<p>Hi everyone! This is my first post ever on CC, but I hear that this is the best way to hear a diversity of opinions! I want to be an engineer, my focus being mechanical, but only because it is the most general and will allow me a wide range of opportunities. These four are my top choices, but I'm leaning towards Rice and Northwestern for their stronger engineering programs. Rice is smaller, has the house system instead of the frats, and I hear the students there are very happy. Northwestern has a co-op program, an impressive recruiting reputation, and I was invited to become a Murphy Scholar, which includes a 4k budget for a research project plus the added resume line. Can anyone help out? Financial aid aside, that is.</p>
<p>And oh by the way, UMD (Gemstone) is gonna cost me only about 3k a year, after tuition remission and scholarships. I know that’s hard to pass up, but I’d really like to move away from DC and plus UMD is super big.</p>
<p>I sent you a pm.</p>
<p>Yeah WashU has a lot going for it. But it’s not exactly the first place an employer will look to fill an engineering job. Plus St. Louis doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going on in terms of large businesses. Couldn’t it be harder to get an internship there? Or raise money for an independent project?</p>
<p>@prospie2018 There’s a lot to be said for co-op programs, and I have thought about how Rice may benefit from them, but you are right – engineering jobs are much easier to find in Houston, and Rice is extremely highly regarded by most employers in the south, southwest, and west especially. I can tell you that Mechanical engineering is very popular at Rice. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Northwestern’s engineering program. </p>
<p>On the front of student life: the college system and the student happiness are very real qualities that are integral parts of the culture at Rice, and the students love it. I personally love going to a school where everyone has their college that they belong to, where I never ever feel stuck in one friend group, and where I am friends with an abundance of upperclassmen (very useful to tap for advice on all sorts of things as well). I feel that the college system provides all of the benefits of a fraternity or sorority without the elitism or exclusion that students worry about (I’m of course not making a general statement about all fraternities or sororities or their members). </p>
<p>Sorry I can’t do a great side-by-side comparison, but I would love to answer any other questions you have! And if I don’t know I can ask someone who would. </p>
<p>Well I heard that Houston was very hard to navigate without a car because everything is so spread out. Is that true? Do Rice students spend much time off campus? I’ve heard about Rice Village, does it have any attractions other than shops?</p>
<p>Since there is light rail adjacent to the campus, and also short term car rentals as well (if you don’t like biking around to nearby places) you certainly don’t have to get a car. See <a href=“http://www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/exploringlightrail.html”>http://www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/exploringlightrail.html</a>
and
<a href=“Rice University | Zipcar”>http://www.zipcar.com/rice</a></p>
<p>US News claims that 44% of Rice students have cars.</p>
<p>Rice is very close to the museum district, and almost adjacent to the Houston Zoo and Hermann park so there are plenty of other fun places besides the Rice Village to go that are walking/biking distance.</p>