<p>S is down to Rice and Duke. He is leaning toward EE major, but would like to minor in Econ (business, major/MBA possibly too - ). Attended Owl weekend and had a great time. He asked someone? about minoring in econ and was discouraged - that the load would be too full and it would be hard to work in. Also asked about doing a semester abroad and was told it would be possible, but he would have to start planning right away to try to fit it in. Just got back from Duke and is now leaning towards Duke for the main reason that they encouraged double major/minor, said it was very popular. Also would be able to work in a semester abroad. He has about 7 AP classes. Is this a valid difference in how academics are structured in the two schools? Is there more info about this online somewhere? thank you -</p>
<p>First of all, Rice has no minors. So a double major it would have to be.</p>
<p>A HUGE number of Rice students double or triple major. Kaplan-Newsweek ranked Rice as the best school for double majors recently. </p>
<p>Now, faculty members tend to hate double majoring. The general feeling is that you should not double major unless you really want to take all of the required courses for both majors. Otherwise, they say, you should pick one, and take only the classes that interest you from the other. However, if your son wants to do both, and has good reason to do so (which it sounds like he does) no one will stop him.</p>
<p>Study abroad programs here seem pretty good to me, knowing little about Duke's programs. I am studying abroad for the first time this summer, for three weeks in the UK. Later on, I will do a semester abroad. A lot of students study abroad at some point. I'm sure the study abroad office could provide you with stats on how many each year exactly.</p>
<p>I really, truly do not think that double majoring or studying abroad is any easier at Duke than at Rice, so no, I would say this is not a valid difference.</p>
<p>Here are some online sources for you:</p>
<p>About Study Abroad:
<a href="http://futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Study_Abroad_Index.asp%5B/url%5D">http://futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Study_Abroad_Index.asp</a>
<a href="http://abroad.rice.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://abroad.rice.edu/</a></p>
<p>About double majoring in general:
<a href="http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Eacadadv/majors/majors.html#more%5B/url%5D">http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~acadadv/majors/majors.html#more</a></p>
<p>About requirements for the EE major:
<a href="http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/bsdegreq%5B/url%5D">http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/bsdegreq</a>
<a href="http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/badegreqs%5B/url%5D">http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/badegreqs</a>
This quote from the BA page may be interesting to you: "Because of its flexibility and large number of free electives, the B.A. can be combined easily with another major to create an interdisciplinary program. This may be particularly appropriate for students planning further study in law, business, or medicine."
<a href="http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/degplans%5B/url%5D">http://www.ece.rice.edu/academics/undergrad/degprog/degplans</a> </p>
<p>About the NEW (JUST CHANGED) requirements for the econ major:
<a href="http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Eecon/under/econ_major1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~econ/under/econ_major1.html</a></p>
<p>About the Managerial studies major (May only be taken as a second major, maybe less intense than econ):
<a href="http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Emana/#reqs%5B/url%5D">http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~mana/#reqs</a></p>
<p>I hope this helped!</p>
<p>You may also want to check with Dr. Bart Sinclair - he is the undergrad dean. Engineering + other major may be bit different than double majors in sciences or humanities.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the information!
I will give to S and feel he can make informed decision.</p>
<p>At the Engineering Panel Disussion during Owl Weekend I got the sense that the engineering faculty overall discouraged double majors. While they said it was certainly possible, there was a general concensus that one should do one major and take classes that interest them in other fields. I got the sense that when applying for a job, the exact major is not so important if you can show competance in the field with a transcript etc.</p>
<p>43% of Rice students study abroad - just in case you wanted this info! Most kids end up changing their minds about majors - so he should go to the place that he feels most excited about attending, and financially fits best. Rice has a great study abroad department and there is an article in the latest "Sallyport" (alumni magazine) by the director of study abroad - they want all students to study abroad if possible and are doing all they can to encourage this. I believe that there are even paid engineering internships abroad for Rice students.... as we walked through the Rice studyabroad fair we saw applications for some of these (I think.... I'm old and memory is fuzzy sometimes - but I remember telling my daughter that it was too bad she wasn't an engineering major! I think some were in Denmark? or Germany? Okay, this would be something better to check out with the study abroad people!)</p>
<p>From the work-abroad page at Rice.edu:
[quote]
'"Rice students participate in both campus and national programs that enable them to complete internships in finance in the UK, engineering in Germany, public policy in India, teaching in Turkey, or public health in Cameroon. Internships can be arranged for a summer or an entire year. Students may work in a casual summer job or may combine an internship with a study-abroad experience.</p>
<p>The flagship work-abroad program is the International Internship Program (IIP), a two-summer program that combines specialized language study with engineering internships in Germany, France, the UK, and Mexico. The nationally recognized IIP is an important way for engineering majors to gain international experience that is highly valued by employers.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>FYI: Study abroad from Pratt College of Engineering at Duke - 24.9% of those eligible for study abroad do so.* (eligible students must have a GPA above 2.7)
I don't have figures for percentage of Rice Engineering students who study abroad....</p>