<p>I need some help picking a college. Well i live in Illinois and im thinking about attending UIUC engineering, but i also want to persue some liberal arts studies along with some business courses. My other options are to high tier privates: northwestern, JHU, Emory and duke. UIUC would be easier on my family and i would have more money on campus, instead of workstudy and loans. Primarly, my decision would be based on which choice: private or public, which would grant me the most opportunities out of college, in anyfield i desire to persue?
thanks</p>
<p>I would look into Rice University in Houston, Texas. It is on the same level as Northwestern, JHU, Duke, and Emory. In my opinion, Rice is better since I turned down three of these schools for Rice 
It is a heavy science/engineering school, but it also has solid humanities and social sciences schools. You can also pursue a business minor through Rice’s graduate Jones School of Business.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Rice is more affordable than all the other schools you listed. It is roughly $43,000/year, compared to $51,000 a year for Duke, Emory, Northwestern, and JHU. Additionally, Rice is known to give generous need-based and merit-based financial offers. In fact, Rice is only costing me 4k more than my state flagship university (OSU), whereas all the other schools were way too expensive. In 2007, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine rated Rice University as the Number One Best Value of Private Colleges… this shows how much a value Rice education really is.</p>
<p>Additionally, although the average American has not heard of Rice, it is well known with grad schools/employers. Many of the Rice students told me that the people who matter know about Rice and that 70 percent of Rice undergrads that apply to grad school get into their top choice grad school. Sure, rankings and stats aren’t everything, but this just shows how awesome Rice is. Plus, we have palm trees and a very good quality of life (Princeton Review ranked our quality of life #2 behind WashU).</p>
<p>I would definitely apply to all the schools on your list. Even though I got very little financial aid from the elite private universities you listed, they are known to be very generous with need-based FA (especially Duke and Emory). However, be sure to apply to Rice as well because they are very generous with FA as well. If you have any questions about Rice, feel free to PM me, although keep in mind that I will not be starting my freshman year at Rice until August.</p>