Rice is charging me $30,000 per year while UT Austin is charging me $15,000. What should I do? Is it worth it to go to Rice?
I don’t that $15,000 per year is a huge premium to pay for Rice, IF you or your parents afford the difference in cost.
What is your intended major? Rice has a better graduation rate than UT so consider that it may take longer to graduate from UT.
They are both very good schools. I am personally familiar with both, Congratulations on having this choice.
UT has a lower graduation rate for a number of reasons (accepting people who are top 7-8% but really aren’t ready for college, delaying due to costs/working, etc). That doesn’t mean that THIS student won’t graduate from UT within four years.
OP, if your family can easily afford both then look at which feels the most comfortable (large vs. small, etc).
Worth is all relative, libra. For one family the extra $60K+ isn’t even a bother – they can write a check from their money market account today for that amount. For others, it’s a deal breaker. Perhaps your family is in-between? We were in the extremely lucky scenario where among the suite of schools that accepted my kid, generous relatives said they’d make sure that would pay the difference btn the costly ones and the less costly ones, so my kid should choose freely w/o thought of cost constraint – but that was their wealth level. Ironically, my kid chose the least expensive b/c its program best fit her.
It depends on what your family can afford, and perhaps what your proposed major / goals are. I would personally go with UT, but the price differential isn’t so extreme that Rice would be out of the question. Can you graduate from Rice without taking any student loans? If not, then UT is an outstanding flagship, and may be worth the savings. Also realize that some departments and resources at UT will be superior to those of Rice, though access at Rice may be better.
Did you get into your first choice major at UT? If not, it could be difficult to transfer into it later.
What are your plans after graduation (grad school)? What major? Is the extra $60K difficult for your family to absorb?
UT Austin is an excellent school. I do not think Rice is worth 60k more over four years. Even if you take five years to graduate from UT Austin (which I doubt) you’d probably still graduate with less debt than you would from Rice at four years. I would recommend going to UT Austin.
There are some missing pieces to the puzzle, OP. Can your family afford Rice? What are your career/grad school plans? How do you personally like the school/have you visited? What’s your major at each school?