<p>let me come back to Rice and Barnard vis-a-vis creative writing and library science. I know Barnard has a good English department and Rice has a surprisingly good one for the kind of school it is. Barnard is better in creative writing generally, but creative writing instruction can be a clicking of personalities so a visit and meeting with some of the instructors, like poet Mark Strand, is a good idea. On the other hand, I’m not sure why you’d choose Barnard or Rice for library science since I don’t believe either offers an undergrad program in this field. Carnegie Mellon, for instance, has both.</p>