“In terms of cost, Rice is obviously the cheapest by 120k. If i go to rice, my parents said they can pay for grad school.”
I assume you will be going to grad school. Rice is an outstanding university! Grad schools and recruiters know this. Save your money for the next level!
“I don’t think he felt like there were too many Texans at the school at all.”
There are not too many Texans. Almost feels like there’s not enough. First, Rice always has lots of internationals, partly because of its slightly techy bent. International admits were 13% this year (11.5% Duke, 10something at Penn). Second, there are still quite a few Texans, but Texas has the population of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa combined. It’s almost a region … with 2 of the 5 largest metropolitan areas. It’s like saying there are a lot of midwesterners at NW. Personally, I think it would be sad if students at Rice didn’t know and feel like they were in Texas.
The student prefers Duke to Penn. Yes, Yale doesn’t have a reputation for being an engineering powerhouse but you’d get an excellent engineering education there. It’s interesting that you brought Yale up. I recently came across this article.
http://technology.yaledailynews.com/features/scitech/evaluating-stem/
Here is an excerpt:
"When Alexander submitted applications to colleges, he said Yale was initially lower on his list than other Ivy League schools with more well-known engineering programs, including Princeton and Cornell. It was not until he visited campus during Bulldog Days and saw the opportunities available for future students that he was persuaded to come to Yale, he said.
Alexander said Yale’s STEM resources are often underrated because of their small size. Sam Faucher ’16, a chemical engineering major who chose Yale over schools with more established STEM programs such as Harvard and Stanford, said college rankings tend to favor schools with bigger STEM programs because the ranking systems use metrics such as the aggregate research output at each school or the number of professors in each department.
Most students interviewed said the small size of Yale’s STEM program is actually one of its strengths. They cited easier access for students to labs and professors, a collaborative environment and readily available funding as hallmarks of a Yale STEM education."
Coming back to the OP:
I definitely think it makes sense to go to Rice. Seems like a reasonable decision. If Duke/Penn were more affordable, I’d pick between those.
And I don’t want this to devolve into a Duke vs Penn discussion but Duke is ranked 3 spots higher by the Wall Street Journal, Penn is ranked 3 spots higher by Forbes, and they are tied according to US News. There is no “prestige” disparity.
Even if there was, I am not advocating for the OP to make a decision based on prestige. I talk about choosing the best school at the undergraduate level (as opposed to the best department). The “best” school is not necessarily the most prestigious. It is the one that has an undergraduate focus, a thriving student culture, excellent resources, solid post-graduation outcomes, etc. Prestige is definitely a factor. It isn’t the only factor.
@yaleivyleague Which one did you end up picking?
Hope you are going to Rice!
I completely agree with @JenniferClint. Georgia Tech is a very fine school but to say that it is a target school for the top 3 consulting companies (McKinsey, BCG and Bain) is just perpetuating myths. Even if McKinsey recruits at Georgia Tech (which I am not sure of), the amount of available interview slots and available offers would not be comparable to that of Duke or Penn. These firms, along with BB Investment Banks (GS, MS, JPM, CS, Barclays, etc.) are very focused on prestige / pedigree on the national level. Whether it is sensible or not is a whole another debate. But, if you think about it this way, Wall Street’s obsession with undergraduate pedigree can be rationalized to some extent. If you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company and are seeking a top investment bank or management consulting company for advisory services rendered to the Board of Directors, you have to think about your investors and their interests first. If you did NOT know anything about the firm you were about to hire but had the bio of the head, managing partner, would you on average want the Duke or Penn grad or the Georgia Tech grad? Unfortunately, unless the CEO is a big Georgia Tech fan or has some soft spot for tech-focused schools, he is likely going to be more impressed by the Duke or Penn grad. That’s just the reality.
They are going to be impressed by what you did regardless of whether your degree state GT, Vanderbilt, Duke, Rice or Upenn. All are great schools. There are plenty of great companies in the world not just limited to the above mentioned. While an Ivy degree may open certain doors it can also close doors elsewhere. Honestly if you don’t think GT can open some serious doors you are very mistaken.
Committed to Rice
@yaleivyleague Congratulations!
Congratulations! Good decision given the circumstances.
It’s a good decision. Period. These are peer colleges.
@yaleivyleague Congratulations!!
Congratulations!
Congrats! Great decision!
You went with best school for engineering in the bunch. Smart move!
Thanks, guys! While I regret turning down Vandy CV, Tech, and Duke/Penn, I am saving a lot of money while also going to an excellent school. I’ll list some reasons here tomorrow why I chose rice trustee.
Thanks guys! I regret turning down vandy cv, duke, cornell, penn, and georgia tech, etc, but i am saving money while going to an excellent school. I’ll list the reasons why I chose rice trustee over my other options tomorrow
CONGRATULATIONS!!
(Looking forward to your reasons - always useful for future readers, and satisfying for people who tried to help. Thanks for that.)
Go Owls!
Duke is a top-10 university that would be a great choice for many students. However, the OP is leaning toward a chemical engineering major which Duke doesn’t even offer, so it’s hard to see why anyone would point him in that direction when there are many other solid universities on his list.
Solid choice. If med school is the path you go down, you will thank yourself for this decision down the line. Taking out 100-200k or more in loans to go to med school is crippling.