I am completely torn between the two. Rice will be more expensive over 4 years but cost is not a huge factor. I am going into the field of social sciences with possibly an political science or policy studies degree etc. I like both schools for diff reasons (will put pros and cons below) but am wondering about the social sciences at Rice. Not sure what to base it off on since neither school particularly excels all other schools in my area. I visited for a short day and it seemed as if getting research was hard and not a lot of social science ECs except through Baker Institute. Opinions and experiences with Rice in the social sciences are especially helpful!!! not sure what to do
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
-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