Rice vs. Chicago

Colleges & Universities A-Z Rice University
1

<p>I got accptance letter from Rice last week and from Chicago today.
So, I need your help for choosing university!! As a Korean student, I really dont't know much about these universities. Perhaps, no better than stats shown in wikipedia and collegeboard.com.</p>

<p>As my nickname indicate, I am a biology major and my dream is to become a world renowned biology professor in USA top universities.</p>

<p>Just considering official ranking and academic prestige, Chicago might be better one. However, considering educational quality of Ungrad courses, I think Rice can be better since its student to faculty ratio is higher(5:1 while Chicago is 7:1) and its average class size is smaller(I heard it's about 15)</p>

<p>I also prefer small size school(I mean small in number of students), however, I am also interested in the academic atmosphere of chicago.(students seriously discussing about Homer and Machivelli.. How fantastic!!)</p>

<p>I also prefer warm climate. Though I don't like hot climate neither, I really hate cold weather. Coldness and flu cut down my academic performance to below 30% of normal level. Also consider the grade. Though I got in a good college, it would of no use if I get bad grade. I heard that both Rice is tough, but Chicago is even tougher. Note that, as you may have noticed, I am not yet good at English since I have never lived in foreign countries and started my English studying when I was 12. (Though tough courses in undergrad might be beneficial in long term.)</p>

<p>Accessibility to world-renowned professors and opportunity of ungrad research program might be also important for biology major. I do not know which one is better in this criteria.</p>

<p>And do not consider about fees and cost since I got full scholarship for undergrad course from Samsung(No matter how expensive the cost is)</p>

<p>So, overally, which one can be better school for me?</p>

2

<p>if you want an intellectual environment, dont come to rice. </p>

<p>as far as your career goal is concerned, however, your grad school choice and research there are far, far more important. undergrad importance is important inasmuch as it gets you into grad school. if you want to be a professor, which is awesome by the way, your life is characterized by two things:</p>

<ol>
<li>research (scholary side)</li>
<li>your ability to be a good teacher, mentor, or someone who can relate to students and guide them</li>
</ol>

<p>so i think if your goal is to help the community (scientific or school-wide), then you should look at it as what can make you most useful. will a scholarly community be more to your liking, or would you rather have down-to-earth, more carefree friends who are smart and study hard, but just dont talk about it? </p>

<p>i hope you understand your different position. most of my professors went to pretty much no-name undergrads. my favorite prof has a PHD from yale. where did he get his bachelor's? regina college. never even heard of it, and it doesnt matter one bit. your fame if that is your object will be made by research. </p>

<p>in your position, warm weather is a plus. a more open curriculum here is also better i think.</p>

3

<p>All I have to add is that I was totally unimpressed by the campus, social atmosphere, and people I met when I visited UChicago. I'm at Rice now and am loving it. I agree with sreis that Rice is not a terribly intellectual environment - Chicago is better known for that.</p>

4

<p>im in the same boat, deciding between chicago and rice. since ill probably want to work in the midwest, and i want to go to an intellectually minded school, im probably going to chicago. in your case, i think most of it comes down to what kind of college experience you want. you'll get a great education at both schools, and both get good placements in grad-schools. i think the others on the thread are right; if you're looking for an intellectual school were students discuss Homer and Machiavelli seriously, chicago's your place, but if you'd rather be in a more laid-back environment (crazy premeds aside) with more preprofessional students, then you should probably choose rice.</p>

5

<p>Chicago is a great school, but surrouned by terrible neighborhoods. I am from one of the best suburban high schools in the Chicago area, but not a single one of my classmates went to Chicago (to be fair, Northwestern wasn't high on anyone's list either). Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. </p>

<p>In any event, the feeling was that UC was a place to go to grad school, particularly because it was felt that older students could handle the safety problems and dangers better. Sounds negative, but safety is a huge factor. </p>

<p>Better have a comfort level with being careful all of the time while at UC - it comes with the territory there.</p>

6

<p>rice is an intellectual atomosphere too though. people are smart but they just arent showy about it as much</p>

7

<p>i was also accepted by both schools....i chose rice because rice is just cooler. lol. no...but if you ask students up there if theyre having fun in college, 99% will say no. It's not labeled "the place where fun comes to end" by its STUDENTS for no reason...</p>

8

<p>if u mean Rice has no fun u are highly highly mistaken...NOD!!</p>

9

<p>of course not; why would I choose a place where "fun comes to an end." I was referring to uchicago...</p>

10

<p>ok sorry..i just read it wrong :D</p>

11

<p>lol i was being sarcastic ;)</p>

12

<p>Just for clarification, UChicago's official unofficial motto is 'Where fun goes to die,' not 'where fun comes to an end.'</p>

<p>Besides, y'all have had enough fun to last a lifetime. What about the third world?</p>

13

<p>damn..RICE...</p>

14

<p>2006 Ultimate US National University Rankings </p>

<hr>

<p>2006 ULTIMATE US UNIVERSITY RANKINGS THIS IS A COMBINATION OF (1) THE US NEWS POINTS, (2) THE AVERAGE OF THE PRINCETON REVIEW POINTS and (3) FoR AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR--one-third of the combined London Times and Shanghai University rankings of top world universities-- 1/3 weight was given because the ranks favor graduate programs. The outcome:</p>

<p>1 Harvard
2 MIT
3 Princeton
4 Yale
5 Stanford
6 U Cal Berkeley
7 Columbia
8 Cal Tech
9 Univ of Penn
10 Cornell
11 Univ of Chicago
12 Washington
13 Duke
14 Johns Hopkins
15 UCLA
16 Rice
17 Brown
18 Univ Michigan
19 Northwestern
20 Dartmouth
21 Notre Dame
22 Carnegie Mellon
23 UNC-Chapel Hill
24 USC
25 Emory
26 Tufts
27 Georgetown
28 Univ of Virginia
29 Vanderbilt
30 Wake Forest</p>

<p>HERE IS A BREAKDOWN WITH THE DATA: </p>

<p>School US News Rating points Princeton Review Quality of Life Pts. Princeton Review Quality of Academics Pts. Princeton Review Selectivity Pts. Princeton Review Average Pts. US News & Princeton Review Average Total London Times-Peer Review Score Chinese University ranking total points Combined foreign ratings 1/3 of combined foreign ratings Combined Score*
1 Harvard 100 89 96 99 94.66666667 194.6666667 100 100 200 66.67 261.33
2 MIT 93 88 96 99 94.33333333 187.3333333 84 72.4 156.4 52.13 239.47
3 Princeton 100 98 88 99 95 195 69 63.6 132.6 44.20 239.20
4 Yale 98 93 97 99 96.33333333 194.3333333 71 58.6 129.6 43.20 237.53
5 Stanford 94 91 86 89 88.66666667 182.6666667 78 77.2 155.2 51.73 234.40
6 U Cal Berkeley 79 78 89 98 88.33333333 167.3333333 95 74.2 169.2 56.40 223.73
7 Columbia 89 92 95 99 95.33333333 184.3333333 56 61.2 117.2 39.07 223.40
8 Cal Tech 93 83 89 99 90.33333333 183.3333333 48 69 117 39.00 222.33
9 Univ of Penn 95 75 92 99 88.66666667 183.6666667 42 51.8 93.8 31.27 214.93
10 Cornell 86 83 89 97 89.66666667 175.6666667 56 55.5 111.5 37.17 212.83
11 Univ of Chicago 85 83 86 97 88.66666667 173.6666667 52 60.5 112.5 37.50 211.17
12 Washington 88 99 95 99 97.66666667 185.6666667 28 43.1 71.1 23.70 209.37
13 Duke 94 67 93 98 86 180 36 38.9 74.9 24.97 204.97
14 Johns Hopkins 86 66 86 98 83.33333333 169.3333333 50 47.5 97.5 32.50 201.83
15 UCLA 75 86 75 98 86.33333333 161.3333333 52 51.6 103.6 34.53 195.87
16 Rice 82 99 96 98 97.66666667 179.6666667 20 28.3 48.3 16.10 195.77
17 Brown 85 95 83 99 92.33333333 177.3333333 27 26.8 53.8 17.93 195.27
18 Univ Michigan 75 83 83 95 87 162 46 49.3 95.3 31.77 193.77
19 Northwestern 87 75 77 97 83 170 28 39.5 67.5 22.50 192.50
20 Dartmouth 89 97 96 98 97 186 19 0 19 6.33 192.33
21 Notre Dame 80 87 93 98 92.66666667 172.6666667 18 16.6 34.6 11.53 184.20
22 Carnegie Mellon 77 66 91 96 84.33333333 161.3333333 37 30.3 67.3 22.43 183.77
23 UNC-Chapel Hill 73 94 80 96 90 163 21 31.2 52.2 17.40 180.40
24 USC 71 85 88 97 90 161 25 32.5 57.5 19.17 180.17
25 Emory 79 88 92 98 92.66666667 171.6666667 16 9 25 8.33 180.00
26 Tufts 73 90 89 97 92 165 15 25.1 40.1 13.37 178.37
27 Georgetown 76 85 93 98 92 168 19 0 19 6.33 174.33
28 Univ of Virginia 76 83 87 97 89 165 24 0 24 8.00 173.00
29 Vanderbilt 80 85 72 60 72.33333333 152.3333333 18 35.1 53.1 17.70 170.03
30 Wake Forest 73 77 89 95 87 160 12 0 12 4.00 164.00</p>

<ul>
<li>Combined Score=US News Ranking PLUS Princeton Review Average PLUS 1/3 Foreign Rankings Ranking</li>
</ul>