duke versus rice

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Wow. Didn't realize we had so many incredibly dumb people on this forum. Way to totally hijack a kid's thread a**holes.</p>

<p>Location:Duke-Located in a small city Rice-Located in the the 4th largest city</p>

<p>Weather:Duke-Nice weather. Cold and Snow for a little bit, but much better than northern schools. Rice: Yeah, it's 70 degrees here now, and Houston natives jaws dropped when it snowed. It is humid sometimes, but IMO the winter weather is amazing.</p>

<p>Academic Strengths: Both schools are strong in many things. Duke is known for BioE, social sciences, some languages, etc. Rice is known for BioE, engineering,sciences, not as well known for social sciences or humanities, but honestly, with a degree from either of these schools, you can't go wrong.</p>

<p>Reputation: Duke enjoys a wider rep across the US, due to it's location, as well as the fact that many kids from NE are there, called University of New Jersey at Durham by someone on this board. Rice is well known as the Ivy of the Southwest, and in the south central US it enjoys a prestige unrivaled by any other school. It's small size, as well as location in Texas(a big no-no for the East Coast media and people) makes it underrated.</p>

<p>Campus Life: After staying at both universities, I saw that they are INCREDIBLY different schools. Both schools are work hard/play hard, little partying goes on during the week, but students party on the weekends. Duke has frat/sorority scenes, although they don't have traditional houses, but rather each has it's own "section" of a dorm on West campus. Rice has residential colleges, a life-size version of Harry Potter, these are the center of social life at Rice.</p>

<p>Athletics: Duke has basketball, Rice has baseball. Rice is probably better at football at Duke, at least recently. Duke's lacrosse is also a national powerhouse. It seems that sports are perhaps a bigger deal at Duke, since college basketball is a more visible sport than baseball. </p>

<p>My opinion: I was accepted at both schools, but it really wasn't a contest to decide. It took me maybe one day to think it over. I'm a big sports fan, so it would seem like Duke's K-ville would be a better fit than Rice, who I will admit, is unfortunately home to many students who are extremely apathetic about athletics, and could care less about D-I sports. But Duke's atmosphere sealed the deal for me. It just wasnt what I wanted in a college. As freshman, you are placed on the other side of the campus at Duke, at Rice, you live next door to upperclassmen, and are friends with them since the first day of orientation. The residential colleges are an incredibly welcoming environment, and it's so easy to get to know tons of people of all classes. To put it simply, Rice is an amazing place that has exceeded all of my expectations.</p>

<p>Both schools are good, but I feel Rice is happier with what Rice is, while Duke seems to be constantly comparing itself to the Ivies, a sort of inferiority complex. You'll get an Ivy-league caliber education at both places though.</p>

22

<p>Great Post above^^^</p>

<p>Some other things to think about:</p>

<p>Campus Size: Duke is pretty big and is split between East and West Campus, which means you'll probably need to take a bus to class sometimes. On the other hand, Rice is smaller (abt 300 acres).</p>

<p>Architecture (crucial part): Duke has gothic architecture on West and Georgian on East (correct me if I'm wrong), while Rice has a more Spanish-y architecture. (don't really know how to describe it).</p>

<p>Student Body: Duke has 6,000 kids while Rice has 3,000, 50% of which are from Texas.</p>

<p>Price: Duke is about 40,000 with room and board while Rice is about 36,000</p>

23

<p>

theendusputrid has made exceptionally stupid posts denigrating the Rhodes scholarship and excellent universities like Berkeley and Chicago. Given the quality of posts he produces, I'd say these responses are superior; at least they're somewhat witty.</p>

<p>Personally, I tuned out when he said that the two are equally selective and that Duke dorms do not have AC -- both statements are false.</p>

24

<p>Many thanks to westside for the excellent post which is as good (and pithy) a comparison as I've seen on CC. It sounds like your campus visits really brought home to you the logistical differences and the feel of each school. And that you made the right choice for you. </p>

<p>Glad to hear that you are enjoying Rice which IMO is probably the most underrated top school in all of CC-land.</p>

25

<p>Duke's 2012 acceptance rate was 21 percent, and its sat range is like 2020-2320 and ACT range is 29-34. Duke</a> University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

<p>Rice's acceptance rate for the class of 2011 was 25 percent (23 percent for the class of 2012), and the SAT ranges are like 1950 to 2260, there is not much difference. Besides, Rice's application has THREE supplemental essays, unlike Duke, and Rice admissions does not focus on the scores when considering accepting or denying a student anyway. In addition, Rice has a music school and architecture school, where applicants don't need as high scores to get in, another reason the average scores are slightly lower. Another reason the average scores are slightly lower is that because Rice's student body is so small the low scores of the d1 athletes at Rice drag down the average scores for Rice undergraduates than at Duke, where D1 athletes make up a smaller proportion of the student body. So basically, for non-recruited athletes, who we are talking about, it is about the same level of difficulty to get into Duke as it is to get into Rice. </p>

<p>So, actually it is YOU who is ignorant, NOT ME. HA. Please stop thread-jacking.</p>

<p>Also, it is definetely true that some Duke dorms don't have ac. Probably not all of them don't have ac, but some don't. "Dorms" is plural.</p>

<p>Thanks, westsidewolf. I'm just wondering, could you please tell me some examples of how the residential college system has been very warm and welcoming to you? Like, why would you prefer being in a residential college to being in a frat? Could you please describe an average day in your life and how the residential college system impacts you and make you happy? Thanks.</p>

26

<p>Well, I'm incredibly biased, but I hate Duke. Probably the biggest a**hole in America attends Duke on a full scholarship. </p>

<p>Go with Rice.</p>

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<p>theendusputrid: With regard to your question about residential college system and warm and fuzzy: Living with upperclassmen is really useful because they bring a different perspective to freshmen. In most frats you don't live there until your sophomore year. Plus, not everybody wants to join a frat. The residential college system gives you many of the same benefits without any of the downsides. Even when I moved off campus my junior year, I still felt attached to my college. I still participated in college intramurals, still did my laundry there, etc.</p>

28

<p>Dukes does a respectable job emulating the Ivies. Rice is the Ivy antidote.</p>

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<p>how is rice the ivy antidote?</p>

30

<p>Because one needs antidote to purge the body of poison.</p>

<p>I now share IBclass06’s sentiments.</p>

31

<p>I live in Houston so I will comment on the life in Houston. Houston is a business city, as such it is not a college town in the slighest. Sure if you want to go to medical school rice may be a good choice bc it is directly adjacent to the largest medical center in the world, but Duke has Duke Med School for that.
In all honesty, Rice is not that prestigious. Duke is better, Houston is a city to live and work not to have fun for college.
I can not comment on Durham personally but it is small and does suffer from the conflict between Duke students and the local community, but I think the College type atmosphere is probably better at Duke.</p>

32

<p>Academically, one cannot go wrong. Duke is stronger in the Social Sciences and Biological Sciences whereas Rice is stronger in Engineering and the Physical Sciences. Reputationally, Duke has a wider reach, partly thanks to its powerhouse Medical program and partly thanks to its Basketball tradition. In academic circles, both schools are highly regarded. </p>

<p>Culturally and socially, both schools attract work hard/play hard types, but they are different. Duke is more intense and students tend to be competitive and elitist. Rice students are ausually more laid back and collaborative and down to earth. Although I never applied to Rice, I have grown very fond of it over the years. I liken it to a small Stanford.</p>

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<p>Dbate- I strongly disagree. My daughter found Houston (Rice) to be a great town in which to go to college. There are wonderful cultural opportunities- museums, opera, concerts, sporting events etc., but the area around Rice is beautiful and has Rice Village, with shops and restaurants. Rice is an oasis in the city and does not have an urban feel at all. The presence of the med center across the street is a plus. Rice is also very prestigious. I can’t believe you would say that it isn’t, living in Texas. In Texas Rice is considered the ultimate “prestige” school- more so than most of the Ivys.</p>

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<p>Alexandre – my son (who is a sophomore at Rice) has a professor who had previously taught at Stanford. She says that Rice is just like Stanford “without the attitude.”</p>

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<p>I think both are amazing schools! It depends on location, cost, and which feels like you could spend years there and enjoy it. Good luck in your decision!</p>

36

<p>i personally like the Rice Campus more than the Duke one, but that all depends on preferences. Rice IS in the city, so there are more opportunities as far as internships, etc. but Duke has a better reputation overall and is more highly regarded. The academics are definitely comparable. Rice would probably offer more financial aid and money because they have that much more to spend on their students than Duke. </p>

<p>Yes, Duke is more elitist and competitive while Rice is more cooperative and humble. The weather is somewhat comparable. </p>

<p>It just goes down to fit. Urban vs. small-town. people, studies, etc.</p>

37

<p>I hate getting dragged into a “my school is better than your school” thread but hope I can offer up a somewhat less biased viewpoint as an outsider familiar with the two schools.</p>

<p>First, Alexandre’s post IS pretty much dead-on: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>While there is no “overall” difference in academic quality between the two, Rice’s engineering and physical sciences are somewhat stronger and the humanities and social sciences are certainly measurably weaker than Duke’s (and measurably weaker than they should be for a school of its overall quality). Both will offer up strong biology curricula. Both offer strong opportunities for medical research on campus or across the street. Rice has a top-notch, albeit very small, architecture program and music conservatory - not available at Duke.</p></li>
<li><p>There is little doubt that Rice’s residential college system makes for a much more egalitarian social experience than Duke’s which tends to be much more “competitive.” If you’re looking for a cozier, more inclusive place, you may not normally have thought “Texas.” Nonetheless, Dukies generally love their school as much as Owl’s do. “Self-selection” works wonders.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I have to disagree with MomofWildChild (an ardent Rice fan) about setting.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Rice’s campus IS an oasis but one that may not be to everyone’s liking. Forget rolling hills and forests (as in Duke). This is flat-as-a-pancake, former swampland (and still humid 12 months out of the year) Houston. </p></li>
<li><p>Concrete surrounds the campus. Rice “does not have an urban feel at all.” Huh? “The presence of the med center across the street is a plus.” I agree. But its 50,000 parking spaces and looming buildings are not exactly out of view just because of some thinned out hedges around the border of campus. Even by Texas standards, the TMC is huge and not pretty.</p></li>
<li><p>“the area around Rice is beautiful and has Rice Village, with shops and restaurants.” A functional “atrocity” is what I’d call Rice Village. Lots of places to eat and shop, but more the look of adjacent and yet disconnected, hideous mini-malls catering to a Texas car culture. Not exactly a great urban pedestrian-friendly experience one would find in Austin, Cambridge-Boston, Chicago, New York, etc. Houston, I agree with a prior poster, is certainly NOT a college student city of choice BUT it is a city. Here I agree with MOWC that for a student looking for cultural opportunities, this is still a very large city with opportunities that tiny, down-and-almost-out, Durham can’t match.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>SELF-SELECTION. Yes, I said it a second time. Both can be great schools and student bodies generally love their experiences at each. Make sure the glove fits.</p>

38

<p>

I’d say they’re about even in the sciences. Rice is stronger in chemistry, but Duke’s biology program is considerably stronger, particularly in organismal biology. They’re tied in physics and computer science. Duke comes out slightly ahead in math, and Rice comes out slightly ahead in geology.</p>

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<p>It may be prestigious for other parts in Texas, but naturally Houston area students who don’t wont to be in Houston for college i.e. me, don’t consider it presitigious. I strongly believe that UT has more clout than Rice if nothing else but the extensive alumni network that dominates the echelons of Texas.</p>

40

<p>IBclass06</p>

<p>Agree. And don’t forget astrophysics.</p>