Hard Grader: Texas College Among the Toughest in America to Get Into

Rice University is often dubbed “The Harvard of the South” (and not just by those ever-proud Owls).

A new study and statistical analysis show that there’s plenty of merit — and more than a little toughness — behind the claim. Rice may not be an Ivy, but it’s one of the toughest colleges to get into in America.

That’s detailed in U.S. Department of Education data analyzed by niche.com, a school-rankings website. Niche’s analysis shows that Rice is 22nd on the toughest-admittance list. The 6,600-student university is the only Texas college to crack the Top 100.

Rice is still 21 spots behind No. 1 Harvard in exclusivity, but the Cambridge standard does have 276 years of history on it.

The toughness rankings are based on a college’s acceptance rate and accepted students’ SAT/ACT scores in the 25th and 75th percentiles. In all, 1,349 colleges were analyzed and culled to determine the Top 100.

Rice’s acceptance rate comes in at 16.7 percent, while Harvard’s is at 5.8 percent.

Houston’s version of an Ivy League school may not quite have an Ivy League rejection rate. Yale and Princeton follow right behind Harvard, ranking as the second and third toughest colleges in the U.S. to get into.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Rice regularly makes “Best Buy” lists and is lauded for being (relatively) affordable.

That’s something you’ll never hear about Harvard.