<p>For science, probably biology. Thoughts?</p>
<p>The facilities at Grinnell are amazing. They are well known for their science programs and for small class sizes, even in Intro courses. My son majored in history, so I don’t have many specifics. Can’t compare it to Rice because I have no experience with that school.</p>
<p>Visited both. The weather at Rice in the winter is certainly better than at Grinnell and Houston may be a plus to students who want an urban center nearby. Rice is also somewhat larger which means more course offerings (for example, it offers engineering which Grinnell doesn’t). For the right student it’s a great place to study science or anything else. But Grinnellians probably wouldn’t choose Rice or vice versa because the cultures are quite different. Rice feels more mainstream and conservative than Grinnell, which is more liberal and quirky. As bethievt says, the sciences at Grinnell are amazing - but we have no experience with Rice to compare. Ultimately, it’s a matter of fit (and cost).</p>
<p>S accepted to both, visited both, like both.
Rice FA people borderline rude, granted it was a busy time, but I didn’t want to deal with it for 4 years. Rice charges $7/meal to student visitors.</p>
<p>Rice no longer guarantees on campus housing, they expanded from 3k to 4k students in just a few years without as much thought to housing. Room draw happens in second year for some. STEM-wise Rice is fantastic, but lack of housing means is no longer LAC. Rice would have been perfect 5-10 years ago before their expansion, and before the word was out on it. Grinnell open to discussion on FA; Rice was a flatout “no”. </p>
<p>Also suspect class sizes, especially first year, are much larger at Rice than Grinnell – Rice chooses not publish their common data set. Grinnell has common data set and the fact book, so they seemed so much more open. Found the class schedule for Rice and it showed number enrolled per class, intro classes are very big.</p>
<p>Also the “house” thing seemed cliquish/fratty. Why make excuses for students to be part of their own little group instead of the larger community?</p>
<p>I really did wander over to this forum just in time. 
I hope you Grinnelians don’t mind my butting in.</p>
<p>Ds was WL’d at Rice, got in at Grinnell a couple of years ago. He’s now at another LAC so I don’t feel like I really have a dog in this fight, but I do feel like I need to correct the previous poster on a couple of things.</p>
<p>First, I don’t know what pp means about Rice choosing to not publish its CDS. It’s easy to Google and find. Took me about 20 seconds. Here it is: <a href=“Rice University”>Rice University;
<p>Also, Rice was never intended to be a LAC. It’s a university. Because of its small size, I think you get many LAC-like features, which, to me, is a good thing. But criticizing it for not being a LAC doesn’t make sense. It’s like criticizing a dog for not being a cat. Two different things.</p>
<p>The residential colleges to me are a plus, but that’s just opinion so neither here nor there.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision, OP. Two great schools from which to choose!</p>
<p>I like this video on science at Grinnell because I think it captures something of the Grinnell vibe: [Grinnell</a> College “That’s Science. This is Grinnell” - YouTube](<a href=“Grinnell College "That's Science. This is Grinnell" - YouTube”>Grinnell College "That's Science. This is Grinnell" - YouTube)</p>
<p>One thing that D felt was lacking at Grinnell was human biology-no anatomy and physiology, etc. She has taken about 4 bio courses at Grinnell and would have considered majoring had there been more of a human models emphasis. The courses and research were great but the bio tended to lean more toward plant life. She enjoyed her classes and felt the professors and facilities were top notch.</p>
<p>If med school is a consideration, A and P is not necessary for med school applications. It boils down to the type of biology one wants to study.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Rice other than it is a great school, too. You might want to peruse the catalogs of both schools for the content/ types of biology courses available.</p>