Admission to UT Austin compared to Rice?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>Hi--just wondered if anyone might have a thought? Say someone (out of state -- NJ) were accepted to UT Austin, would that at all indicate they might have a chance at Rice?</p>

<p>I'm asking because my son has inconsistent stats (34 ACT, 3.1 UW gpa, 4.5 W) and was admitted to UT Austin in Nov. We are planning on visiting TX in a few weeks to see UT, but didn't know if it might be at all worth it to try & see Rice at the same time?</p>

<p>I know Rice is v. competitive and we threw it onto son's list as 'a huge reach but why not." Not sure if the competitive nature of Rice admissions means we should not bother w/a visit? Costs are tight...would like to see it, but not if there is practically no chance he'd get in. We're also going to AL on the same trip (free ride at U of AL).</p>

<p>Thanks for any thoughts!!</p>

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<p>Rice is about 3 hours drive from U.T., in case that helps. (It's longer in rush hour, etc - but 3 hours or a smidge less on Sat or Sun.) Congrats on your son getting accepted to UT. He definitely has a chance at Rice, but I don't think getting into UT is any indicator for or against. Only you can decide if it's worth a visit to Rice... I'm thinking that visiting is definitely an indicator of "interest", and if you decide to go your son should contact admissions and arrange a tour and indicate he has already applied. Let me know if you have any questions; I'm in Austin and have one currently at Rice (and one who graduated from there last May)</p>

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<p>Hey, I also applied to and was accepted to UT-Austin out-of-state into its McCombs business school as well as into UT's Plan II Honors Program--and Rice (obviously I chose Rice over UT). With Texas' top 10% law, competition for out-of-state students to get into UT-Austin is extremely high, and I would say it's more competitive than UVA or UNC out-of-state admissions, just because 90% of UT's student body are TX students.</p>

<p>Did your son apply for Plan II? If he got into Plan II, he has an excellent shot of getting into Rice. Also, which school did he apply to? McCombs (business) is the most difficult, I hear. What major/field is he looking into?</p>

<p>Just to let you know, financial aid and scholarships aside (both of which unfortunately I did not qualify for, but perhaps you have a different financial situation), it actually cost more money for me to attend UT out of state than Rice (not that it ultimately came down to those two schools, but since you are asking about those two schools). </p>

<p>The atmospheres are entirely different - you're looking at a 51,000+ student body (including grad students, just undergrad is ~39k) at UT and impersonal classes and lots of competition (depends on the specific school within UT) versus 3,000 undergrads (it's 5,000 including grads) at a very personal and undergraduate-oriented environment at Rice. Lots of other differences, including Greek life vs. residential college system, huge sports scene vs. not so big of a sports scene, college town vs. urban sprawl, etc.</p>

<p>I think the sheer magnitude of UT's enormous student body vs. Rice's comparatively tiny liberal-arts-esque environment is the most staggering difference between the two schools, but that's just my two cents.</p>

<p>If your son is considering applying to Rice, he should definitely take a look. Except... the deadline for applications has already past - does that mean he's already applied to Rice? If he didn't apply to Rice, I don't see the point of visiting it (I'm assuming he's a senior now, so it's too late now). But if he's applied to Rice and wants to compare it to UT, I would HIGHLY suggest visiting both campuses. I know visiting Rice was what clinched it for me.</p>

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<p>hotasice, the thing is that if he did get into plan 2, ut doesn't feel like a school with 39,000 undergrads. Plan 2 is its own small community, which is very nice.</p>

<p>I'd recommend visiting Rice even if he didn't apply to Rice because chances are you might really like it and decide to take a gap year and then reapply to Rice.</p>

<p>my 2 sense</p>

<p>also, a 34 act is extremely impressive, if he has that. he's got a shot definetely, regardless of whether or not his gpa is a little low.</p>

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<p>Rice is pretty competitive I'm not going to lie but its way smaller in size compared to UT. I feel, in my opinion, that you have more opprotunities at Rice because of the small teacher to student ratio than UT. UT is great for those passionate about academics and athleticism and for those who love big schools. Being from AL will definitely help your son get into Rice. I had a question - you said your son have a UW GPA of 3.1 . Is this an error? I would think it would be way higher since is W GPA is 4.5</p>

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<p>Another vote to go ahead and visit. In the whole scheme of things, you'll be fairly close when you're at Austin. Are you flying or driving to Tuscaloosa? </p>

<p>I wouldn't use the UT admit for any type of prediction for Rice. And the two schools are very different despite their proximity geographically :) Our visit to Rice convinced my d she wants small classes all taught by professors, and she's never wavered from that.</p>

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<p>Thanks for those great insights; really appreciate it! </p>

<p>Unfortunately, gpa is not an error! Son took all honors classes thru HS, but had a rough (no studying) soph year, which dragged down UW gpa. He's had almost all As thru jr & first 1/2 of senior year. He did apply to Rice already -- just figured it was such a huge long-shot. UT Austin acceptance was a surprise---now, since we are planning a visit in 2-3 weeks (hopefully), seems like it might be worthwhile to swing by Rice. </p>

<p>Son wants to major in computer science & I know Rice has a good prgrm. What attracts me -- it's almost the only school to which he applied that is smaller, with smaller classes. Not sure how he'd fare in those big, 400 person, intro classes.</p>

<p>Again--thank you!</p>

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<p>When I went to college, I could have gone anywhere I wanted (a female valedictorian wanting to go into engineering had it made back then, lol). I picked UT over Rice, MIT, etc. I am SO happy I made that choice. The opportunities for world-class research are so much better at Texas, and the professors were wonderful. I never felt as if I was at a school of 48,000 people. I spent most of my time, particularly as an upperclassman, in small classes with lots of attention. It's still that way. And I have to say that one of my very favorite non-engineering classes was a history class with 300 people in it. The professor, Dr. Forgie, was one of the best speakers and teachers I've ever had. I couldn't wait to go to class each day. He assigned great books and expected us to know our stuff. The essay exams were tough. His door was always open and I enjoyed talking with him.</p>

<p>If you know the specific area of study you're interested in, look at how the schools compare. For example, I would never choose Rice over UT for structural engineering, which is my field. I would also pick Austin over Houston any day!</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>For some people, financial aid is a huge issue and especially with the economic downturn, comparing financial aid packages is especially important. MaineLonghorn, just out of curiosity, did you get a scholarship to UT? A lot of financial aid? Were you in-state or out-of-state? Were you in UT's Engineering Honors program? Plan II? These are little details that would help explain your decision in going to UT over other schools, as your description most likely does not reflect the average UT student's experience at UT. I am taking two history classes right now and they are both 20 students each; personally, great professor or not, I believe a much smaller and intimate setting will help me get the most out of the class and interaction with the professor, something a lot harder to do when you're in a room of 300 other students. Hopefully that was an intro history class? I'm a premed and my biggest classes (calculus and general chemistry) do not even go beyond 150, and all of my other classes are 20-25 students. </p>

<p>And theendusputrid (I ALWAYS think your username is "the end is putrid"), the OP did not say whether or not her son applied to Plan II, or any other honors programs that UT did. I would liken the competitiveness of getting into Plan II out of state akin to getting into Rice. However, getting into UT out-of-state is still impressive by itself, but all I can say is by no means does this mean he will get into Rice, but probably says that he stands a decent chance. There are a myriad of other factors (your geographic location, school's history with Rice, etc.) and of course there's no guaranteed formula for admission, so I advise you to just go ahead and visit UT and Rice and get an impression for both campuses and environments before deciding to go to one or the other (assuming you get into Rice, of course).</p>

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<p>Thanks for those additional insights, MaineLonghorn & hotasice. Son has applied to an honors prgm at UT, haven't heard about it (not admitted to Turning Scholars comp sci honors prgrm but waiting on another). </p>

<p>I would love for son to see Rice...maybe we'll check it out. Btw, the plan is to fly to Birmingham from Austin. But, maybe if we did Rice we could drive. I hear the 'drop off fee' for rental cars in another state would make it v. expensive though. More logistical research. But, thanks for the perspectives---much appreciated!</p>