RICE UNIVERSITY

No, I think this is just the center of the university.

Great landscaping and architecture

No that is their quad and the building is Lovett hall. The entire campus is similar to that. I will post more pics once I arrive. The business school (Mcnair Hal) is gorgeous. It is on par with Darden in terms of facilities, although it is different Darden is more colonial and Rice has a Cali feel. Anyway, it is a beautiful campus.

I'm totally gonna come visit you and we'll play croquet on that lawn. But first I'll have to find a bustle and corsets to wear.

Croquet? I guess I'll play only if you come wearing the proposed outfit!

It is considered a top school in business (graduate at least, I don't know about undergrad). It's within the 50 - 100 top schools in the world (depending on which ranking you are looking at). For some people, it is their top 1 school.

If your question, however, is why it is not a top 10 or top 20 school in the world, then I think it's simply because the other schools are better in some areas (clearly not in infrastructure, but probably in employment data, selectivity rates, yield, etc.) which are valued by rankings.

I think squali could add some data to my guesstimates.

L.

I think the issue with it not being ranked in the to 25 or so is its youth. The program is only around 25 years old but has had accreditation for only roughly 7-8 years. It takes time to become a top program as networking is key in business and Rice as of right now has a small, in comparison to other schools, network. However, the employment data places Rice right around 22 if that was all that mattered. Their average total comp package is right around 120K. I imagine the program will climb in the rankings but it will be some time before they break the top 20 (if they ever do). There are some very strong programs that deserve those top 20 spots and just because a program is of high quality it does not mean they should displace those other solid programs. Anyway, this whole rankings bit is overrated. Personally, I looked for programs that I felt met my needs (companies/hiring) and Rice was always one of them. They have all the major players recruiting on campus there (ie Goldman/Mckinsey). They are just not as highly ranked as some prefer. IMHO, I believe Rice will eventually be ranked 25-18, but it will take a lot for the program to climb any higher.