Georgia Tech vs. Rice CS

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I am a senior in HS and have narrowed down my college choice to:
Georgia Tech or Rice.

I am majoring in CS (mainly interested in AI and BCI research).
Cost is 45k for Georgia Tech and 60k for Rice. I will not have to take loans and my parents can afford both colleges (which I am very grateful for). After undergraduate I am planning on going to grad school.

Pros of Georgia Tech:

  • Top ranked for CS and engineering
  • I know a couple CS professors and current students, and they all have positive things to say about the academics. All the courses I want to take are available
  • Big school so many opportunities to choose from. I don’t mind the large class sizes.
  • Best research for AI and specifically BCI
  • Co-op
  • Atlanta

Cons of Georgia Tech:

  • Very rigorous, a lot of work
  • Worse quality of life b/c of bad dorms and food (Honestly not a huge factor)
  • Might be harder to get a good GPA for grad school because of grade inflation

Pros of Rice:

  • Ranked 16 overall, more selective (dont know if this actually means anything)
  • “happiest school in America (?)”
  • May be a little easier to get a good GPA because not notorious for grade inflation
  • Closer relationship with profs + smaller program, don’t know if this will help me

Cons of Rice:

  • Further away
  • A little more expensive
  • Less known for cs → less like-minded people overall on campus
  • Good research opportunities but lacking the breadth of gatech because of smaller department size

I don’t know how to choose! I was visualizing myself at Gatech because I got in EA, I don’t want this to influence my decision. My gut feeling is to go to gatech.

2

You have two great choices. The only info I have can only make the choices more difficult. I know kids at both schools, and both have had excellent experiences.

Rice’s rep will carry you just as well as GT in CS and engineering. Ito offers tremendous research opportunities for undergraduates. Houston hovers at the 4th largest city in the US and is a great place to live. Rice also is very rigorous and a lot of work. I’ve not hear anything about which school is worse for grade inflation and the such. You have the pros for Rice down pat.

I suggest you visit Rice and take a good look since you can visualize yourself at GaTech, but not at Rice. You can’t lose either way.

3

Great job listing the pros and cons here generally, but I think I would debate this point:

Rice is very known for CS in technical circles. I would count these as equal for industry rep.

I’d also recommend you visit Rice (maybe even also GT again) and then go with your gut. The good news is there is no bad choice here.