<p>I'm comparing Rice (with 1k) to Carnegie Mellon (with 23k + "Science and Humanities Scholar program" whatever that means) and University of Pittsburgh (23k + Honors College)</p>
<p>I was accepted into BioE at Rice, but I'm planning to switch to cogsci/women's studies or psych/biochem.</p>
<p>I'm fairly sure that Rice's weather and student body are most appealing to me. I'm also enticed by the money and psych program at Carnegie Mellon. I don't even know what to think about Pitt. Opinions please!!</p>
<p>carnegie mellon and rice are comparable i think, so i would go with CMU. the extra 22k a year really adds up. as much as i’d say go to rice, it’s not worth it</p>
<p>i have no clue about pitt, so i can’t help there</p>
<p>The following is the answer I gave to someone else who was trying to compare CMU and Rice. Here it is for your benefit:</p>
<p>As a CMU alum and with a son who is a current student at Rice, I’m pretty familiar with both schools. Both are very strong academically, so the differences really have to do with the social culture of each school. The students at CMU typically know what they want to study from the start and are uniquely focused, serious and intense about their major. At Rice, while students are serious about academics in general, many tend to have a lot of interests and Rice makes it easy to explore other areas and to switch majors. Rice students also tend to be more collaborative and supportive of each other. The biggest difference, though, is the social life. CMU doesn’t have a lot going on other than some lame frat parties, and the students there tend to self-segregate by ethnicity and/or area of study. Because of Rice’s residential college system, the social life is much more inclusive. And with the substantial budgets the residential colleges are given, there are a lot more parties. Given that there is Div I sports at Rice v. the Div III sports at CMU – sports play a larger role at Rice. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks, blackeyedsusan. I think your perspective is really, very helpful.</p>
<p>So would you say that Rice would be worth it if I made the most of their social life and more flexibility with majors?</p>
<p>Arguments for Rice:
I know the Greek scene isn’t for me, so would I still be able to have a fun in CMU?
I want to go to med school. Would the workload at CMU kill my GPA? I know that neither school is known for grade inflation, just that Carnegie Mellon students are a bit more vocal about the amount of work they’re assigned. After going to Owl Days, I was impressed with the amount of hospitals bordering Rice. I’m not quite sure if CMU students get the same amount of research and volunteer opportunities.</p>
<p>Is graduating from either university in 3 years feasible?</p>
<p>Rice gives you a lot more flexibility as far as switching majors and exploring things academically (and otherwise). You can major in whatever you want (except music) once you get into Rice. What you applied as doesn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>Maybe if you write to Rice and say “CMU gave me this much, Pitt gave me this much, but I wanna go to Rice; can you match the offer?” or something like that (obviously more elaborate and eloquent) you might get lucky. It’ll be hard with the way things are right now, but worth a shot.</p>
<p>I personally think Rice will be a much better experience overall than either of those two schools (CMU > Pitt), but there’s a lot of money at stake. So, sit down with your parents and figure out how important that money is. Is a much better quality of life worth 22k? That’s the question you have to ask yourself.</p>
<p>Rice gives you a lot more flexibility as far as switching majors and exploring things academically (and otherwise). You can major in whatever you want (except music) once you get into Rice. What you applied as doesn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>Maybe if you write to Rice and say “CMU gave me this much, Pitt gave me this much, but I wanna go to Rice; can you match the offer?” or something like that (obviously more elaborate and eloquent) you might get lucky. It’ll be hard with the way things are right now, but worth a shot.</p>
<p>I personally think Rice will be a much better experience overall than either of those two schools (CMU > Pitt), but there’s a lot of money at stake. So, sit down with your parents and figure out how important that money is. Is a much better quality of life worth 22k? That’s the question you have to ask yourself.</p>
<p>Wow. MSmom&dad has a really good point! Carnegie Mellon’s original price ($56k/year + including transportation) is <em>originally</em> pricier than Rice ($44k/year including transportation). I’m assuming that airfare to PA is more expensive than to TX (from CA) and I heard off-campus dining is a <em>must</em> for CMU students (<em>teardrop</em>), so I think the difference will easily be $10k/year between the schools.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Beef!
I already tried talking to Rice’s FA committee, but I don’t qualify for any need-based aid. I also talked to their adcom (who decides who gets the merit-based aid) and they said there were no exceptions… and I even told them how I helped my school win a Grammy and about my other scholarships to Berkeley and Harvey Mudd!</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> So, unfortunately, I think the whole “getting more aid” option is… not really an option.</p>
<p>It’s probably unlikely to get merit-aid after enrolling, right? It seems like it’s just to entice prospies.</p>
<p>Does anybody know how med schools view either university? I know that business schools like CMU graduates (except for their general lack of people skills). I’m sizing up the long-term benefits of this too.</p>
<p>You can get merit scholarships at Rice after you matriculate. Many departments offer scholarships to for research/academic performance.</p>
<p>Med schools probably view both universities fairly equally.</p>
<p>It sounds like you really want to go to Rice, and you totally should if you can. But $15k is a lot of money, and if you strongly think you’d be equally happy at Carnegie Mellon, you should probably go there.</p>
<p>i agree with the above posts. If you can pay for the 15k extra without taking it all as debt, I would go to Rice. But CMU is a great place and if it is financially easier, take it!</p>
<p>Does anybody know of any Rice scholarships for non-freshmen?</p>
<p>I’m just assuming it is, but… isn’t it really competitive to get them?</p>
<p>But I’m still going to visit Pittsburgh and see how I like it there. I’m a born-and-raised Californian and weather might play a role on happiness, concentration on studies, happiness… Haha! Does anybody know if it’s easy to adapt to new weather?</p>
<p>I applied ED and got a merit scholarship of $15,300 in May… so yes, after enrollment, and yes, as an ED student who had no choice but come to Rice anyway. So it IS possible, but that’s not to say you should count on getting merit aid. I feel it’s kind of a lottery, really…</p>
<p>You could go to Carnegie and try to reapply to Rice if you don’t like it. You’ll probably have a good change of getting more money the second time around. I know someone who got a full ride as a transfer student.</p>
<p>Hi again, Beef!
Just to clarify, were you given this money the May before your freshman year at Rice? I heard that the Financial Aid office lags a little with EA because they’re trying to get all their non-committed, RD students their financial aid packages. Unfortunately, I applied RD, so I doubt they’re lagging with any merit-scholarships they “forgot” to give me. :(</p>
<p>Thanks grashapa!
I was just worried about how easy Rice transfer admissions are (I don’t want to get <em>stuck</em> somewhere I don’t want to go!), and also, if transferring will jeopardize my chances to get good letters of recs for med school applications.
I also got full-tuition at University of Pittsburgh, and… that might be a cheaper transfer route, but it’ll be my worst nightmare to get “stuck” or… to screw myself over for med school admissions!</p>
<p>sviola, you can get into medical school from any of these three very good universities. It is not the school that you attend will get you into medical school but rather you yourselve. If you work hard, get a good GPA and a good MCAT score, you will have a very good chance for medical school admission. The big cost difference here is between Pitt and Rice. Though I like Rice very much, it is hard to recommend to pay full tuition to Rice compare to free tuition to Pitt for four years.</p>
<p>blueducky, my son got accepted to Rice and UCB last year. He visited both, likes Rice much better than UCB. However, UCB is a great school and it is hard to turn it down for Rice with a cost difference of $18K/year.</p>
<p>I’m guessing you guys didn’t have in-state tuition at UCB? I have my reservations about UCB, like you said it’s a wonderful school but I somehow feel like I would be happier at another place. I’ve lived in the Bay Area (40 minutes away from UCB) and I’m really impressed with how content everybody seems to be with their experience at Rice. UCB students (our school sends 30+ a year there) keep telling me how impersonal the experience is and how big the classes are.</p>
<p>$18K is not a huge problem, but I want to make sure my money will be going to a good use. Do you think it’s worth it? I know I will be happy whereever I go, that’s the thing. But Rice pre-med owns UCB’s. lol</p>
After going to Owl Days, I was impressed with the amount of hospitals bordering Rice. I’m not quite sure if CMU students get the same amount of research and volunteer opportunities.</p>