<p>My son got admitted to both Emory and Rice. At this time, he wants to major in Biochemistry with possible pre-med (not 100% sure at this time). We visited both colleges in the last 2 weeks and not able to decide between them. He looked at different factors like, look of campus, classroom setting, dorms, weather, food, student social life and came to a conclusion that any one will fit for him. From financials point of view there is not much difference in family contribution amount, so it is not a deciding factor. We drove around a bit both in Huston and Atlanta during our visit. Again it is a tie. So, it came down to how good Biochemstry dept is at these schools and pre-professional advising/support available at these schools. Provide your opinion from these 2 points of view and any other information that will help us decide.</p>
<p>Rice is more prestigious, selective, and academic than Emory. I don’t really know anybody who chose Emory over Rice… so it’s a no-brainer in my opinion. Plus, biochem? It’s got to be Rice.</p>
<p>I chose Rice over a small merit scholarship at Emory. For me, the social scene at Rice was much more my speed, the Biochem is amazing, opportunities at the Texas Medical Center are awesome, classes I visited were fun and people I talked to were so nice! Really, everything just clicked for me at Rice. I may be partial, but GO OWLS! But really, both schools are fantastic and it’s wherever he feels like he’ll be happiest and be able to succeed.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Rice being more prestigious or selective than Emory - they’ve consistently tied on all of the big rankings. However, biochemistry at Rice offers absolutely unparalleled opportunities at the Texas Medical Center. Emory may have CDC, but we have the BIGGEST MEDICAL CENTER in the WORLD literally right across the street. It’s absolutely baffling how many opportunities are available.</p>
<p>@ silentsailor: Rice <em>is</em> constantly ranked higher & Rice is more selective.</p>
<p>[College</a> Acceptance Rate Drops by 2.7% | The Emory Wheel](<a href=“http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=29696]College”>http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=29696) – Emory acceptance rate = 26%
[Admissions</a> Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Admissions Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - The New York Times”>Admissions Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - The New York Times) – Rice acceptance rate = 18.6%</p>
<p>Emory:</p>
<p>ARWU World 100
ARWU National 62
Forbes 53
Times Higher Education 61
USNWR National University 20
WM National University 87</p>
<p>Rice:</p>
<p>ARWU World 99
ARWU National 54
Forbes 25
Times Higher Education 47
USNWR National University 17
WM National University 25</p>
<p>My bad, got Emory and Vandy mixed up! Heh</p>
<p>^I’d pretty easily take Rice over Emory, but Rice over Vandy…? well thats MY dilemma haha. 4 more days to make a decision, hopefully Rice’s FA office gets back to me tmrw.</p>
<p>Thank you for responding. Can anyone of you shed some light on Career advising at Rice, in case he wants to enter the workforce, instead of pursing further studies.</p>
<p>Emory and Vandy are both very similar in my mind. They are not on the same level as Rice, neither in terms of academic quality nor prestige.</p>
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<p>I will be honest and say that our career center is pretty bad. Part of it is due to Rice being so small and part for reasons I have not figured out yet.</p>
<p>It is not hard to find a job after graduating, it just needs more initiative than some other places. The career fair is small and caters to ChemE’s, EE’s, MechE’s and to be consultants. </p>
<p>Point is, the career advising leaves a lot to be desired. What is important is that you will have a Rice degree and (hopefully) a good GPA. These will get you interviews and offers if you apply on your own. Everyone I know who wanted a job has a job.</p>
<p>[I graduated in 2010 in ChemE and now work for a software/o&g consulting company.]</p>
<p>Our career center is being entirely revamped over the next few years to cater to a more diverse set of students, so I think that by the time your son needs to use it most of the flaws Antarius pointed out will be gone. In particular, they’re going to basically stop consulting from absolutely dominating the events. As a bioc major, I think any gap in career advising within Rice could be easily made up for with access to the med center.</p>
<p>Emory was my dream school for the longest time before I visited Rice. I was between Rice and Emory as a high school senior, and I was so glad that I chose Rice over Emory. Rice has a better pre-med program (90% of premeds get into medical school from Rice versus 60-70% from Emory), happier students, better quality of life, better food, and better location (Rice is in one of the nicest parts of Houston next to the world’s largest medical center). Personally, I think the academics are slightly better at Rice as well. I’m so glad I turned down Emory for Rice.</p>
<p>Thanks every one for your feedback. My son paid deposit at Rice. He went back and forth between Emory and Rice. He used a numeric scale (every item is scored on 10 point scale) for: Major that he wants to major in, Academic Rigor, Research Opportunities, Grade Inflation/Deflation, Campus look and feel, Class room setup, Campus surrounding area, Food at dorms, Dorm Room, Career Center help and Pre-Professional Advising. Both schools scored almost the same with 1 point difference (Emory with advantage). Rice offered about 6K more in financial aid (In my original post, I mentioned that there is no difference in family contribution, to get the feedback on items other than money). In our OPINION, both are very similar schools (again, our opinion), with minor differences in each of those areas mentioned, but at the end we followed the money as other differences are so minor.</p>
<p>Congratulations! Welcome to the Rice family!</p>
<p>Great choice! Welcome to Rice!</p>