Deciding between Rice and Carnegie Mellon

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>I am really struggling in deciding between which of these schools to attend next fall and I was hoping to receive some input from the community here. I have posted an identical thread in the other college's forum to equalize some bias.</p>

<p>I was accepted to Rice Engineering with a full tuition scholarship and was accepted to CMU CIT with a $4,000 Carnegie scholarship. I will be studying ECE at either school.</p>

<p>I visited both schools already and have a good idea of the feel for the campus. I am leaning toward liking Rice more simply because I felt that the quality of life was a little better there. Additionally, literally everyone on campus was incredibly friendly and happy (this is when I realized that when the school was ranked #1 for happiest students, they actually weren't kidding). The campus was really pleasing to be in and the classes and professors were great as well. However my opinion might be slightly biased because I stayed for Owl Days (two night stay) versus a simple day visit to CMU. I was also impressed by CMU and I think I prefer its education system over that of Rice. Also, CMU is reliably more well-known and better for its engineering program (especially ECE). I talked to several people there and they told me it was really easy to do something in CS (especially with ECE), so that would make things even better considering CMU is nationally ranked #1 for CS. My friend also told me that undergraduates regularly land amazing paid internships and jobs their sophomore or later years (a friend of his got a $200k/year job as a CS major). But I felt that the campus was a little small, and in some ways I felt constricted (not necessarily just because of the campus's physical size). Rice felt a lot more open and inviting.</p>

<p>In the end, what it comes down to is quality of life versus quality of education. And costs as well--full tuition scholarship versus $4,000 per year (no need-based aid). (But then again, returns on a CMU education are huge).</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any input and good luck to others deciding between schools for this fall.</p>

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<p>I’d have a hard time turning down a full tuition gig at Rice. CMU obviously has the better reputation, but I don’t know if it’s worth the price difference.</p>

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<p>From what you described, I think overall you like Rice a lot better than CMU. In the end, what matters is where you like better and feel more comfortable. There is no doubt that they are both academically amazing schools, and wherever you go, you would come out extremely competent for the job market. So I wouldn’t really choose CMU just for its slightly better reputation for engineering program. Also the fact that it’s full ride is a nice plus :)</p>

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<p>My son is a junior and considering both these schools. Can you divulge your credentials and what worked in your apps. Where did you finally decide to go?</p>