@BlackNerd1015 If you can, try to remove your sister from the equation. It really won’t matter at all in your long term life. Your childhood is winding down so it is perhaps normal to think of your sister but your grown up self will likely think about it very differently.
I would choose fit. If Rice is your favorite, Yale for grad school is always a possibility. You live for yourself not to satisfy the dreams of others.
Good luck. You sound like a cool kid. NEVER hesitate to get additional support if you need it.
I would not turn down a school assuming you can get back in for grad school.
How are the academics in your chosen area of interest at each of the schools on your list? Yale strikes me as the strongest for what you mentioned as well.
Go to Yale Bulldog Days and Rice Owl Days if you are admitted to Rice and then decide. Rice often is rated number 1 for happiest students and quality of life. It is a very accepting environment. Housing is not guaranteed all 4 years but it is for 3. Unlike a lot of schools where kids want to live off campus asap, most Rice students want to live on campus all four years because they love their residential college. If you have a leadership position in your residential college, you are allowed to live on. There are cheap apartments very close to campus where the students that don’t get housing tend to live. Most students want to live on campus senior year so junior year is the most common year to live off campus.
If you go to the same school as your sister people will only think that “wow, they must both be really smart”. That is all. Getting into Yale is a great thing and sounds like a great fit as long as you can manage the stress of top school.
The house system at Yale provides a cozy home away from home social structure.
There are too many other compensations at Yale to list. Your intended program is fascinating.
Check out the basement of the science building; last time I was there they were showcasing international projects that intersected epidemiology, anthropolgy, and social justice.
To clarify somethings, I do want to go to grad school; PhD specifically and want to teach (I think why Yale snapped me up because of the dearth of minority faculty). Live an hour away from Yale so I can escape home; 2.5 hours from Dartmouth, 3 from Princeton, and Duke is a 2 hour flight and Rice is a 3 hour flight.
Perhaps I’m misconstruing what you meant about Yale snapping you up - but if you are interested in an academic career, undergrads are generally discouraged from going to grad school at the same place as undergrad, and very few schools hire their own Ph.Ds as tenure track faculty – the point is that over a 10+ education (undergrad and Ph.D.) the student has been exposed to a range of approaches and styles, and brings something new to a different institution.
Yale admitted you because of your potential impact on the undergrad community and beyond, as an alum.
Hi Midwestmomofboys. What I meant is that Yale and other top institutions have specific programs to groom minority kids for tenure positions. I’ve been told that this is very attractive not because I can work for Yale but that Yale can be responsible for me. At least that’s what I interpreted it as!
Yale has the STARS program, which is to help develop research skills and experience in students from underrepresented groups in the sciences, technology, and mathematics: https://science.yalecollege.yale.edu/stars
There’s also the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. This is a national network of programs that are at many colleges and universities across the country (the director is a Spelman alumna and current sociology professor at Spelman, and is the woman who inspired me to get a PhD :D) Mellon Mays is more geared towards the humanities and humanistic social sciences, like sociology and anthropology. https://yalecollege.yale.edu/student-services/funding-opportunities/mellon-mays-undergraduate-fellowship-program ← I think this program would be an excellent fit for you.
I was in a similar kind of program in undergrad, for mental health research. These are really excellent programs, and a big part of the reason I did persist onto get a PhD. Usually you are selected in your sophomore year and complete the program in your junior and senior years. You get structured mentoring and research support; classes in specialized research topics (methods, ethics, theory, etc.), and a support network of other minority scholars (and alumni!) who want the same thing as you (and this is regional and national - there are regional conferences you attend where you can meet other high-achieving minority students from different elite schools). Oh, and there’s also a stipend - this freed me from having to work a part-time job and let me spend more time doing research, which is the intent. You also get funding for travel to conferences and to visit graduate institutions, and you hear about programs for minority scholars through the network.
MMUF is great because it also has graduate school benefits, as well:
You should definitely find the MMUF director at whatever university you choose to attend and make friends But it is at all the schools you intend to apply to, so that’s not a super significant factor in your choice.
I know of the Mellon Mays Program @juillet! I’m really interested in it; I’m up for a few scholarships to some of these schools so maybe if end all be all that can be my deciding factor.
Revisited Duke (for a scholarship weekend; didn’t get the scholarship) and visited Princeton. Didn’t like the racial segregation and pervasive frat culture on campus. REALLY liked Princeton. I removed Rice despite them giving me a scholarship due to distance; I want to be closer. Duke is also out for me (my parents still want me to consider it). With Dartmouth i have concerns with frat culture and being in rural New Hampshire…effectively it’s between Yale and Princeton.
But it is at all the schools you intend to apply to, so that’s not a super significant factor in your choice.