<p>I'm struggling to choose which school to pick, and I'd be curious to see what others think of my dilemma. Would anyone mind looking over my options? My acceptances go as follows:
- Princeton (SCEA)
- WUSTL
- Cornell (college of engineering)
- Stanford
- Northwestern (McCormick. I would be a Murphy Scholar at NU, a program where I'm given a small stipend and access to faculty advisers to help me conduct special research of my choosing throughout my 4 years)
- Rice (>$92,000 merit aid here over course of four years)</p>
<p>I was gravitating more and more towards Princeton, but I was thrown a little when I was accepted into Stanford (which I'm probably the least familiar with because I assumed I'd be rejected) and offered a scholarship by Rice. At this point it's pretty unlikely I'd choose WUSTL. I'm also learning away from Cornell because it has a larger student body than I like and I'm not sure it would be as good for me if I didn't end up doing engineering. Northwestern I really like, but am unsure about a few things, like the big Greek scene. At these 10 seconds, I think Princeton, Rice, and Stanford are my top choices, but Northwestern is up there too.</p>
<p>I'm interested in chemical engineering but would like to attend a school that allows me to explore other non-engineering academic interests too and that has a fairly "intellectual" feel outside of the classroom too. I generally gravitate towards smaller schools (3000-6000 is my ideal size) and prefer calmer rural/suburb/small town environments. I'm from the west coast so I like the laid back vibe of Stanford, but I'm open to other geographic regions and am totally happy with cold climates. I love Rice's residential college system and think I'd fit in well with the students there. But I also wonder if it isn't better to go to a school that's ranked much more highly in chemical engineering and one that's better known outside of its region to help me find a job after college. I'm not sure if I want to go to grad school or get an industry job yet. In general, I want to go to a school with the best engineering offerings and strong programs outside of engineering in case I change my mind; I also want a fun/social but kind of nerdy social environment. Price won't be the deciding factor, but I definitely like the prospect of easing my parents' burden.</p>
<p>I really love each one of these schools and am trying to synthesize a million different pros and cons for each. Thoughts or advice?</p>
<p>Congrats on your acceptances!<br>
From your criteria all would be acceptable. </p>
<p>I agree with your top choices. I think I’d order them Princeton, Stanford and Rice. Princeton and Rice will give you more attention than Stanford. Rice is fantastic but I just don’t like Houston at all. </p>
<p>Houston though is the place to be for chemical engineering jobs! :)</p>
<p>That being said, what are the out of pocket cost differences you have for each of your options?</p>
<p>Thanks UCBChemEGrad! So do you think Stanford has more of a graduate focus? I’m not a fan of Houston either, even though a lot of my family comes from there, some of whom actually worked as chemical engineers there. I think I’d ultimately like to get back to the west coast if possible, wherever I go to school. </p>
<p>In terms of cost differences, the only driving factor will be the merit aid I’m offered. In other words, all of my schools will cost a lot, except for Rice which will be less than half the cost. My parents are willing to shoulder the burden if that’s what I really want, but I would love to help them out.</p>
<p>They are all great choices; you really can’t go wrong and you’ll probably be happy either way. Any will give you great job opportunities.</p>
<p>You should visit each of your top choices on the admitted students day. Get a feel for the campus and the students and choose the one that feels right to you. If you can’t visit, try to find some current students who can tell you what the school is really like. Also look at the course descriptions for your major to see which schools offer more interesting options and professors.</p>
<p>I’m very familiar with both Stanford and Rice. If money is an issue AT ALL, go with Rice. Stanford is just too darn expensive for someone who is not from a wealthy family. I live next to Palo Alto, and it’s probably one of the most expensive cities in the USA.</p>
<p>Also, Rice’s residential college system and extremely down-to-Earth student body provides for an excellent social experience. Stanford has loads of excellent people, but it may be hard to avoid the wealth of the students around you, both inwardly and outwardly. I say this as a future Stanford class of 2017 member.</p>
<p>Princeton. Small size and top quality in chemical engineering with plenty of research opportunities. Not nearly as many grad students as Cornell, NU,and Stanford. Four seasons, but better weather than Cornell and especially NU. Who’d want to go to Houston for college? Tell Princeton about Rice’s FA offer, and they might rework your numbers.</p>
<p>mmmgirl, I’m looking into those things now. I’ll definitely visit Stanford since I live relatively close, and I’m looking into visiting Princeton and Rice if possible too. I’m also doing a thorough comparison of the courses I’d be taking at each school and talking to a few friends who attend(ed) each school.</p>
<p>Aerobug, congrats on Stanford! I’ve seen your postings all over the Rice and Stanford forums and was really hoping you’d get in to one of your top choices! I think you and I like a lot of the same things about Rice-- the student body and res colleges. Since you probably know a lot about Stanford, what were some of its biggest draws for you?</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, I’m not going to go into the specifics of the price, but unfortunately I’ll be paying close to full tuition for most of my schools, except Rice since it’s the only school that gives substantial merit scholarships. My parents have set aside enough money and I won’t be in debt when I graduate, but I my struggle is whether its worth going to a school like Princeton or Stanford (schools I also love) when it will cost tens of thousands more. To choose any other school, I’d have to decide that the ultimate benefits of attending that school outweigh the additional price.</p>
<p>rhg3rd, the size and research available at Princeton are a few of its major draws for me. I like the idea of seasons too. I don’t have high hopes that Princeton would lower its price for me, but I appreciate the advice.</p>
<p>You’ve been blessed with a few excellent choices. Congratulations!</p>
<p>My daughter applied to all of your schools last year, and is attending Stanford.</p>
<p>I would say that Stanford engineering is very, very strong. Everything at Stanford is strong. They claim to have more departments that are number one in the nation than any other school, and that all departments are in the top five in the nation. (I really haven’t fact-checked this, but find it credible)</p>
<p>The weather is nicer than any of the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>Undergrads get lots of attention at Stanford. Much of it is dorm-based, but everyone is assigned a pre-major advisor, and there are mandatory quarterly meetings</p>
<p>Why not go to accepted student weekends at Princeton, Stanford and Rice before deciding?</p>
<p>Michellel, I know it’s early but do you have career goals in mind? </p>
<p>A coworkers son of mine went to Rice on scholarships and loved it. He turned down Stanford due to the high cost. He’s graduated and working for a major oil company in upstream in Houston. </p>
<p>If goal is to get a good paying job in an engineering field, best to go to the best program for the cheapest price. If you want to work as an engineer, employers won’t pay a large premium because you chose to go to a better or more expensive school. </p>
<p>That being said, if you can afford it, I think the connections Princeton and Stanford offer in other industries and fields are worth the premium.</p>
<p>UCBChemEGrad, I’m not entirely sure. I have family who worked as chemical engineers for Shell Oil in Houston, so I’m familiar with the petrochemical industry at least. But what I’m most interested in is alternative energy, biofuels, carbon sequestration, that sort of thing (not really sure what jobs exist in this field…). I always assumed my goal would be to get into the workforce as soon as possible and get a good job, but I’m beginning to think I’ll want to do grad school (either going for a PhD or MBA maybe) or do some non-profit work, which wouldn’t exactly be a high paying industry job. So, I’m looking for a school that will help me explore these options, with good recruitment and good grad school placement so I’m not locked into one thing. One of my concerns with Princeton is that it seems like a lot of their engineers don’t actually have any intention of becoming engineers; they’re just using it as a stepping stone to med school or they go into finance. Do you think the fact that many Princeton engineering majors aren’t actually pursuing engineering would impact the education I get. In other words, do you think that could indicate any weaknesses in Princeton’s engineering curriculum and recruitment opportunities or do you think it would be a bad place for someone seriously considering just going into industry?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure because I’m not that familiar with Princeton’s engineering curriculum. I will speculate and say it’s likely a function of the location and career goals of the student body. Location being in Northeast and not far removed from Wall Street with glamour potential of a real high paying job.</p>