How do you pick a college? Rice v USC

Parents Forum
1

Hello! I know there’s a similar post on this forum but I hope y’all don’t mind.

Basically, I was set to attend USC on a full-tuition + stipend scholarship (even had a roommate picked out), but on Wednesday I was notified I received a half-tuition scholarship for rice. Cost wise I’d probably pay 13k/year (plus airfare) for USC and around 30k/year for Rice. Rice would wipe my college savings fund while USC would leave about half left over. However, my mom told me that they saved for this reason and not to consider cost for this decision. I want to major in poltical science/public policy/international relations and I do plan on attending grad school. Not sure if either really has a leg up in the social sciences, but maybe one of you guys could tell me. I want to end up on the East Coast and not sure which has better nationwide recognition/prestige. Also, my parents aren’t very helpful in selecting a college because each went to college outside of the States where you just take tests and by merit they placed at the top uni, and didn’t consider any soft factors like fit or location or whatever. My dad just blindly likes Rice cause it’s close to home and my mom won’t tell me what she prefers.

Wow, okay more information (sorry!). But I have no idea to tell which factors matter to me more than others. I just kinda guessed what I want in a school, as in I have no idea how I would like a large school rather than a small school. I think I’m a flexible person who can adapt to anything but I do not know which factors I would find VERY important that I can’t negotiate on. Basically I just want a nice four years with lots of opportunities to place into a stellar grad school.

Here’s the list:

RICE:

Pros
-LOVE the residential college system. I enjoy the community it creates and the sense of family
-close-ish to home (3$ megabus ticket)
-beautiful, beautiful campus (USC and Rice have about same acreage, but Rice has more land per capita)
-Baker Institute right on campus! Lots of opportunities there
-small size (4k undergrads)
-intellectual atmosphere
-NO greek life
-well known in Texas
-large endowment per capita
-in the museum district/rice village which offers great cultural opportunities!

Cons
-too small? I would really prefer a medium sized school. also everyone seemed very intellectual – where are the artsy kids (my observation)
-the campus body is not very political. There are not strong left/right clubs and no activist culture
-not sure if size would impact ECs (there are like 8 people in mun) and number of interesting courses because of a smaller faculty
-houston can be really muggy and gross
-definitely more competitive. Want to stand out and shine – at USC I think really the scholarship kids and then some would be competiting with me, whereas probably at Rice everyone is a go getter/whatever
-not sure if it’s easy to research as an undergrad? this professor was giving me mixed signals
-no money for grad school

USC

Pros
-beautiful campus, in a different way
-really expansive study abroad and course selection
-they are pouring so much money into the undergrad experience, i could catch a lot of funding
-cheaper by far
-more diversity in student body
-seems very easy to get involved in research and talk to faculty
-i’m in thematic option which allows for smaller classes than regular gen ed requirements and more liberal arts-type reading and thinking
-top kids in IR accomplish soo much, with hard work I could do the same! They definitely end up at good places
-public policy grad school is top 10 in nation
-they really encourage you to explore different academic disciplines and reward kids for doing that
-weather is like the best thing ever??? so in love
-LA is poppin with art museums and concerts and a great location for everything!

Cons
-large size (15-19k) is really intimidating and there will be no real community
-intellectual atmosphere is not there (although will exist among scholarship kids i guess)
-i hate the housing system, basically everyone lives off campus after freshman year and definitely after sophomore year
-greek life is big here and i hate greek life (i think it’s super problematic)
-not as well known in texas – everyone thinks i mean south carolina
-we have a direct flight from my city but still flying is a hassle. my mom says with the money we save she has no qualms about flying me every break or even a three day weekend.

Thank y’all so much!! I’ll comment anything I forgot but AHH how am I supposed to pick by Friday?

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It sounds like you are leaning towards R ice. I too love the residential system.

3

You certainly have two great options, but I wanted to address a few of your “negatives” at USC.

At USC, only 20% of the undergrads participate in greek life, that leaves 14,400 non-greek students with whom to mix and mingle. Hopefully, you could find a few friends within that population. Plus, your comment about it being in a great city like LA, also indicates that you should be able to find a million things to do besides greek life, both on and off campus.

As for your comment regarding it being a large, intimidating school without community, that really depends on you and the effort you make to create your own community. Between your freshman dorm, your classes and the activities you wish to pursue, you will have many opportunities to create subsets of friends so that the size of the overall student body does not seem so intimidating. This happens at all schools, both big and small.

As for the intellectual atmosphere at USC, again, I think it’s what you make of it. It is a top school, and has many top-caliber students, particularly those with the large merit scholarships, but also many others who may be brilliant but not great test takers. The great part about college is that you get to choose with whom you hang out with and befriend, so I guarantee there are thousands of kids at USC who share your interests and desire for intellectual community.

If money is out of the equation, I think it comes down to small vs large, staying near home or going away. Congrats on your hard work paying off, and best of luck, I don’t think you can go wrong either way!

4

FWIW, I’ve been a fan of Rice ever since my nephew landed there and had a fabulous experience. I don’t think Rice seems small at all with almost 4000 students and another 2500 grad students. There’s a lot of other activities IR activities students can do besides MUN.

That said, I love LA.

I don’t know the answer to this but different IR departments have different orientations. My son for example was at Tufts. There were a lot of kids doing economic stuff and IR. They also had very strong Arabic and Middle East studies which is what he did. I’m guessing USC might have more stuff related to Asia, but I don’t know.

Like others, I think you’ve got two very good choices.

5

Sounds like you should do Rice UG, then USC for grad school.

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Thank y’all. This is very tough as they are two COMPLETELY different schools, yet I could see myself at both. I feel like I’m grasping at straws trying to find things that pick one over the other. I prefer Rice’s housing as it promotes community (although it’s only guranteed for three years – a negative since this is such a huge draw) but also prefer USC’s diversity in students (also it seems more lively).

@Cameron121 I know only 20% are Greek, but Greek is LOUD. My contact at USC said it’s avoidable though. I agree it’ll come down to those factors. I’m kind of on the fence between all of them, did you kid(s) (if you have them, or you yourself) find a way to know what y’all prefer?

Maybe @Youdon’tsay , most likely won’t attend the other for grad school. I’d love to be on the East Coast after undergrad. If cost wasn’t a factor I’d probably be at Georgetown’s SFS for next fall!

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I would advise taking the money and going to USC. Your pros are very positive, in undergraduate research, and study abroad options. Also, being able to get top grades may help you get into the best IR grad schools. Having the money left over for grad school is important. Sounds like there may be more happening there in your area of interest.

Does either (both?) offer a Washington Semester as that would seem to be another good opportunity.

Did you get into Georgetown SFS? That must be hard to turn down, even if you need big loans. They accept very few students.

Both are good choices. However, there would have to be a really strong reason to turn down a full scholarship at USC. The Greek life may be loud, but lots of kids avoid it completely.

8

go back to Rice and tell them that you love the school, but 'SC is too tempting to pass up for free, and then ask if they might re-review your financial aid award/merit award?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

(I’m a big fan of Rice’s residential college system, too, and believe it is a great size – almost LAC-like in attention.)

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@mom2and Yes, I was accepted to Georgetown SFS. Unfortunately my COA was 67k/yr and was immediately ruled out. I thought about askng for a revision of financial aid but it would need to be brought down A LOT so I just gave up on it. Their program is actually #1 for Master’s programs in IR so maybe we will see in four years :slight_smile:

Both offer a semester in Washington. USC does courses at GWU (I think) and an internship and Rice does courses at AU and an internship. So comparable I suppose.

I guess the reason my parents took the issue of money off the table is because they were prepared to send me to UT at 30k/yr if acceptances/scholarships didn’t work out. Since Rice is now coming out to be that same price they say they don’t see a reason for it to hold me back. I get where they’re coming from but ~80k difference after four years is a lot. I suppose the main reason I’m holding on to Rice so much is the res colleges and O-week and Willy Week traditions with a school small enough for everyone to be involved. Not sure if that’s a huge reason (although I do like USC’s liveliness). Basically I wish Rice told me about my scholarship earlier so I could have attended a full admitted student’s days and had a clearer vision of my life at each university. Oh well.

@bluebayou Thanks for the idea! My mom said she would call FA Office tomorrow morning but told me to assume it won’t change and, again, not to worry about cost LOL. Yes, that’s a great thing about Rice. It’s kind of a hybrid between a LAC and research university . Certainly makes the decision harder though. As Friday approaches I feel like tossing a coin but definitely don’t want to leave such a big decision up to that 8-|

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Jym and Pattsmom both had sons attend Rice, although they had lower cost options. Try to reach out to them.

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@bookworm Thank you! I am sure that will be a great resource.

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That’s jym626

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Hmm, I think Pattsmom no longer exists. But I did find jym626 so thank you!

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I had lunch with. Patsmom a few months ago. Perhaps I’m spelling name wrong, but jym626 will know it.

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Found her!

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Here I am!

I’m biased toward Rice, of course, and I don’t know anything about USC. But Rice’s Baker Institute is an amazing resource. And have you looked into Rice’s major in Policy Studies?http://ga.rice.edu/programs.aspx?FID=2147483719. It might fit well with your interests.

Houston IS hot and muggy, but only for a couple of months. The rest of the year the weather is quite nice! Don’t let that be a deciding factor in your decision.

17

Sounds like you were offered the Mork or Stamps at USC, which if so will offer you a lot of great opportunities in your areas of interest. You’re right though, the greek scene there is very strong and influential, despite being a minority of the students. It’s not the only way to have an enjoyable social life however.

Kind of weird that you just found out about the Rice scholarship. My son was admitted last year (is not attending) and we found out his financial package within a week or so of acceptance.

18

My kids both graduated from USC. Even tho it has a lot of undergrads, both were able to find their “tribe.” S was in EE and that freshman engineering class was about 200 students, so very manageable. D was in cinema which was also a fairly small school within USC. Both get to know people who lived with and near them. S was in Pardee with the Great Outdoors floor and got to know the other men and women in the Great Outdoors floors (one floor of men and one floor of women).

They are building a new University Village that looks awesome. Lots of the housing and apartments around campus are full of students, even if technically they’re not part of the U system. Neither of my kids were in the Greek society, but had no problems socializing and enjoying their time at USC. Most of their friends also did not join the Greek society.

I believe if you are planning to live on the East Coast, USC is better known that Rice. Rice has somewhat more of a regional–TX and southern rep than USC. There are a lot of USC alumni all over the place!

19

Hope my info helped.

20

Honestly, both programs sound great. I might ask your parents if the $80K could be used for grad school if you go to USC. I don’t think most master’s programs give much aid. And even if you get some, the $80K would really lessen the loan burden. If you plan to go into the Foreign Service, the pay is probably not that fantastic to take on $120K+ in debt (two years of grad school).

Let us know what you decide and good luck!!