Help me choose- 1 week left

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello everybody.
I’ve been trying to decide where to go to college for the past few weeks, but I still haven’t been able to pick, and the May 1st deadline is coming up pretty quickly.
Right now, my top two choices are Rice and Cornell, but I’m basically split 50-50 between the two. Here are a few points:</p>

<p>[ul][<em>]At Rice, I’m planning on majoring in bioengineering, while at Cornell, I’m planning on majoring in biological engineering with a concentration in BME in CALS. I know that Rice is higher-ranked in this field, but I don’t think that Cornell’s program will put me at a disadvantage compared to Rice. Cornell's program seems a bit more flexible.
[</em>]If BE doesn’t work out, though, it would probably be easier to switch majors at Rice. At Cornell, I would try to stay in CALS, probably switching to biology with a computational or neurobiological focus. At Rice, I might switch to applied math or physics.
[<em>]I’ll be getting instate tuition at Cornell, but Rice is about 10k/year cheaper due to merit aid (Trustee Scholarship).
[</em>]I’m thinking about going premed, but I’m not 100% set on the idea. I think that something like an MD/PhD might be more my style.
[<em>]Undergraduate research is one of my main priorities, and I know that Rice is really strong in this area, especially with the TMC affiliation. However, I was selected as a Rawlings</a> Research Scholar at Cornell, while I wasn’t chosen for the equivalent, the Century</a> Scholars program at Rice (kinda weird, since they said that my research was why they chose me for my merit award- currently trying to leverage). I don’t know if this puts one school at an advantage over the other for research.
[</em>]I’m not extremely worried about the larger size/student-faculty ratio at Cornell. I am worried about its cutthroat/competitive reputation, though.
[<em>]I really, really like Rice’s student life reputation and residential college system (HP nerd), but I’m not completely opposed to Greek life, and I think that Cornell is large enough that I would be able to find my niche.
[</em>]Although Rice’s campus was pretty, I liked Cornell’s a lot better. And, I more or less prefer Ithaca to Houston, even though Houston probably has more cultural opportunities. Weather isn’t a huge factor for me.
[<em>]Jewish life seems stronger at Cornell.
[</em>]Cornell probably has stronger study-abroad programs.
[<em>]I'm not sure which school has better music opportunities for a non-music major. I'm planning on joining band and jazz band, which both schools offer (Rice also has the MOB, which seems neat). I couldn't really find any info on the internet about Rice offerings.
[</em>]One of my main concerns about Rice is the distance- it’s a pretty easy 5-hour drive to Cornell, while it’s a schlep to get to Rice (around a 4-hour plane ride). I don’t have any family in either place, but Cornell is definitely more accessible.
[li]Rice was basically at the top of my list when I was applying, but I think that Cornell clicked with me a bit more when I revisited for Cornell days, compared to when I visited Rice for admit days (I couldn’t make Owl Days). [/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Some other choices include BU (full tuition scholarship, but nothing about it clicked for me when I visited- too urban), Case (17k scholarship), Rochester (17k NM scholarship), WUStL (full freight), Stony Brook, Hopkins (rejected BME, full freight), and a few others, but Rice and Cornell are the top of my list. I’m also staying on the Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Duke waitlists- out of those, Duke would probably be the biggest game-changer if I got in.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help; I’d appreciate any advice that you can offer.</p>

2

<p>Both schools are great. If Cornell clicked, go there. I don’t understand what you mean about in-state tuition, though, since Cornell is a private school.</p>

3

<p>If you’re enrolled in one of the contract colleges (Agriculture and Life Science, ILR, or Human Ecology) as an in-state student, you get ~16k reduced tuition</p>

4

<p>Cornell has discounted tuition for NYS residents if the student goes to one of the 3 contract colleges (ILR, HE, and Agriculture). I wanna say it is about 25,000 for tuition vs. 40,000.</p>

5

<p>Cornell has the level and reputation. Indeed great option</p>

6

<p>Any more opinions?</p>

7

<p>Anyone else?</p>

8

<p>You’ve done a reasonable effort at analyzing the alternatives, at some point you just have to look in your heart and feel where you really want to go. These are two good schools, with various pluses and minuses, from your perspective, as you’ve identified. I couldn’t criticise anyone from making either choice, based on their individual weighting of the various factors.</p>

<p>I would rather go to Cornell because I’m a Northeast kind of guy, I prefer the political slant of Northeasterners , I don’t think the people would be all that “haimish”, I don’t like high heat & humidity, I don’t like the sprawl of Houston, and I wouldn’t want to wind up there. But that has nothing to do with Rice per se- other than it’s in Texas, a lot of the students are from Texas, and a lot wind up in Texas- and my odd criteria likely would have nothing to do with your decision. You have to find your own criteria, odd or not.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for your input. At this point, with everything equal, my criteria may just be distance, and regional prestige- I’m probably more of a northeast guy also.</p>

10

<p>“Rice is about 10k/year cheaper due to merit aid (Trustee Scholarship).”</p>

<p>Talk this over with your parents. In some families, a 10k/year difference would seal the deal for Rice. It may not be an issue with yours. Here is a good calculator that you can run the numbers through:[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) </p>

<p>At Cornell, you should also investigate options in HumEc. There could be good options for you in Nutrition and/or Human Development.</p>

11

<p>I know nothing about Cornell, but I loved Rice. When we went there, I was astounded at how many happy, research-involved kids there were. Good luck!</p>

12

<p>Go to whichever is cheaper, in this case Rice. $40k is alot of money you’re saving</p>

13

<p>I think that we’ll be able to pay the cost difference. Plus, Rice travel costs will be much more expensive, and the RCPRS program offers loan replacement of up to $4000. I’ve talked to my parents about the price difference, and they said not to base my decision solely on that…</p>

14

<p>As it stands, I would say Rice, but if 40K is a drop in the bucket for Mom and Dad then I would go to Cornell</p>

15

<p>There are two other major differences - Rice has about one week of winter at 20 degree weather and pretty much shorts season for about 10 months of the year. Cornell - I heard the winters can get depressing.</p>

<p>Rice is also a small undergrad school compared Cornell and the engineering deparments are even smaller. Bioengineering at Rice does some cutting edge research with the medical center in Houston and keeps winning NIH and cancer research grants.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for your opinion. I’m not really worried about the cold weather, having lived in the NE all my life (from what I’ve heard, it precipitates more in Cornell than in my town, but not much colder). It would probably be weirder for me to adapt to Houston weather.
I know that Rice is near the top for bioengineering, but I’m not set on majoring in it. How do Rice and Cornell compare in the other sciences/engineering? Would one have a firm advantage over the other for premed?</p>

17

<p>I’m mainly worried about the social aspect of each</p>

18

<p>The primary difference would be that Rice is a much smaller school. It is also within walking distance to the best medical center in the world with hospitals for every specialty, two medical schools (Baylor and UT Houston), MD Anderson Cancer Center etc. Most departments in Rice have tie ins in research with Baylor or UT or MD Anderson.</p>