Cornell or Rice (engineering)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

I apologize for the long post and thank you in advance for any of your advice.

I’m lucky enough to have been accepted to two great engineering programs and now I’m faced with the difficulty of choosing where to attend.

I applied as a MechE major but I’m basically an undecided. I know that I want to major in a STEM field, but that could be some engineering discipline, computer science, or I’m even considering some kind of math/econ degree preparing for a job in quantitative finance.

To make a long story short, I’m basically trying to weigh the quality of life at Rice versus the reputation and slightly higher rankings of Cornell. I know Rice has great engineering, but I feel that Cornell is a bit more well-rounded in other areas and that would provide me with more options if I were to deviate from the engineering path.

I’ve visited both schools and I must admit I like Rice and their residential college system and how the small population really makes it feel like I could get all the individual attention I would ever need and just their general quality of life, in a nicer climate, near the metropolis of Houston. On the flip side, I enjoyed my Cornell visit a lot and feel that I would be able to find things to do there for 4 years especially considering that the larger population means there are more people to meet and in general life in Ithaca revolves around college students.

My biggest concern is that Rice would put me at a disadvantage in returning to the northeast (I’m from NJ) post-graduation compared to Cornell. I really don’t see myself working for an oil company in the south. I know this stereotype is not the majority, but I think the averages safely demonstrate that Cornell graduates have an easier time finding jobs in the northeast. So I guess my question is how big of a difference do you think Cornell makes in terms of employability in the northeast and is it worth the step down in the quality of life?

Also, if anyone has any input on how the two schools would affect getting into a grad school that would be greatly appreciated. Cornell is sort of famous for grade deflation and brutal curves, do grad schools and employers take these kinds of things into account? Assuming equal effort, is it ok to assume that the undergraduate GPAs at both schools would also be about equal. Or is it possible that Rice has an advantage here since it seems like students have a better connection with professors and could potentially have a higher chance of getting quality letters of recommendation?

By the way, the prices are within $2k so that’s not a deciding factor.

Thanks again and I’m going to post this in the Rice and Cornell forums so I apologize if people come across this multiple times.

2

  1. I, for one, don’t really know that engineering, etc at Rice is any easier than at Cornell. I personally doubt that it is easier. Why would it be? Don’t they have just as smart people at Rice, who are likewise trying to get the best future prospects for themselves?
    There was a while that Cornel was posting grades, and their median grades were not low. Engineering is somewhat tougher, but that’s pretty much true everyplace, from what I’ve seen.

  2. Re: weather, f you like the heat & humidity in Houston, more power to you. For me personally, being from the Northeast, there is not just atmospheric climate I would think about, but also political/cultural climate of the surrounding populace. Looking at relative voting patterns, eg. But that’s me. I did not apply to schools in the South. You did. So we are different, already.

  3. Rice is one of the nation’s great universities. I can’t imagine that it would put you at any disadvantage whatsoever for grad schools. And I can’t imagine that you would not have job opportunities. Especially around Houston. Where it is king, from what I’ve read. Lots of oil & gas industry employers there. IIIRC, something like 40% of the students there are from Texas, is that right?

  4. However, you may well be right that you could more reliably wind up in the Northeast out of Cornell. There is a regional component to engineering recruiting, almost everyplace. The name Rice is well respected everywhere, but not every Northeastern employer is going to go out of region to recruit there. Just as not every single Houston oil company will recruit at Cornell.

  5. There was a CC poster some years back- handle @aibarr- who is a Rice Civil engineering grad. At one point she posted that she had found it frustrating that, even though they had such great reputation etc, they wound up having to go out to generic career fairs, etc looking for jobs. Then later she got a Master’s at U Illinois, and was well recruited out of there. However I just checked some of her old posts, and I am not finding that one just now. Though it exists, I didn’t imagine it. But I found others where she was glowing about their recruiting. Though not necessarily commenting on regional aspects. So I don’t know. Anyway I just glanced at a few of her old posts for ten seconds, I have neither time nor interest to do more. But you might want to look them up.