Hi, I’m trying to decide between NU and Rice. Chicago I think is better than Houston, but Rice weather is better than NU. I like that everyone at Rice is in a residential college system and that it’s smaller, but I like that NU has better school spirit and seems like a better environment. I’m most likely going on a premed track, and from my research they seem pretty even in academics. Any thoughts on which school would be better?
I think Northwestern is a little bit stronger academically overall – very strong in STEM, social sciences and the humanities. Rice is known for its strength in STEM but I’m not sure it’s quite as strong as Northwestern elsewhere. That said, I’m sure Rice is adequate in the non-STEM areas. Assuming you plan on majoring in a STEM field, small differences in quality elsewhere might affect your electives but your major studies will be top-notch.
Is there a notable difference in cost? It sounds like you like them about equally.
There’s not much of a cost difference, which just makes this decision harder haha. I do want to have the whole college experience of parties, athletic games, good friends, and a nice environment in addition to strong academics. I’m not sure which would be better for the overall college experience. I feel like I’d have more opportunities at NU being near Chicago, but the Texas Medical Center is also right across from Rice. It really is pretty even between the two for me, and I’m hoping to get some comments to help sway me a little. Also, I know rankings mean nothing, but based on Niche, Rice seems to have an edge on NU for student life, professors, etc. but NU seems
NU seems more well known (sorry my post got cut off)
I don’t think being near Chicago will give you more opportunities than being in Houston. Houston is a major city; it’s the fourth largest city in the United States (right after Chicago, actually!) and health, medicine, and biomedical research are big drivers of Houston’s economy. I’d say your opportunities are roughly equal, at least in any sense that would matter to an undergrad. Rice does a lot of research and is located right next to the Texas Medical Center - but there are lots of other industries in case you change your mind.
I’ve only been briefly in both cities but it’s been my experience that moving around Chicago without a car is far easier than getting around Houston without one.
If you want something closer to the stereotypical “traditional” college experience - parties, big sports games, school spirit in spades - Northwestern is probably more likely to provide that, at least superficially. But in actuality, the “college experience” varies a lot from school to school and even from person to person. There are definitely people at Big 10 schools who haven’t attended a single sports game and don’t care a whit about sports. And college students everywhere like to party and make good friends, so you can find that at Rice, if you want!
If cost is equal, then this is a personal decision. Go with your heart as both are very prestigious schools with brilliant, accomplished and, most importantly, hardworking, ambitious students. Congratulations !
Houston > Chicago, and this will only grow over the next 30 years. Rice is also in the nicest part of Houston proper.
As for prestige, I think it depends on who (and where) you ask. There is no question that while both schools’ reputations have increased dramatically over the last 30 years, I’d say that Rice’s has improved more on a relative basis, especially in the South and West of the country.
Congrats - you really can’t go wrong with either, but I think I’d lean Rice for most fields of interest.
Interesting post by Satchel. I couldn’t disagree more. I have never, and would never, rank Houston above Chicago for anything beyond oil production and uncomfortable humidity.
But, even so, it is a personal decision.
Can you visit both schools for admitted student events before you decide? Both have gorgeous campuses. NW is on the lake while Rice is in the museum district of Houston. Rice will have nicer (not brutally cold) weather in the winter/spring, but NW will have nicer (not brutally hot and humid) weather in the summer/fall. NW has Greek life while Rice does not. Rice has the residential college system. Both have division 1 sports. NW has good spectator sports atmosphere while the Rice students mostly ignore the sports teams. Both are terrific schools.There are plenty of parties at both schools. You can’t go wrong with either choice.
@college1114 - both are great schools. But, the unfortunate truth is that Rice’s great reputation in Texas doesn’t travel to the to the coasts well. In NYC (arguably, the world’s capital), you will often get a blank stare when you tell someone you went to Rice. And yes, this is even among a lot of educated people. As one of my good friends went there, I have great respect for the school and its students / alumni but the reality is that it is considered more of a regional school in the NE and on the West Coast. The reasons for the less than expected footprint is its lack of well known grad programs (Law, Medical, Business, etc) and its smaller class size that was historically 50%+ Texan. This means there are very few Rice alumni on the coasts. Rice is unquestionably a great school but Northwestern is on another level in terms of reputation, name recognition and general prestige. You have a ton of Northwestern alumni in New York, LA, SF, Chicago, etc. If you can endure a Chicago winter, then I think Northwestern should be the clear winner here. Also, Northwestern has significantly more geographical diversity - it has more students from California, New York, NJ, Texas and Florida in one class year than is the total size of Rice. And that combined with its Big 10 sports, very large endowment, top grad programs (Kellogg, Feinberg, Law School) and successful alumni across industries (Colbert, CEO of IBM, etc.) make it more of a well known name. Northwestern is the ‘safer’ decision here given its more established reputation across disciplines.
Northwestern
I beg to differ that northwestern is better known on the east coast then Rice. Northwestern is a mid west school. I went to Penn. I applied to Washington university. Knew of u of Chicago and Notre Dom but even when my kids applied didn’t really know anything about northwestern. Being from New Jersey I knew North Eastern, always got them confused. Rice I was always vaguely aware of because of its connection to NASA and to Kennedy and to science in general. I know that’s just me but I am not that unique. I just went through two rounds of college for my kids neither had northwestern anywhere on their radar and I don’t think anyone from their high school applied and HS sent multiple kids to the ivies every year. A good friend of my daughter got a full ride at NorthEastern and other kids applied there.Anyway I think Northwestern is even more known mainly in its region then Rice.
I assure you that Northwestern University is very well known & very well respected on both coasts by major employers.
Confusing Northwestern with Northeastern speaks for itself.
I can assure you that the opinion of @robotrainbow is not reflective of reality. If you look at her post history, her child enrolled at Rice – so some obvious bias there. And confusing NE with NU is analogous to confusing Penn State with Penn, which doesn’t happen among educated people. Look at the top NYC private prep schools / New England private prep schools / CA private prep schools like Harvard Westlake where these students largely can choose wherever they want to go and Northwestern will be in the top 10-15 most represented schools. Rice will not be found. Also, look at the top 10-15 feeder schools to the top MBA programs, and you’ll see Northwestern there. Look at Columbia, HBS, Wharton, Stanford, etc. Rice - no where to be found. Also, look at the incoming Investment Banking analyst classes in NY at the top banks - Northwestern will have a few analysts. Rice may have some students at the Houston offices but usually not in NY. Rice is a great school. But, it’s reputation just isn’t that strong on the coats. And considering that Northwestern is more selective / has higher test scores than Rice and AND has more students from NY and NJ in its freshman class than Rice’s entire freshman class (including Texas), I would beg to differ that Rice has a stronger reputation. Not even close.
Look at Dalton (one of very top private prep schools in NYC) -
https://www.dalton.org/page/programs/high-school/college-counseling
Look at Harvard MBA top MBA feeder colleges -
https://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/15/top-feeder-colleges-to-harvard-business-school/
Won’t make a difference for medical school admissions. I think Rice and NU are very similar for undergrad…with the exception NU follows a quarter system. NU is also part of the Big 10 if this interests you.
I find it interesting that the arguments for Northwestern are based around NBA and banking when the kid wants to do premed. The are both very prestigious school A two of the beat in the country anyone who says otherwise isn’t being honest with you. I would Visit both and decide that way don’t let people’s bias influence your decision
A website called college transitions has compiled list of top feeders (defined by percentage of undergraduate class enrolling) to the top 14 MBA programs, top 14 law schools, and top 10 medical schools. NU features in the feeders for top 14 business and law programs, Rice does not. Rice features in the list of top medical school feeders, NU does not!
For what it is worth … the data is compiled from linked pages and probably isn’t complete. Moreover, the data could indicate self-selection above anything else (more NU students are inclined towards business and law, or for other options, whereas more Rice students are inclined towards medicine).
“I would Visit both and decide that way don’t let people’s bias influence your decision”
Well the OP asked for opinions which would mean our biases, otherwise he would have just visited and not posted this question. Anyway, I concur that for pre-med they’re about the same, but for other programs NW is better. This would matter if the OP switched majors or wanted to add a minor an unrelated field, say economics or international relations. In that case, NW probably has more well-regarded programs.
@college1114 : 2 great schools; what a fantastic position to be in! These are 2 of my HS jr daughter’s favorites. Have you gotten feedback on the relative ease of doing research as an undergrad at both? NU is more than twice as big enrollment wise, so assume you’d have more competition for research work–but would be good to check and confirm.
Average class size at Rice is notably smaller than NU, so seems like that’s something to weigh. Some other things to check on would be the number of students declaring pre-med at each school, who your advisor(s) would be and their background/experience. Re’ the latter, if you were able to talk to each school’s advisor and ask some open-ended questions, that could be really helpful–beyond their relative success as a “feeder” into med school.
Congratulations on gaining admission to both of these schools; what a compliment to your hard work and preparation!
Do you have a way to pay for them? If you’re planning to do medical school, some of your med school loans will likely be from private lenders and too much undergraduate debt could jeopardize your ability to finance your schooling.