Rice vs. Dartmouth

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>I applied to both Rice University and Dartmouth College. I thought I would have an easier time getting into Rice than Dartmouth, but that did not turn out to be the case (since Rice’s acceptance rate at the time was around 25% and Dartmouth’s 15%). I did early action for Rice and was wait listed (I was wait listed again for regular decision). I did not think I was going to get into Dartmouth so it came as a big surprise when I received a thick envelope in the mail from Dartmouth, at which point I said goodbye to Rice. I lived for four years in the Montrose area for high school and went to Rice all the time to study, check out books, and hang out with some friends I had at the college. As stated previously, both schools are excellent in their own unique ways, and very different at the same time. </p>

<p>Dartmouth College is located in a very rural place. You are surrounded by nature which can be a very beautiful thing if you are into hiking and other similar recreational activities and outdoor sports. I had lived in Houston my entire life so my first winter at Dartmouth was pretty rough. Once I got the proper clothing I was fine, and have gotten used to the rough winters. Although not a skier myself, winters are a blessing if you love to ski, since Dartmouth has it’s own ski way located not far from the college. The fall, spring, and summer terms are absolutely amazing. The weather is perfect, especially at the beginning of fall term and end of spring term. Rice University on the other hand, is located in Houston, which is very humid and subtropical.</p>

<p>In terms of academics, I would say that Dartmouth College is a bit more fast paced than Rice, due to the quarter system or D-plan as we like to call it. Having a quarter system means that professors are always trying to squeeze in a normal two-semester class into a Dartmouth term. This means that finals are always around the corner and the pace very fast as a result. I struggled with the pace my first term and did very poorly academically (2.8 GPA). The next term wasn’t any better because of winter and because I was still trying to get used to the pace (3.2) GPA. Spring term I finally managed to get my feet grounded, and excelled academically (4.0 GPA) and have been doing fine since then. One problem with my first term was that I pretty much hit the ground running. I signed up three courses which were all very quantitative intensive courses. I actually remember talking to a senior at Dartmouth and him telling me to drop at least one of my classes. I only wish that I’d listened to him.</p>

<p>As stated previously, Dartmouth is quite isolated. This can be a good thing if you don’t like the distractions that a bigger city or town would offer (Rice University for example is located in a pretty urban area, with down town only a short trip away and a medical center right across the street from Rice). On the other hand, it can be a bad thing during breaks when you’re on campus, since there isn’t much to do. This was very much the case my freshman year. My suggesting to overcome this is to get involved in the college or find something that you love to do. For me it turned out to be cycling and mountain biking. Cycling up here is absolutely amazing. I’ve been part of the Dartmouth Cycling team and have been loving every second of it. I’ve also been pretty involved with the college, working with the The Dartmouth (college newspaper), working as webmaster for Dartmouth Broadcasting (college radio), and doing networking and security stuff for the college. The Dartmouth Outing Club is also a pretty big thing on campus, something that a lot of people are involved in. I am currently a computer science major. Dartmouth College has an excellent Computer Science department, one of the main reasons why I applied, despite the distance from home. We also have an excellent engineering department. I’m not sure how it stacks up against Rice but they are both very good. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to apply to a specific school or college when applying to Dartmouth (it is a liberal arts school after all). This means that you are free to try out different majors and departments, instead of having to decide that before hand. Since the beginning of freshmen year I’ve gone from doing computer science, to trying out engineering, economics, psychology, and finally deciding to double major in computer science and studio art. There is a lot of freedom to study what YOU want and to create your own modified majors, even going so far as to create your own major if you wish. When applying to Rice, I felt very limited when it came to deciding what I wanted to study.</p>

<p>I’ve said a lot. I could continue to write on forever but I won’t. Let me know if you guys have any questions or would like to know anything more specific about the college.</p>

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<p>rmelgares, how could you feel limited when you applied to Rice? You don’t choose your major until the end of sophomore year and only Music, arch and the Rice/Baylor program. must be applied to separately. They also encourage students to try various courses before you commit</p>

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<p>what i meant previously was that i felt limited when applying to Rice because I pretty much had to gear my application towards a certain major (only talking about the application process here). if i was interested in doing computer science at Rice, then i was expected to have taken some sort of computer science class(es) during high school. i remember spending a lot of time with my counselor trying to gear my Rice application towards a major (to no avail i feel, since i ended up getting wait listed twice). when applying to Dartmouth, I really didn’t have to do that.</p>

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<p>I was accepted to both Rice and Dartmouth, and I ultimately chose Rice. It was a hard decision to make but I’m confident I chose wisely.</p>

<p>REASONS:

  1. Rice gave me both merit and need-based aid. Dartmouth gave me nothing.
  2. Distance. I didn’t really care that it was far away from my family in Florida, but it would be ridiculously expensive/time-consuming to travel home for Thanksgiving, etc.
  3. Social life. I think the residential college system at Rice is really inclusive and gives EVERYONE the opportunity to “fit in”, regardless of your background or your wealth. I hear it’s quite easy to make friends at Dartmouth as well, but there, the Greek scene is fairly prominent. So if you don’t rush or just don’t want to be a part of the Greek scene, apparently it’s harder (but not impossible) to find your own social circle.
  4. The reasons why people come. I don’t want to be perceived as negative towards Dartmouth, so I won’t really elaborate more on that, but I feel like some people are attracted to the “status” of Dartmouth and really value that sort of thing. I don’t get the same vibe at Rice (I visited both schools).
  5. Rice/Baylor. enough said.
  6. Opportunities. Dartmouth is pretty secluded up in Hanover, and if that’s your scene, that’s awesome. I never thought I’d wind up in a big city and in fact, I was attracted to Hanover for its small size. HOWEVER. Now that I’ve visited Houston and experienced the Texas Medical Center, I realize that as a pre-med, Houston offers amazing internship and research opportunities that would simply not exist in Hanover. I’m sure this applies to other career fields, as well.</p>

<p>Regarding the application process…there is no “Why Dartmouth” essay required, so I applied there without really getting a feel for the school. Rice, on the other hand, has a “Why Rice” and a “Why ____ College (Natural Sciences, etc.)” essay. This means that you have to put in the time and energy to think about what you want to do and where you’re headed with your life. Granted, it’s a pain, but it’s not a reason to just not apply to a great school. And your choice of school is by no means binding. I applied to Natural Sciences when I still thought I had to be pre-med and take 4985345 bio classes and all of that. Once I got R/B, I decided to go for Social Sciences. I can still take my pre-med classes, and I don’t feel boxed in at all. Many people change their majors and there is a lot of flexibility as long as you don’t suddenly decide to become an engineer (in which case it would be hard to take the required classes). I thought the Dartmouth app was MUCH easier, but in the process of doing the Rice app, I learned a lot about the school and gradually become more excited about Rice itself.</p>

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<p>Rice is more generous with AP credit which mean that distribution credits may be filled more easily which means that it’s easier to double major or explore more classes you want to take “just for fun”. Plus there only three distribution groups at Rice whereas Dartmouth has 8 areas, but you take fewer hours in each area. Dartmouth’s distributives don’t allow the flexibility that Rice’s does. </p>

<p>This is oversimplified but it is important to look at curriculum and graduation requirements to get a feel for what to expect.</p>

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<p>where did you get that from? i know someone who entered as a music major and ended up as a EE… i dont recall specifying any classes for a major either</p>

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<p>that’s exactly my point. they applied as a music major, not a comp. sci. major. in other words, you want to present your package in the best possible way. if you’ve taken music classes for all four years of your high school career and zero comp. sci. classes, then applying as a music major will look best on your application. you don’t have to specify courses but the person reviewing your application certainly looks at what classes you’ve taken in high school to see if they correlate with the major you’ve selected. I believe that was a limiting factor for me when applying as a comp. sci major. “Where did I get that from?” The feedback my counselor received from the admissions committee was that they didn’t feel confident in having me come in has a comp. sci. major, since I’d taken zero comp. sci. courses in high school and zero calculus. For Dartmouth, that wasn’t a problem at all. I was able to take calculus my freshman year and am now a successful comp. sci. major. In my previous posts, i only talk about the application process. You can do whatever you want after, once you get in. getting in is the problem. :-)</p>

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<p>yet i know many who came in undecided and then chose their respective majors. I guess if you apply as a comp sci after taking nothing vaguely technical, then maybe</p>

<p>also, these decisions are confidential and not released. how does youe counselor know for sure??</p>

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<p>Wait a minute here, Rice is just as well known as Dartmouth.
Let me ask this: when was the first time you learned that Dartmouth was an Ivy??? When was the first time you learned that Dartmouth was even a university?
I mean a HUGE percentage of American’s don’t even know what Dartmouth is or even know that Dartmouth is an Ivy (unless you live in the northeast). So really Rice and Dartmouth are both not really known well by common people, but who care? The only people you should care about known your college is employers.</p>

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<p>I totally disagree. Dartmouth is much better known than Rice where I am from.</p>

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<p>admitone… thats EXACTLY what cdz said</p>

<p>notice the phrase </p>

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<p>Dartmouth is like Rice. regionally knows. its not like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT etc. which are pretty much universally accepted to be good</p>

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<p>good job reviving a 4 year old thread</p>

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<p>HAHAHA I totally just noticed that :D</p>

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<p>rmelgares bumped it… :/</p>

<p>didnt notice that either!</p>

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<p>One of these popped up in the main selection forum, so it has some relevance.</p>

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<p>In my opinion there are far more places in the world where Dartmouth is more prestigious than Rice. Probably everywhere on the planet except Texas. Just my .02cents.</p>

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<p>in some places. internationally surprisingly more people seem to know Rice compared to Dartmouth. like no one knows Brown Columbia and Dartmouth are Ivy’s…</p>

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<p>Obviously I can’t speak for the world at large, but where I’m from (in the UK) Dartmouth is definitely better known. To be honest, though, there should be bigger things to weigh…</p>

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<p>quite honestly, anyone who chooses what school to go to based on the school as a status symbol, probably isn’t someone who would fit in at Rice.</p>

<p>I’ve found that many people I know who chose schools just for the status ended up quite unhappy for their four years of college.</p>

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<p>To put things into perspective, Rice has really invested in its relations with Asia, particularly China, which accounts for a substantial spike in applications from Chinese students and more name recognition as well. Rice’s president was one of 11 or 12 university presidents to be invited to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and Rice definitely has been nurturing and cultivating its relationship with China and its universities.</p>