I went to Rice, and I think it would be a great choice, if you're looking for certain things out of school. Most of the other posters have been playing up the career utility of a degree. If you don't plan on going to graduate school, I don't think Rice is a very good choice. However, if you plan on going to grad school I think Rice has a few advantages as a school that people haven't mentioned for any institution. 1. A loose academic core. Rice only requires you take four classes in each of the three general disciplines ('hard' sciences, social sciences, humanities). This means that while at other schools you spend your first two years completing your core, at Rice your pretty much free to take as many classes in whatever subject you want. That's why many Rice grads can double major in fields as disparate as bio-engineering and English. I was able to spend much more of my time taking classes that interested me rather than dealing with ones that didn't. 2. Greater faculty access. Since Rice is far more undergraduate-focused, nearly every class is taught by a professor and they are all extremely available outside of the classroom. I count some of my old professors among some of my best friends here in Houston. 3. A student-run pub. Rice has, to my knowledge, the only student-run bars in America. We have two on campus, Willy's and Valhalla (the grad student pub), I can't stress how great $1 pints of Shiner are when you're on a student income. So, if you plan on going to academia, or a more academic graduate school, I think there are some great reasons to go to Rice (I'm very glad at the bump law schools will be giving my application because I went there). However, if you want a job right out of school, I think that other schools like UT would be better because of the size and scope of their career services departments, etc. What I think you should really ask yourself first is, what are you looking for in a college degree, and then use those critera to start looking at schools.
Not always a good thing for the straight laced kid out of highschool whos never had a beer in his/her life. I've seen the smartest people get owned by the "College Life".
Few things are unqualified goods. The idea is that it's better for students to drink on campus than to drink off and then drive home. I think that free cable and high-speed internet are far greater threats to any student than beer...
