, Notre Dame, and Rice seem to understand how to build communities. The overall vibe seems friendly and nerdy. It's not a Wall Street pipeline kind of school. Students seem to have different interests. The downside would be Houston - not the most interesting city in America. But the weather is nice for most of the school year - except September, when it's a furnace - and Rice Village seems very self contained. What's weird about Rice is that it's like the superstar school in Texas, but nobody seems to know much about it in the northeast. Not a school for the Ivy or bust crowd. [/quote]

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