Notre Dame vs Rice: which has smaller class sizes for undergraduates?

Rice is the one that usually stands out for smaller undergraduate classes. It has a much smaller overall undergraduate population than Notre Dame, and that tends to show up in the classroom experience: more seminars, more discussion-based courses, and fewer situations where large lectures dominate your schedule. At Notre Dame, undergrads still get a lot of access to professors, but the university is larger, so big introductory classes are somewhat more common.

If small classes are a top priority because you want regular professor interaction from the start, Rice is likely closer to what you are picturing. Its size and academic culture make it easier to avoid feeling anonymous, especially once you move beyond intro courses. The residential college system also helps make the campus feel intimate in a way that matches that classroom experience.

Notre Dame can still work well for a student who wants a strong undergraduate focus but is okay with a somewhat broader range of class sizes. Many upper-level courses are quite manageable, and the school puts real emphasis on teaching undergraduates rather than treating them as secondary to graduate students. But compared head-to-head on the specific issue of class size, Rice usually has the edge.