*Schools: rice vs bowdoin ( i have not received my financial aid offers for both schools. so i am comparing in the assumption that the price is equal)
Intended major: psychology, specifically industrial-organizational psychology
Similarities: good weather, prestigious schools,
Rice
School 1 Pros:
Better prestige?
Various internship and job opportunities that are listed numerous times on the website
Great IO psychology grad program (idk if that applies to psych undergrad)
School 1 Cons:
It is in Texas
May be overwhelmingly big of an university for me (not sure)
Bowdoin**
School 2 Pros:
providing every student a 13-inch MacBook Pro, iPad mini, and Apple Pencil
Thrive program that supports low-income and first gen students like me
great peer and alumni mentoring
awesome location
great financial aid
School 2 Cons:
maybe too much drinking?
overemphasized athletics?
Tiebreaking considerations:
grad outcomes at both unis for psychology
how easy it is to make friends and avoid people who you dont like
My son graduated from Bowdoin less than two years ago. My only experience with Rice is kids of friends. Both amazing schools. Congrats.
My son was also concerned with drinking culture and ratio of athletes before going to Bowdoin and neither turned out to be even remotely an issue. He was not in any sport in HS or college but did not encounter or perceive an athletic privilege or influence in his time there. He has a large circle of friends from Bowdoin still, including his post-college roommates in a totally different region, and none were competitive athletes. Bowdoin also offers substance-free housing which is used both by people who aren’t into using substance and by many who are moderately into it but preferred it not be part of their housing experience. (Another misconception about Bowdoin in practice was the “preppy” or affluent vibe; also utterly untrue; he said anyone who came from wealth generally tried to hide it and he had no idea which of his peers came from money; everyone dressed super casual, etc.)
In terms of your tiebreakers, my guess is both schools are close on these criteria, but I know less about Rice. Bowdoin means all demonstrated need. My son has many lifelong friends. (You may find is takes a semester or two to really click at any college; that was true for both of my college kids so far.) And most of my son’s friends have has great outcomes, including if of interest, getting accepted to top grad programs. Not an expert in your particular major of interest though…
One other possible pro for Bowdoin (which may be true at Rice too but generally is not true at most colleges), is that every student can find paid work on campus. usually doing things the love or would have done for free at HS (or at many other colleges). My son was not on financial aid but unlike many schools Bowdoin didn’t tie any jobs to work study (despite ironically calling it work study). He got paid work work tech for student plays, to run sound in the student lounge, to work on the school paper, etc. My daughter who went to a different college after him was a bit salty to find not every school pays you to do student activities like Bowdoin did.
In terms of “prestige” I think that these two schools are both very good and very highly regarded. I am not sure if they are quite equal, but they are both definitely very well regarded and will be respected by both employers and graduate school admissions. I would take this as close enough to equal and just do not worry about it.
In terms of “grad outcomes” I first took this to mean “chances for admissions to graduate programs” and then realized you might mean “chances of getting a good job after graduation”. Again you are looking at two great schools. I think that both would be very good in this regard.
Industrial-organizational psychology seems like a potentially interesting field to me. However, it also seems specialized. Generally a smaller school (Bowdoin) will have a smaller range of classes and a smaller range of majors. Have you specifically looked at what classes are available at both schools in this area? I do not happen to know whether this is an area where either is strong.
This is certainly true today in Brunswick, Maine. It might not be true every day. Maine does get real winters. Texas gets rather hot summers. Personally I can deal with a “real winter” better than a super-hot summer.
To me if you are low income then your financial offer would be a critical issue, and apparently you do not know this yet. What specific classes are available in your desired major would also be important. The third issue is just what do you want to do and where you want to go.
I think that you have two great options here, assuming that both will be affordable.
I think you find the right school. Psych = grad school.
Rice has the res college system so you’ve got that for socializing. It’s city vs not.
Not sure both have great weather unless your weather interests vary.
Seems like you’ll have two great choices after you get your FA.
Only you can truly know what’s best for you.
@citivas gave you great nuggets on Bowdoin abd I’ve only read great things about Rice. Yes it’s bigger but not huge. . Yes it’s in city. And yes it’ll be warmer.
Two great choices for sure. Re: weather, the two will be vastly different - Houston is extremely humid and will be pretty uncomfortable outdoors from May thru September. As a Houstonian friend of mine says, you just learn to accept that you will start sweating as soon as you step outside in the summer, but the tradeoff is mild and pleasant winters. Maine will obviously have much colder winters, so it’s personal preference. As far as school size, note that Rice is very small for a research university with only 4000 or so undergrads, though plans are to increase to around 4800 in the next several years. I wouldn’t think the size of student body is a major factor between these two. Full disclosure - I’m biased, as Rice is my D22’s strong leaning at this point, and we received an extraordinary fin aid package. Don’t know anything about Bowdoin fin aid, but Rice is generally thought to be very generous, and this was our experience. Congrats on having these super options.