Can't help with skiing, but for the friendly, smart students, good connections to professors, access to research opportunities as an undergrad, on a beautiful campus:

For mid-size R1s:
• Brown
• Tufts
• William & Mary
• WashU
• Yale

Somewhat-similar LACs to take a look at (though I think the R1s above are better fits): Carleton, Haverford.

Would strongly recommend Rice in the ED round, if finances aren't a factor.

Reasonably close to skiing is a tough criteria. Dartmouth?

Colder weather is a bit simpler. Notre Dame, WashU, St Andrews, Emory. Maybe BC as more of a target?

Anonymous wrote:My son is also very interested in rice. Is it just as hard as any other t20 schools to get into?

Yes

My son is also very interested in rice. Is it just as hard as any other t20 schools to get into?

Imho basing your choice on skiing isn't wise. You can always spend winter breaks skiing. I would suggest putting more emphasis on college being in big urban centers where you can find internships and other opportunities at big companies, hospitals, think tanks or law firms etc according to your future goals.

Anonymous wrote:DC likes many things about Rice (collaborative students, residential college system, strong in STEM and humanities, near a major city, pretty campus, gender balanced) but also likes cold weather/fall/winter - asking to see if anyone has recommendations for a school that is similar to Rice but in a part of the country with cooler weather, close to skiing a plus. TIA !

I have a kid at Rice who's a STEM major. I think it's a fairly unique school and hard to find something similar. But agree with Yale. It's not usually a destination for engineering types, but Yale is really investing there. And it has a residential college system and seems to be a pretty happy school. DC got into Rice in the ED round so didn't apply elsewhere. But other schools DC considered were Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Northwestern, Harvey Mudd, and McGill. Stanford and Harvey Mudd aren't too far from good skiing - Tahoe and Mammoth. DC also would have applied to Purdue and Wisconsin, which are said to have pretty good vibes. And it gets cold there.

Tufts

Carleton, if the skiing can be cross-country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC likes many things about Rice (collaborative students, residential college system, strong in STEM and humanities, near a major city, pretty campus, gender balanced) but also likes cold weather/fall/winter - asking to see if anyone has recommendations for a school that is similar to Rice but in a part of the country with cooler weather, close to skiing a plus. TIA !

The closest to what you described is Rochester. It ranks much lower than Rice, but it’s a truly outstanding place.

Also: Washington University for a school roughly as selective. Maybe Rutgers, the University of Arizona or the University of Colorado would feel similar for a great physics student who got into the honors track?

These schools are NOT like Rice.

My DD went to Rice. It’s an amazing school, and worth a few years of arguably sub-optimal weather (it’s lovely from October to March most years). Yale is the most similar in terms of the house system. Schools like WashU and Tufts are similar in size.

Northwestern

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC likes many things about Rice (collaborative students, residential college system, strong in STEM and humanities, near a major city, pretty campus, gender balanced) but also likes cold weather/fall/winter - asking to see if anyone has recommendations for a school that is similar to Rice but in a part of the country with cooler weather, close to skiing a plus. TIA !

The closest to what you described is Rochester. It ranks much lower than Rice, but it’s a truly outstanding place.

Also: Washington University for a school roughly as selective. Maybe Rutgers, the University of Arizona or the University of Colorado would feel similar for a great physics student who got into the honors track?

Anonymous wrote:DC likes many things about Rice (collaborative students, residential college system, strong in STEM and humanities, near a major city, pretty campus, gender balanced) but also likes cold weather/fall/winter - asking to see if anyone has recommendations for a school that is similar to Rice but in a part of the country with cooler weather, close to skiing a plus. TIA !

The closest to what you described is Rochester. It ranks much lower than Rice, but it’s a truly outstanding place.

MIT, Princeton

DC likes many things about Rice (collaborative students, residential college system, strong in STEM and humanities, near a major city, pretty campus, gender balanced) but also likes cold weather/fall/winter - asking to see if anyone has recommendations for a school that is similar to Rice but in a part of the country with cooler weather, close to skiing a plus. TIA !