<p>I am going to be premed and am thinking of which one is better. Please provide some pros and cons and overall opinions.</p>
<p>Rice because of it’s affiliations with Baylor.</p>
<p>They’re both great schools for premend - you can’t be wrong in going to either. Just choose which environment you think you’ll fit in better. </p>
<p>Personally, I like NW’s student profile and prestige level. But I like Rice’s campus more.</p>
<p>If you can get into the HPME program at NU or the Baylor Med Program at Rice? that would be optimal. Both schools will successfully prepare you for med school.</p>
<p>I would say Rice because I have heard Northwestern’s premed is extremely competitive. Plus you can’t beat the Texas Medical Center.</p>
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Agreed. Why people on CC can’t seem to grasp this simple concept is beyond me.</p>
<p>It’s hard to deny what IB is saying. There aren’t big enough quality differences to override a strong feeling that one or the other is a better fit. They are both about equally selective with good academic reputations. They have similar curricular structures in the sense that both are liberal arts universities with several professional programs attached (journalism, communications, education, music, engineering at NU; architecture, music, engineering at Rice).</p>
<p>Rice is much smaller (~3100 v. 8300 undergrads) more like a LAC, with a “residential college” system that adds to the more intimate structure (if you like that). The Houston winter weather is milder (once you get over hurricane season). Rice is a wealthier school (with a much higher endowment per student, ~$547K v. $296K per student). Princeton Review rates Rice #1 for “quality of life”, for whatever that’s worth. </p>
<p>I’m sure NU has some relative advantages I’m overlooking, though.</p>
<p>Northwestern has much higher name recognition, naturally, in the midwest, and probably on the coasts. Its location near Chicago might be seen as an advantage, too, and for those who are into sports, Northwestern’s teams are much higher profile because of its membership in the Big Ten. </p>
<p>All that said, we really don’t have much interest in NU, while we are visiting Rice. We think the campus cultures are pretty dramatically different.</p>