Pre-med UCLA vs. Rice

Hello fellow CC members! I am currently conflicted trying to decide between Rice University. As of now, I am interested in pursuing a pre-med track, Biopsychology for UCLA and Biology for Rice. If for some reason I change my mind, I have heard that law school is still a possibility without the traditional “pre-law” tracks so that is something that I am also open to in the future. Because graduate school is almost definitely in my plans, one of my biggest concerns right now is the cost difference. Rice will cost around 210k - 220k for the undergraduate years and UCLA is expected to cost around 150k. My parents can support me up to a certain degree but I will most likely be taking indirect loans through them for all costs over 100k. One of the biggest worries I have about UCLA is the competition in-school. Because of its large class size, I understand I will not get as much of the “personalized-care” that smaller privates offer. Also, I’ve heard of several horror stories of the cutthroat difficulty of certain UC classes, and I think that the workload at Rice would generally be a lot lighter. I know that there are many other dimensions to this debate but I think this is my main dilemma right now. As much as I want the personalized care and less competitive opportunities Rice offers, I also don’t want to be burdened by the additional tens of thousands of dollars in loans after college.

In short, will the benefits that Rice offer be worth the extra 60-70k in tuition?

I live in Houston and have to say that a lot of the professors I’ve talked to (okay admittedly like three) think that Rice can’t really compete with the UCs. On the other hand, it is rapidly increasing in rank. However, in most people’s minds, Rice would be at best around UCLA’s ranking. Also you’re in pre-med so…

Thanks for the reply! Just to clarify, when the professors say “can’t compete” it means the Rice has a lower prestige level than the UC’s and not the other way around right?

Eh, I was referring more to research opportunities/funding. However, I have to ask whether you have you visited Rice? It’s not a bad place to be, and there are lots of research places within Houston. Plus, as you mentioned, I think Rice has more personalized teaching. Also, they got way more elite this year with the new admissions thing. I wouldn’t put Rice out of the running if you haven’t visited, but if you wanted my opinion, I’d go to UCLA over it. And yeah, generally Rice has lower prestige than UCB/UCLA specifically, not just any UC. Of course, if you go into medicine, there is an argument that your med-school matters more. (Sorry I’m rambling a bit here: it’s 3AM). Nevertheless, I think more people know about UCLA than Rice, and should you change career choices, UCLA will offer more opportunities.

Thank you lol its almost 1am here too. I appreciate all the input, I plan to try to get a visit to Rice too. Are you a student at Rice by any chance? If so, do you have any insight on the workload differences between the two colleges?

No, I go to a school in Houston. I don’t really know the workload differences to be honest. I mean there’s obviously rumors, but I have no first-hand knowledge. I will say that most of the people older than me who went to Rice did not seem to be dying from work?

Oh I see, yeah that was the general impression I had of Rice too. Thanks for all the input thought!

If you have med/grad school in your future, then you might want to choose UCLA to save money for undergrad so you are not burdened by student debt. Try to visit Rice for Owl Days or an admit day before you make your decision. https://admission.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs676/f/ScheduleAtAGlance_OwlDays2019_4.pdf