Rice v. Pomona v. Williams

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>So it is decision time for me. I am posting this to see if my pros/cons about these three schools are valid. I have posted before and am interested in biology/pre-med/biomed engineering with an interest in attending medical school or Public Health School.</p>

<p>Williams: (+) Personal academic experience, outdoorsy and athletic students, diversity, grad school placement, tutorials, students, ability to run track
(-) lack of Public Health curriculum, lack of prominent research, cold, small, facilities seemed less nice than others, expensive, lack of name recognition, grade deflation</p>

<p>Pomona: (+) personal academic experience, outdoory students, diversity, california weather, ability to run track, campus beauty
(-) lack of Public Health curriculum, lack of prominent research, overly liberal students, large city and pollution, lack of name recognition</p>

<p>Rice: (+) tons of research, wide curriculum, cheapest, diversity, residential colleges, campus beauty, warm
(-) so many texans, more pre-professional, less liberal-art curriculum, Houston/Pollution, less outdoor opportunity, can't run</p>

<p>Do you think these are valid points?
How many students from Rice go to Harvard Med and other top med schools each year (I have seen the WSJ rankings but want to know how good med school prep is)?
Do the research opportunities really pay off?
Is there a lot of grade deflation? Can I do Bioengineering/Global Health major and get a really good GPA and not die?</p>

<p>Thanks and sorry if I am thinking out loud.</p>

2

<p>Mom here: I’m going to answer in between your points…
"Rice: (+) tons of research, wide curriculum, cheapest, diversity, residential colleges, campus beauty, warm
(-) so many texans, NOT A DOWNSIDE. TEXAS IS A HUGE STATE; ABOUT THE SIZE OF 10 OF THOSE EASTERN STATES, AND HAS TONS OF DIVERSITY - SO COUNT IT AS A PLUS more pre-professional NOT REALLY - LOTS OF “SEARCHERS” AT RICE AND MANY, MANY CHANGE THEIR MAJORS, less liberal-art curriculum STRONG HUMANITIES; RICE IS MORE LIKE A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE PLLUS STRONG SCIENCE/ENGINEERING/ARCHITECTURE/MUSIC, Houston/Pollution PARTS OF HOUSTON ARE GREAT, ESPECIALLY NEAR RICE/ LESS POLLUTED THESE DAYS, less outdoor opportunity, can’t run WHY CAN’T YOU RUN? AT RICE, YOU CAN FREQUENTLY “WALK-ON” TO TEAMS. THERE IS A GREAT TRACK AROUND CAMPUS.</p>

<p>Do you think these are valid points?
How many students from Rice go to Harvard Med and other top med schools each year (I have seen the WSJ rankings but want to know how good med school prep is)? MED SCHOOL PREP IS GREAT AND MED ACCEPTANCE RATE IS GREAT.
Do the research opportunities really pay off? YES.<br>
Is there a lot of grade deflation? Can I do Bioengineering/Global Health major and get a really good GPA and not die? YES, DEFINITELY. LOOK AT THE MED SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE RATES! IF GPA’S WERE KILLING THE RICE KID’S CHANCES AT MED SCHOOL, THE RATE WOULD NOT BE SO HIGH. </p>

<p>OKAY, I’ll stop screaming now. sorry about the caps lock being on, but it seemed the easiest way to answer your points. :)</p>

3

<p>While Massachusetts kicks the crap out of Texas (go Boston), Rice is definitely the way to go. </p>

<p>We have a tie up with Baylor, the largest med school across the street and a great biology, and BioE program.</p>

<p>Id pick Rice!</p>

4

<p>In terms of outdoor opportunity, Rice has a program called ROPE where you can go on trips to do things from canoeing to rock climbing, etc. I did a kayaking one a few weekends ago and it was two days of awesome outdoor activities. So even though you’re in a city and might have to travel a little, you can definitely still enjoy the outdoors.</p>

5

<p>

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<p>???</p>

<p>So many Texans: The Rice body is incredibly diverse, even the Texans. Texas is a big state.</p>

<p>Pre-professional, less liberal-arts curriculum: Completely false! I don’t understand at all where you got this idea. Rice focuses on undergrads, who can take any class in any academic division. Many people double major, triple major or design their own major, or any combination of the above. There are no “pre”-anything programs, such as pre-medicine, that are common at other universities. Rice is such a powerhouse because it is strong in humanities, liberal arts, architecture, music, natural sciences AND engineering. Very few universities can make the same claim.</p>

<p>Houston/Pollution: The area around Rice is gorgeous; air pollution is minimal. The Rice campus itself is spotless. </p>

<p>Can’t run: The campus has a track and a sidewalk that circles the entire campus - both would be great for running on. Also, involvement in intra-mural/pick-up sports is high.</p>

<p>Undergrad research opportunities at Rice are virtually unparalleled. The acceptance of Rice students to medical schools is over 90%.</p>

<p>Rice is particularly strong in the field of BioE and other medical-related studies. The Houston Medical Center, the largest in the world, is right across the street to boot.</p>

<p>Your choice should be clear.</p>

6

<p>I had a similar choice last year… Rice or Claremont McKenna. In the end, I chose Rice. I really wanted a liberal arts/undergraduate focus, and Rice does a exceptional job of providing that accompanied by top-notch research facilities. I don’t feel like I’m compromising an ever important liberal education by studying at Rice. CMC was also a big draw to be because of its government department. I know that’s relatively irrelevant to you, but just know that I chose Rice despite CMCs reputation as one of the country’s political powerhouses. Pomona will have plenty of pollution… the Inland Empire east of LA is smoggy as hell. The mountains really lock everything in. Houston has pollution, but I’ve never noticed it, and I certainly did in metro Los Angeles. Plus, Pomona is in the suburbs, and Claremont is far from a college town. I grew up in suburbia, and after living in Houston, I would never want to go to college there. Being so close to Big Bear and the desert is really cool, though. As far as Williams goes, you’ll definitely have the outdoorsy feel there, but keep in mind that Williamstown is PODUNK Massachusetts. Like, it’s within spitting distance of Vermont and New York state… about as far as you can get from Boston and still be in the same state. You’re very lucky to have this difficult choice, though, and you can’t really go wrong. Just know that Texans are awesome (I’m not from Texas, and I love all of them… plus, like everyone has said, Texas is really diverse), you will have plenty of opportunities to do outdoorsy stuff (people go camping on long weekends and lots of people run the outer loop around campus every day), and Rice will be very conducive to you’re pre-med/bioengineering aspirations while providing a strong liberal arts education.</p>

7

<p>y’all (Texan style) make some good points. I know many students party at Rice, but there are also a lot of other options, right (I’m straight-edge)?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

8

<p>From my understanding (knowledge gained from other students), no one is going to pressure you to drink or do drugs. Rice is a wet campus, so you can find alcohol without a problem…if you want to. If not, it won’t affect you socially. Many students who don’t drink still have fun at parties, etc. Even if you don’t want to go to parties, there’s plenty of other stuff to do.</p>