My D has been accepted to Rice, Cornell, and WashU (along with the in-state option of UCLA and several smaller/regional options, including one school with a full ride). Currently, she is planning on a double major in History and Political Science. Her career goals are not yet clearly defined, but she is considering law school, public service, and business (consulting?).
As befits her SoCal upbringing, she is friendly and laid-back; thus she would like to avoid an environment that was excessively cutthroat or snobby. Her social and cultural tastes run towards the conservative: She is a non-partier who much prefers classical music to rock (and who hates rap/techno), and she tends to be a traditionalist in general.
WashU offered her a half-tuition merit scholarship, but once FA is figured into the equation, the three schools end up costing about the same (though travel between SoCal and Cornell will be more expensive). She has visited WashU and liked the vibe, and she will be visiting Rice and Cornell next week.
I know that there are numerous CC threads comparing these schools, but they tend to be oriented towards pre-med, business, and engineering programs. I’m hoping that someone can offer feedback about how they stack up in terms of academics, campus life, and internship / law school / job prospects for students more interested in the humanities and social sciences. Any observations will be appreciated!
My S has had a great experience with Rice humanities. I sent you a PM.
I was a humanities major at Rice, and am currently looking at schools with my daughter. We visited Rice in March, and it was interesting to see Rice through the lens of a parent of a prospective student! One thing that was quite apparent was the relaxed and friendly culture at Rice, influenced perhaps by its location in Texas and reinforced by the amazing residential college system. Also, lots of Californians at Rice - I was amazed and impressed by the number of longboards I saw, which one student attributed to the number of California students who are at Rice!
My personal experience was outstanding. I came in as a humanities major, and really enjoyed all of my classes. Most of my friends from my residential college happened to be STEM (although the colleges are all four years, all majors, it just so happened that the close friends I made were STEM), and reflecting back on it, I realize that I have always gravitated to STEM types even though I am firmly humanities. I felt that having such a big STEM presence at Rice was personally very fulfilling and interesting to me. I never felt unappreciated as a humanities major.
After visiting a lot of small liberal arts schools before visiting Rice, my daughter commented that the STEM vibe at Rice was strong. However, she did spend some time with humanities/social science majors that are family friends, and they are loving their experience at Rice and commented that there are many, many research and internship opportunities for humanities and social science students. They also observed that there is less competition for jobs and internships, possibly because there are more STEM people focusing on specific opportunities or grad school options? At the information session, it was noted that more than 50% of students graduate with a humanities/social science degree, so clearly there are a lot of non-STEM students at Rice.
Please give us an update on your daughter’s impressions of Rice and Cornell after the visits.