My son is trying to decide between Rice and Amherst. His major will be Poli Sci and he is very intellectual and not a party guy. But he does like the urban scene for museums and concerts and variety of food. Any opinions?
There is no right or wrong answer here… are costs after financial aid comparable? Otherwise, if he prefers an urban environment, then Rice wins. On the other hand, Amherst is part of the 5 college consortium, and will have lots of variety of activities as well. If possible, have him visit.
He has visited both (but school was out when we visited Amherst). Amherst’s financial aid is slightly better but travel will be more expensive from San Diego. Amherst has a really good reputation for its academics and great alumni network. But Rice does a more thorough job acclimating its students and making sure everyone has a support system.
If I were him I’ll go to Amherst. I don’t think non-party boys can go to Rice and have a lot of fun. Also Rice is more like a STEM school. Don’t worry about jobs as a poli sci undergrad since a grad degree is needed in most job markets.
I’ll just talk about Rice. There is not really any partying going on at Rice. Lots of very serious students there. Most live on campus and they have a residential college system which is nice.
If he likes museums then Rice is right in the heart of the Museum District in Houston, which is a pretty amazing collection of museums. Houston is probably one of the top food towns in the country - especially for variety of great restaurants. Also, Rice has the Baker Institute which is one of the top public policy think tanks in the country which attracts a very good list of speaker each year, plus the potential opportunity for him to do research there.
I agree it is my understanding that there is lots of partying at Amherst. Aways heard it’s a preppy party school. Fantastic museums in Houston and all Rice students get free admission to art museum, natural history and the zoo which is right across the street . Rice has lots of popular school wide events like beer bike but are sanctioned and well organized. Rice is completely not a party school.
I find this VERY hard to believe
Rice may be a better fit socially based on the limited information presented. No doubt Amherst is a top school, especially for humanities. But given the apparent social divide between varsity athletes (about 1/3 of the students) and non-athletes, that could be a negative for Amherst if he is not an athlete. Definitely pros and cons on both sides.
Non-athletes at Amherst do plenty of partying. I imagine there are partiers at Rice too. I don’t think there’s going to be much difference on that front.