<p>as title says,
major: mech. engineering</p>
<p>Hey guys. Do you know some advantages that Rice Engineering school have over Columbia Engineering? I'm stuck between these two schools for Early Decision. I wanna hear rice people's opinion too! so please Help me out .. thank you so much!</p>
<p>The question is not which school has a better engineering program. The real question is, which school would you rather spend four years at? Rice and Columbia have very different undergraduate experiences. The difference in quality between their engineering schools is minimal, but the real difference will be in all the different experiences you get to have outside of class in your four years.</p>
<p>I know your going to get a bias review on the Rice Univ. forum but i'd choose Rice hands down. Rice students get great internships with top Houston companies such as Shell, General Electric Energy,etc. Plus why would you want to study at Columbia and not have hands on experience? it's pointless and the opprotunities are endless at Rice!</p>
<p>I know Rice has a strong engineering department, but the OP is specifically asking about mechanical engineering. Any differences there?</p>
<p>I applied RD and was accepted to both Rice and Columbia: Fu, and last spring, these were the two schools I was seriously considering. As far as the differences in the engineering programs, when I visited, it was my impression that Columbia kind of churned out engineering degrees without much personal contact, whereas Rice seemed very personal, which has a lot to do with the small size and ample research opportunities. </p>
<p>Rice as a whole seemed like it had a better undergraduate experience, at least for me, with it's awesome college system, beautiful campus, and engaging student body. There's a reason Rice is always ranked very high on "Quality of Life" in PR. </p>
<p>Occasionally I kind of wish I could say the name "Columbia" when people ask where I'm going to school, but the thing is, Rice is swiftly becoming well known in the educated community as a top university. I honestly have no regrets, and I already adore it here at Rice. I am so glad I didn't go with the "bigger name."</p>
<p>Got into both last spring, and chose Rice. What convinced me was the presentation at Owl Days...Rice is really big on making their engineering department "international" right now, so for just a few examples: senior design projects are sometimes done working with teams in France, four kids were sent to IIT Bombay last summer for free, international internships are common (language crash-courses occasionally provided), Engineers Without Borders seems like it's big, etc etc. That made the difference for me and I think it's an important consideration.</p>
<p>Re: mechanical in particular I can't think of anything to distinguish the two, but I'm probably not the most informed.</p>
<p>Thank you! I appreciate your responses!
I have a follow-up question
Do people in Rice get internship/ research related opportunities in NASA? How frequent does the university interact with NASA? Do you guys know some examples?</p>
<p>I've heard of a girl who's doing something with space medicine with NASA, though I've also heard of people doing the same kind of work with Boeing and Virgin Galactic etc etc...all those companies. My general impression is that NASA loves Rice, but I don't have any solid stats for you.</p>
<p>There was a thread a while back with a link to a report on what Rice grads do after graduation, divided by major with companies listed...see if you can find it.</p>
<p>Think about were you want to live after college. Almost 3 out of 4 (74%) recent Rice undergraduates went to work in Texas.</p>
<p>Cressida, where did you get that figure? My son, a senior, just accepted a job for after graduation in Washington State. Many companies eagerly hire Rice graduates. You may find the number that stay in Texas is high, only because half the students originally come from Texas. You can go anywhere you want after graduation and be welcomed with open arms.</p>
<p>Just because someone chooses to live in Texas after graduating, doesn't mean you have to. That's really ridiculous to think you're only going to find work in Texas after graduating from Rice. Some people may love it here in Texas and may not want to travel elsewhere for work.</p>
<p>Honestly, I do not want to attend grad school in Texas after Rice--I'm planning to travel either back Northeast where I'm from or to the West Coast :) Just sayin'.</p>
<p>Some of Dd's friends did start out in Texas because they had friendship ties, boyfriends or girlfriends and/or good job offers. Doesn't mean they stay in Texas. Also, many of the companies working in Houston are truly international and there are many opportunities to transfer overseas or to other states. Also, you have to remember that the employment survey that Rice has graduating seniors fill out is actually filled out BEFORE graduation. Lots can change in the months after graduation.<br>
I wouldn't mind if my DD was in Texas; instead, she is off in Turkey thanks to Rice's largesse.</p>
<p>I couldn't imagine that Columbia would better prepare for an internship with NASA.</p>
<p>Columbia offers more in terms of prestige in the northeast, and offers more opportunity in finance (since it's in Manhattan), but if you want to work more in an actual engineering field, I suspect that Rice would be better.</p>
<p>OP,
I'd ask around at the columbia forum or some of the other ones as well. It'll help give you a more balanced picture what it's like at both places</p>