<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>My son has been accepted at Rice as well as several other very good schools including MIT, CMU, Olin and Mudd. His decision needs to take some economic considerations into account and Rice is definitely the most appealing on that point. I have some questions about Rice's ME program as follows:</p>
<p>(1) I have read elsewhere that most Rice ME grads going straight to employment wind up in the local energy industry and may have trouble getting interesting jobs elsewhere. My son is most definitely NOT interested in working in that industry -- is this going to be a problem for him?</p>
<p>(2) Assuming my son does well at Rice, what kind of ME grad school would he be likely to get admission into, and at what level of funding support? How are Rice grads seen by grad schools in comparison with grads from the other schools mentioned above? If the rumors about the difficulty of getting jobs outside the region are true then the answer to this question becomes extremely important!</p>
<p>(3) My son is quite interested in Olin's project-based curriculum. Can anyone comment in any detail on Rice's ME curriculum in comparison?</p>
<p>(4) There seems to be very interesting work going on at Rice in specialized research labs, e.g., the Smalley nanoscience center, etc. Does an undergrad have a prayer at getting anywhere near any of those places in any meaningful way?</p>
<p>Thanks, any and all comments gratefully appreciated!</p>
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<li><p>My S, who is in two other fields of engineering at Rice (well switching from one to the other) has taken a number of engineering courses, and they are very project based, collaborative. Actually many of the upper level courses in any major appear to be that way.</p></li>
<li><p>Your S could not beat Rice for nano! And in my S’s personal experience, absolutely your S could become involved in a meaningful way, especially if it is something that he has taken initiative on (for example, as a project in one of his courses). Professors won’t go out of their way to invite a student to join them for research, but if a student asks them, the response will be positive (even if possibly pointing them to working with someone else).</p></li>
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<p>My S receives email after email about various opportunities at Rice. </p>
<p>In general, I would say that Rice’s reputation (and rankings) in the various fields of engineering is very high. Opportunities for jobs and further education are strong. A person can be a mediocre student at any school or they can be a bright star at any school. The bright star at XYZ State University is likely to do better in admissions (for job or grad school) than the mediocre student at the schools listed above. Rice makes available anything your son needs/wants to be a bright star :-)</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations to your son for his fantastic achievements! Your current list of prospective schools truly make it impossible to make a wrong choice!</p>
<p>I am currently a sophomore MechE here at Rice and I absolutely love the school and have a fair amount of understanding with many of these points firsthand.</p>
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<li><p>Though I believe that it is true that a large portion of Rice grads go into the energy sector, I truly believe that it is a result of convenience rather than anything else. Rice is located in the world’s energy capital and there are tons of fantastic projects and opportunities here for that field of work. HOWEVER, this does not in any way mean that your son would be limited to just the energy sector. I am not really sure what kind of projects your son would rather do instead, but I am sure he will have no problem finding work elsewhere.</p></li>
<li><p>Rice students have excellent placement into grad school programs from what I hear. If your son does well, he will very likely into most if not all of his top choices. Many MechE and Materials Science Rice grads end up in the top 10 programs in the country without problem. If it says anything, on my floor freshman year, I had a senior physics major across the hall and a MechE/CAAM double major next door. The physics major went to Harvard for grad and the MechE went to MIT. I also knew of a senior ChemE who claims he was a slacker and was deciding between Cornell and Columbia for grad school. Though these anecdotes are only anecdotes, I don’t know of any stories of very qualified Rice candidates NOT getting into at least one of their top choices.</p></li>
<li><p>While I don’t know much about Olin since I didn’t apply, Rice’s curriculum has a senior design project that is very hands on and very recently we have implemented a lot more hands-on classes with projects for underclassmen. We have classes like ENG 120 which is all about open-ended design (a friend of mine actually was on a team that made news for designing a IV drip system from a mousetrap that can very easily be made in third world nations). Also, if this is not enough for your son, it is very easy to get permission to do things in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen. Also next semester, they are implementing an Engineering Leadership curriculum where you take several additional classes focused on both the leadership and hands-on aspects of solving engineering problems. In short: there are lots of options if you are interested in projects.</p></li>
<li><p>YES. VERY VERY MUCH SO. It is EXTREMELY easy to get a meaningful job even as a freshman. I got my first job two weeks into school working in a lab. Once I learned the ropes, I was given a lot more responsibility and (if I had time) I would readily be able to start my own project. Two of my close friends work in the nano-science research labs you mentioned and both of them were encouraged to essentially start their own projects. Rice’s faculty is extremely accommodating in this respect and really appreciate the help. If you can find time, you can very easily get involved and I highly encourage this. Another small anecdote. I took a class with Dr. Ajayan ([Pulickel</a> Ajayan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulickel_Ajayan]Pulickel”>Pulickel Ajayan - Wikipedia)) last semester (MSCI 301 which is required for all MechEs) and he literally told us that if we ever want a job, to just come see him. I am sure your son could talk to him too.</p></li>
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<p>One thing you didn’t mention in your questions is how well your son would fit at these institutions. Rice is extremely friendly and welcoming and I highly encourage your son to visit if he gets a chance. </p>
<p>I really hope this helps. All the best!</p>