I’m a high school senior and prospective EnvE major who was blessed to be accepted into several schools. I have narrowed down my choices to Georgia Tech and Rice. But making a final enrollment decision has been tearing me up for the past few weeks. I apologize for this being long!
On one hand, Rice gave me a very generous merit scholarship, which, coupled with fin aid, gives me a net cost of about 13k per year. Pretty sweet deal for a 58k school. If I went here I would be a Civil major with an EnvE concentration. I know Rice’s engineering programs are strong, but they don’t rank as high as GT’s (if you give any respect to US News) and their CEE program isn’t very large. I believe for the 2013-2014 year their CEE enrollment was somewhere in the 50s. Of course it’s a small school with the small class sizes that I like, but I’m worried because the program isn’t large I won’t have as many resources as I would at GT. I will, however, have the “Rice” name on my diploma. I don’t know as much about Rice CEE as I do GT, so if anyone does can you please help?
On the other hand, I have full tuition to GT due to the instate Zell Miller scholarship program; that leaves me with a net cost of about 16k this year. Their EnvE program is highly regarded and here in the South a GT degree means quite a bit. The EnvE major is still small (about 180 students) but the resources in the CEE school are incredible. The size of the school means there is a greater breadth of research going on and more companies at the job fair, but it also means I lose the small class sizes that I would get at Rice, at least in the first two years. GT also has going for it is the GT Research Institute and the Co-op program. They tout Co-oping as a huge advantage to potential employers bc the students already have experience when they start looking for a job. The 5 year master’s program is also a plus for me, since a MS will open up more opportunities to me in EnvE. Also at GT, there’a a significant possibility that I won’t graduate in 4 years if I co-op/intern/go abroad. That doesn’t bother me, though my scholarship is only good for 127 hours so it’s something to consider.
So I guess what I’m asking is, would it be smart for me to take the $ at Rice (I will be funding my school with the GI Bill and Rice will match my contributions up to 9k)? Or is it worth it to take a little more of the GI bill at GT, with less left for grad school? I know I’m the only one that can assess personal fit, but any info on the comparative strength of the programs, importance of doing a co-op, etc. would be great!
Make no mistake - Georgia Tech is a very prestigious institution, not very far behind Rice in terms of prestige. Engineering at both schools is strong, so you can’t go wrong with either one. I think you should choose the school where you would be more happy; stop worrying about prestige so much as they’re both prestigious.
Honestly the Rice brand name is stronger overall but in engineering, Georgia Tech is the stronger brand. The differences between the opportunities you gain at each case is likely to be rather minimal and the cost of attendance is roughly the same and the cost of living is similar, so it really is about fit. Rice likely has plenty of coop opportunities, so that’s probably not much of a difference. It’s basically research and elective breadth versus class size for you, it seems. Plus fit.
Talk about an embarrassment of riches! What great choices you have. I really think it comes down to fit.
@Alfonsia It would be tough to tell which if any have more brutal weed out classes. GT has a higher admittance rate so the attrition rate may naturally be higher than Rice, but from I understand both schools are very challenging. If I had to lean one way or the other, I think GT may be worse just because of the large impersonal introductory class sizes, but that is just a guess.
@colorado_mom 3.3 for the GT scholarship and 2.8 for the Rice one. That’s a good point that I hadn’t considered. The 3.3 requirement for GT is the same for ever state school in the Georgia system, as well as every major, which I think is horribly unfair but I can’t do anything about it.
I like Rice…a lot. Having gone to graduate school in Houston though, it’s hard to appreciate the brutality of the humidity until you experience. I was in a year round program. You’d miss the worst months.
I am a very optimistic person, so please don’t take this as a negative. You know yourself and there is every reason to believe in your success in engineering!
But the weed out comment got me thinking. What are the options at Georgia Tech if you decide that engineering is not the right fit for you? I am a Rice grad, and I knew a lot of people who started as engineers and decided to switch over to the humanities or social sciences. Although Rice is known for STEM, and definitely has the STEM vibe on campus, the humanities and social sciences are amazing and there are many strong departments. I think it enhances the Rice experience for STEM people and also provides a viable option for those who want or need to change their course of study.
@Faulkner1897 You are absolutely spot on. GT’s got a liberal arts, science, business, etc. that are strong programs, but I’m not sure I’d want to go to an “engineering school” and not do engineering. Engineering isn’t even something I decided I wanted to do until July before my senior year. Before that I was steadfast on becoming an International Affairs major at Georgetown (lol). I have a lot of interest and I’m not super “pointy” in one subject so you’ve given me something to consider!
