<p>I have been doing a lot of thinking over which school would fit me best. I would be interested in majoring in chemical engineering, however, I am not completely sold on a single engineering discipline at the moment. To my understanding, Rice is a much more prestigious school overall, but UT is ranked higher in engineering. My parents keep telling me how great of a school Rice is, but I often overlook this when I see UT rankings in Engineering. I know I am leaving a lot of blanks in this discussion but would really appreciate any advice from current students/graduates, or anyone else that could contribute. Some of my scores/rankings are below.
SAT- 1980,no prep (probably going to take it again, btw is worth it to wait and take it again and sacrifice Early Decision?)
ACT-32,no prep (my sub scores were fairly lopsided though, I had a 35 in Math FYI)
Rank - 5/546 (99th percentile, Also, I don't know if this matters, but I moved up significantlly, in rank. I was 17 sophomore year, and 5 by the end of Junior year.)
Weighted GPA- 4.6ish
UW GPA- don't actually know
I have a pretty diverse set of extracurriculars, anything from placing in multiple UIL categories to mentorship programs for a local elementary school. I am not worried about lacking in this department.
Just got my AP scores, all of these are from Junior year and honestly didn't study much for them.
Biology-4
Chem-4
EngLang-5
Psych-5
EnvSci-4
UShist-2 ( I hate to make excuses but my teacher was pathetic)
I would really appreciate any insight on financial aid. I believe I could get financial aid to Rice but am unsure about UT. I will be making campus visits later this month.</p>
<p>They would be very different experiences. Texas is very big. Rice is very small. Rice has a residential system that keeps you in the same dorm with the same people the whole time, sort of like Hogwarts. Texas is more traditional with dorms, fraternities and off campus students. Austin and Houston are different. Don’t worry about prestige. They are both good for engineering. Decide what you want your college experience to be like.</p>