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True but it’s the same way U of M or UIUC has higher highs in more fields than say Northwestern or U Chicago. While it is true and a valid point, the more intimate class setting of Northwestern/U Chicago along with higher grad rates and better outcomes are reasons why Northwestern/Chicago outperform Michigan or Illinois (not to take a shot at Michigan or Illinois since both are also phenomenal schools as is UT Austin).
While UT is a great school (easily number 2 in TX and one of the best public schools in the world), Rice as an overall university is more prestigious and it is more impressive to have a degree from Rice than UT, which is why outcomes look the way they do.
I agree that selectivity can be overrated at times but there are still some benefits from it.
The difference is that Rice is nowhere near Northwestern or U of Chicago. I'm not saying that UT is better than Stanford, I'm saying that it's better than Rice. It's also better than Baylor and SMU (despite larger class sizes).
If Rice was Duke, your point would have more merit I think. Michigan and Illinois are also better than Rice. Again, Rice is extremely tiny and not particularly impactful in any field of note.
Rice undergrad enrollment is less than 5k. I'm just saying that UT has well more than 5k students that could have gone to Rice if they felt like it. It's ranked significantly higher than Rice in literally every selective program. What is a single field that Rice is considered to be particularly elite in? Rice has zero grads that are fortune 500 CEOs and 3 that are billionaires, compared to UT that has 9 F500 CEOs and 17 billionaires.
UT is the much larger and more impactful institution of the two and it isn't at all close.
Duke and UNC to their credit do have certain fields that they surpass UT in, so I think that is a closer call, though I still object to the idea of those schools being "better" in general, given the significant size disparity.
With a quick glance, Rice University ranks higher at UT in Biomedical and Material Sciences. I’ll can go through every single program so other time. Biomedical is a field Rice is considered elite in. And the same ranking system that you use ranks Rice as the better overall. There’s no doubt that UT will be higher ranked in more selective programs than the other way around. Rice is historically very conservative about getting into new fields. Every field Rice is in is solid. You respect USNW’s ranks for programs that much, you’re ignoring they place Rice ahead of UT in the overall. And ignoring the reasons behind that I’ve already brought up.
UT having more billionaires and CEOs is no surprise. It’s a much larger very reputable school. Rice is a much smaller very reputable school. This backs up by point that you put a large focus in on size. I’m not saying you’re wrong for that, size and total accomplishments absolutely matters. So does graduation rates, class sizes, student to faculty ratio, etc. hence the classic example of CalTech being tiny but attracting the best minds (over UT and rice alike) for where they specialize
Not sure, I had a great time in Austin when I visited, and really liked San Antonio. Haven't been to Georgia or NC.
In general, I'm not a huge fan of the layout of cities in the Southern United States. Every city is very car and suburb dependent. I tend to be a fan of cities that are much more walkable/public transit friendly (NYC, Chicago, Boston, SF, etc.), and the only region on this list that really is built like that is Washington, DC.
Texas: Location (central for ease of business), future (all are doing well here), economy ($2.6 trillion), major cities (DFW's exceptional job market and Houston's diverse population push TX over the top)
North Carolina: weather (all 4 seasons), landscapes (The Appalachians), higher education (tied with VA)
Florida: secondary cities (Jacksonville and Pensacola are often left out)
Overall: Texas, then North Carolina
TX is at least the most interesting of these, just because it's a huge state so it's got a lot of variety. West Texas in particular has long fascinated me.
Ranking the major metros in these states by living preference:
DC/NOVA
Atlanta
DFW
Houston
Austin
Triangle
Charlotte
Richmond
Orlando
Tampa
Miami
Tallahassee
Asheville
Jacksonville
El Paso
Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads
Amarillo
Corpus Christi
Midland-Odessa
Macon/Warner-Robins
McAllen
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