<p>I love everything I've heard about these schools. I am going to admit days for both, but it will still be a tough decision. Can anyone tell me how they're different? (in terms of social life, academics, reputation, etc.)</p>
<p>I might want to be an econ major-- anyone know how their economics departments compare?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>I have thisproblem as well I like both schools a lot it seems that duke has better name recognition if that matters I would think economics would be better at rice</p>
<p>Okay, I’m not a student at either so take my advice with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Social Life: From what I’ve read on CC, Rice’s social life is VERY accepting, especially with their college residential system. According to my friends at Duke, you’re only “cool” if you’re in a frat or sorority. Even the sororities and frats have tiers. (They actually took like half an hour to explain to me the different tiers…) But, that’s not to say you won’t find your niche at Duke. </p>
<p>Reputation: I must admit Duke’s reputation is better than Rice’s. Not a whole lot more, but definitely better. </p>
<p>With that said, I didn’t apply to Duke because I’m read/heard many things about how its population self-segregates (rich vs. poor, black vs. white), and I didn’t see myself there. Ultimately, it’s where you find yourself more comfortable at, although reputation and academics are important, too.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m gonna be an econ major at Rice next year. I don’t know much about Duke, but I do know that Duke’s advantage is better name recognition for jobs. Rice’s major advantage is smaller classes, and residential colleges if u like that idea, and about 8k less per year (i don’t know what ur scholarship/fin aid situation is, but that’s what the difference should be approximately). TBH, Duke’s econ department probably has a better reputation, but at Rice you’ll have a lot of special opportunities that you might not have at Duke. At the risk of generalizing, I think you’d probably have an equal or very slightly better undergraduate education and opportunities at Rice, but unless you want to go to grad school, in which case Rice is as good as Duke, Rice won’t enable you to get a highly sought job as easily. Actually though, I was thinking Wall Street, where a small school in Texas won’t be as highly recruited as the bigger and more well known Duke. However, Houston does have the most Fortune 500 Companies of any city in America, and Rice is the premier school in Texas, so you could probably get some cool internships if you are interested in business.
As for econ specifically, Rice’s econ department isn’t its most famous department, but you do have the Baker Institute at Rice which is pretty cool. Also, there’s two economics majors–regular economics, and mathematical economic analysis which is probably a little harder–and there’s a 6 course business minor at the Jones Grad School of Business if you are interested in business. Also think about whether you’d rather spend 4 years in Houston or North Carolina, and if your still undecided the admit days should probably be the tiebreaker. Gl with the decision.</p>
<p>what about biochemistry/biological sciences in between Duke and Rice? When i got my admission package from Rice, it included an entire brochure about their research program for the science majors but ive also heard that Duke is great in the science fields. Any advice on which of the two universities will be better in this area?</p>
<p>Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of “is it better?” questions. The reality is that there is no way to evaluate better, and what matters is YOUR experience at one of these wonderful colleges. There will be tremendous opportunities at both colleges, and both will be stellar for graduate school preparation. The rest is just serendipity. Which prof inspired you to change your focus? Did you do research at the med center and find that you love working with pediatric patients? Did you attend that meeting where you heard about the leadership/internships program and ended up interning in a DC non-profit? Did you go on an Engineers-without-borders trip and decide you want to change your major to Latin American studies? Did you run for college president and end up in charge of your res college and decide to go on to law school? You can’t go wrong with either, so go which feels better to you in terms of non-academic issues. HTHs :)</p>
<p>Which do you like more, basketball or baseball?</p>
<p>definitely basketball. (the villanova game was so painful to watch the day I got in) The team is a plus but I’m not sure I’ll fit in with the greek social heirarchy (as referred to by Modulation)
I think I’d be a little more socially comfortable at Rice, but Duke has a slightly better reputation… this is hard!!
thanks for the advice</p>
<p>Mary d.: I think bio is like econ: great at both schools, but a better rep at Duke</p>
<p>haha Myrmidon, that was the exact question i was going to ask. when it comes to amazing schools like these, choosing based on sports doesnt seem like a bad idea.</p>
<p>I agree with anxiousmom’s analysis above - they’re both excellent schools and provide wonderful opportunities and ranking them in a “which is better?” way is nearly impossible - it depends a lot on the person and on serendipity. </p>
<p>What I wouldn’t worry about is the “Duke has a slightly better reputation” issue, especially when it comes to getting a job after college. Yes, Duke is larger and sends more people to Wall Street and more east coast major firms attend their job fairs. But Rice students tend to do pretty well in job placement (both those who stay in Houston and those who leave) and seriously, if you’ve looked at the financial sector recently, planning on going to Wall Street (even in 4 years) isn’t that attractive right now. </p>
<p>Visit both schools, decide which one you like better (for me, Rice provided the best college experience I could have had, but that’s just me) and go there. If you’re happy with your life in college, you’ll learn a lot more (both in class and out) and come out much stronger for it in the end, regardless of the reputation of the school.</p>
<p>as a quiet listener, I learned a lot about rice ; you are all great and nice.</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Look, if you want to work on Wall Street or do banking, etc., you can do that at Rice also. Look, we all know this country is run by the Northeast, it’s been that way since pre-1776. Duke has a better national rep for a variety of factors: 1) More kids from NE prep schools go to Duke, namely the ones that couldn’t get into the Ivy League school of their choice.
2) Basketball is more popular than baseball at the collegiate level-although right now I would argue that Rice’s baseball > Duke basketball (considering how we’ve made it to the “Elite Eight” or College World Series the last three years…Duke basketball has been consistently overrated the past few years as they have had three straight choke jobs in the NCAA Tourney). Nevertheless, more TV exposure for Duke basketball and it’s upstart success over the past 25 years has increased it’s notoriety tremendously.
3)Size: Rice is still a small school, and will still be only 2/3 the size of Duke after Pres. Leebron’s plan to increase enrollment.
4)Location- Texas has a nationwide-stigma of being the bastion of backwardness and lack of culture for the Northeast agenda, when in reality, Duke is located in a MUCH more backward place (Durham, NC- love those giant smokestacks from the cigarette plants), versus Houston (the fourth-largest city in the US).</p>
<p>I had the same choice as you a year ago, and it was pretty easy. While I am a huge sports fan, I just didn’t enjoy the scene at Duke…they seemed confused between being a Southern university centered around frats vs. a NE prep school</p>
<p>^ Hey don’t knock Durham. I think the smokestacks and tobacco storehouses give it character. And it’s actually turning into a more artsy community these days.
But anyway, Duke and Durham are great. Really. The only reason I didn’t apply to Duke is because it’s only twenty minutes or so from my house. Honestly, you can’t go wrong no matter which school you go with.</p>
<p>Does anyone from Rice/Houston know how the weather is year round??? Is it extremely hot and humid???</p>
<p>It’s extremely hot and humid from about mid-May to mid-September. By mid-October the weather typically changes to be less humid and cooler. The weather is fairly changeable throughout the winter, with some days with highs in the 40’s and other days with highs in the 60’s. It’s usually not cold for more than a few days in a row. There’s a lot of sunshine, with some rainy periods in the fall. February, March and April are usually glorious – low humidity, lots of sunshine, temps in the 60’s and 70’s.</p>
<p>You can see the average temps here: [Average</a> Weather for Houston, TX - Temperature and Precipitation](<a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com)</p>
<p>Duke tends to be a place where obnoxious southern traditionalism meets east coast snob. A friend of mine goes there, and he loves it, but he’s also very into the Greek scene, general exclusivity, and people’s socioeconomic statuses. Rice is where southern hospitality meets a laid-back western attitude. The residential college system promotes a friendly, inclusive atmosphere, and the focus of the administration and staff on undergraduates adds a unique personal touch. Academically, you can’t go wrong with either school, but Rice will definitely give you more attention as an undergrad. Undergrad econ at both schools are top notch (I wouldn’t look at graduate program rankings too closely simply because you’re not a graduate student and those rankings tell you nothing about neither the quality of teaching nor the research opportunities for undergraduates), so try to make your decision based on other factors. Duke’s reputation (at least on the East Coast… I’m not sure how someone from Seattle would judge the two schools) is more solid than Rice’s, but Rice absolutely dominates in Texas and its border states. You should also keep in mind that the population of Texas is greater than that of North Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Maryland, and Delaware combined! If Texas were divided up into smaller states, Rice’s reputation would feel like it covered more ground. Also, Duke’s more national reputation has a lot to do with it’s basketball team… Rice baseball is just as good as Duke basketball, but college baseball doesn’t get nearly as much media coverage. In the end, it should really come down to where you will be the happiest and where you feel you will thrive in all aspects of life.</p>
<p>Bump
Less than three weeks to decide! ahhhhh</p>
<p>Have you narrowed it down to Rice and Duke? If so, here are a few things you might want to think about:</p>
<p>Did you attend Owl Days and Blue Devil days? If so, at which school did you feel more “at home”?</p>
<p>Are you a frat/sorority person? </p>
<p>Duke is 54K and Rice is 43K-- does that make a difference to you or your family? If you have been offered merit or financial aid is one school’s offer better than the other?</p>
<p>If you want to do research, have you checked out research opportunities at each school?</p>
<p>Have you looked at travel time and costs to and from each school?</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Realistically, the cost of attending Rice will be $46K next year.</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid at Rice University](<a href=“http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=46]Financial”>http://financialaid.rice.edu/main.aspx?id=46)</p>
<p>^^Oh – I guess I was looking at last year’s figures.</p>