<p>Rice and Michigan have very similar schedules. If memory serves (a couple of good friends of mine went to Rice), Rice's academic calendar almost always starts a week earlier than Michigan in the fall and ends one week later in the spring. Classes at Rice generally start the last Monday of August and at Michigan, the first Wedneday of September. So they both have relatviely short academic years and both schools have short winter breaks.</p>
<p>In terms of transportation, both schools have very effective bus systems that are free. There is no need to have a car. I never had a car and I never had any trouble.</p>
<p>Houston has very mild and pleasant winters. It almost never snows in Houston. The average high in January (the coldest month) is 17 degrees centigrade (63 degrees F). It seldom drops below 0 centigrade (32 degrees F).</p>
<p>I am not sure if Rice has a residential college (or if it even needs one given its relatviely small undergraduate population), but Michigan does. Michigan's RC is not for everybody though, but it has a "family" feel to it.</p>
<p>Despite the small size of the undergraduate student body, the campus at Rice is HUGE. There's a saying that "there are more trees than students" at Rice.</p>
<p>Like oldolddad mentioned, there is a residential college system in place in which incoming freshmen are randomly placed in a college which they stay at for the remainder of their undergraduate career. This basically eliminates greek life (but not party life) and allows for many people to interact that normally may not. Just to note, Princeton Review seems to continually rank Rice among the schools with the most interaction amongst different racial and economic groups.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on one's definition of "huge". Rice's campus is under 300 acres. Michigan's campus is 3,200 acres. On a student/acre basis, Rice has 17 students per acre compared to Michigan's 13 students per acre.</p>
<p>Maybe we should add the land that the Johnson Space Center is on which was/is Rice land!</p>
<p>And I love michigan. I think when we get down to students per acre, trees versus students etc. the thread has probably reached its useful limit.!! Time for the original poster to digest what he has read, to decide what is important, and go for it. I still like my idea of going to school both places.</p>
<p>Yes, the OP cannot go wrong.</p>
<p>:) yup! and thanks for all your input!
Rice and UoM are so different! and I like various different aspects of each of them.. i guess it sure feels strange choosing between schools which I have never seen before!
anw, just one last qns. in general, what are the students at each college like? (not really stereotyping them.. but what are your impressions of the people there..)
thanks!</p>
<p>They are all just like Alexandre! (Just closer)</p>
<p>I have known a few Rice students and they were great. Intellectual and smart but at the same time down to earth and humble. Michigan students are far more diverse when it comes to intellectual ability and interests, but like the Rice students I have come accross, they also tend to be pretty laid back and down to earth.</p>
<p>Remember that the Engineering school at U-M has about 4500 undergrads. So it's still bigger than Rice, and has that big bureaucracy of an almost-40K overall enrollment wrapped around it, but the difference is not as great as it seems at first glance.</p>
<p>I wish I could speak more to program flexibility, but I really don't know about that. I will say this: if you do come to Michigan, and someone tells you you can't do something--ask someone else. It's one of the craziest things about this place. It's so decentralized, what one person may think is an unchangable standard may turn out to be no standard at all. Push a little when you hit a roadblock and it may crumble.</p>
<p>Rice is a great school. I don't think you'll go wrong either way you go.</p>