I came to Rice with the goal of learning about entrepreneurship and acquiring the tools that would prepare me for entrepreneurship (concepts & skills, thought process, network etc.). In addition, I wanted access to an environment where I could make mistakes and learn from them. Glad to say that Rice checks all those boxes.
Rice University as a whole, and the Jones School in particular, have a great entrepreneurship setup. There is a lot of information about this online (entrepreneurship.rice.edu), which I made use of in my decision-making process when choosing a school. I am going to mention a few elements that are important to me.
The Rice Alliance hosts the world's biggest B-plan competition (RBPC). I will get to play a small role on the organizing end. It also hosts events such as the Energy & Clean Tech Venture Forum, the IT Venture Forum in which students can get involved.
Rice has the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (LILIE), a great co-working space where you get to meet like-minded people from all of Rice (Big Rice). LILIE also hosts a lot of talks and other events with speakers from various fields related to entrepreneurship.
Rice also has the OwlSpark, a 12-week startup accelerator program, which culminates in the Bayou Startup Showcase.
JGSB organizes multiple treks throughout the year. These are trips to various cities (NY, Austin, San Francisco, Seattle etc.) that let you visit businesses related to a particular theme such as tech, finance, energy etc.
Then there's the small matter of people. The people at Rice (professors, staff, administrators) are very very helpful; it's just amazing. My classmates are from across the world, across the country and from various walks of life. I have ex-military folks, lawyers, a sous chef, doctors, engineers, consultants, a PhD among my classmates. If you throw a rock, it's more likely than not that you would hit a an achiever.
Houston is a fantastic city! Great food, lovely weather, and this little team that won the World Series. There are a lot of big businesses here. Location was a big positive in Rice's favor.
If you are interested in entrepreneurship or oil & gas, Rice would be great for you. But don't take my word for it. That's one of the ideas that's been hammered into me now. Don't make assumptions; don't rely on isolated opinions; talk to the people who are going through the experience that you want to understand.
Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)
Location
Culture & Student Support
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)
Entrepreneurship
Curriculum, Classes, Professors