<p>Final results in ranking order: Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, Cornell, Rice, Tulane, etc. </p>
<p>DD LOVES Rice,
Thinks she is in love with Yale (not yet visited),
Thinks she is in love with Stanford (not yet visited), and
Is a chemist and therefore she wants to love Princeton (not yet visited), etc.</p>
<p>It makes my head hurt. I am worried about the cold (lived in the northeast and I know exactly how dark and brutal it is – that’s why we live in FL).</p>
<p>My son got into HYPSM and Rice with trustee distinguished and Century scholarship. He is further invited to the Rice/Baylor BS/MD program interview in mid April. Rice combined scholarship couldn’t cover full tuition, the cost difference for finishing the 4 yr UG (HYPSM without any FA vs Rice with merit scholarship) is about $150K. I would rather pay the price for the prestige name, because if we could afford then we want to see how high he could fly.</p>
<p>Each person have to consider their family financial situation and FA package, it’s like shopping, what price you want to pay for which brand and quality.</p>
<p>You would rather pay 150k more to go to a school that is ranked slightly higher than Rice? This isn’t Yale vs. Nicholls State, it is top 20 vs. top 20.</p>
<p>Yale, at least in my opinion, is a LOT more prestigious than rice. If your family can pay, the cost difference may be justifiable. I have nothing against rice and I’m going there in the fall.</p>
<p>There is a big difference between ungraduate and graduate program regarding prestige. Undergraduate prestige is just not that important. Imagine you save your $40,000 a year and invest in something with very modest return. You will end up with $150k to $200k when you graduate. I will take a Rice degree with $150k+ to spare over a Yale degree anytime.</p>
<p>My DD was ready to go to Baylor or UT Dallas. Now she got into H, Y, Rice, Duke, Vandy and Dartmouth. She is actually thinking of going to UTD. I’m trying to suggest she reconsider. We are going to do some visits this week.</p>
<p>Sorry but aren’t you also talking about attending Medical School which is very, very expensive? and takes many years? Take the undergrad scholarship – go to Rice and use the savings to lower your medical school debt. Go to Ivy for med school. They will not hold it against you. You will get a great education and not be burdened with too much debt as an adult. Look to the future!! Although Rice has an excellent med school and a program whereby you could be accepted to med school as an undergrad, really you can’t lose educationally whatever you choose.</p>
<p>I feel a lot of pressure from people at my school, like my principal, guidance counselors. I go to a not-that-great school, so this is a big deal… On the other hand, I don’t like the cold, and I don’t want to stress about money for four years. However, my guidance counselor told me that the connections at Yale are unmatched by Rice, and my dad says that I’d have to be the very best at Rice if I wanted to get anywhere (and you guys are all pretty freaking awesome, so I know I won’t be…) I’m intimidated by Yale a bit though, Rice seems less competitive and more collaborative? I’m so confused. </p>
<p>If it’s relevant, I’m not doing premed, I’m going to get a PhD? So would it be easier to get into a paid PhD program out of Yale!
Helphelphelp! Freaking out a bit…</p>
<p>I know that people only care about undergrad, but it’s hard when you see other people going to better schools (or more wellknown worse schools) and they don’t have the money issue to worry about. On the other hand, I think I’d be really happy at rice? (and yale… minus being poor and cold). At what point are other people that pressure you just wrong? Lol</p>
<p>And no, no one cares about undergraduate education. A good UG education is a stepping stone to a good graduate school (assuming Med school etc.). Who cares where your doctor went to UG? All that matters is whether he/she went to a good med school or some terrible one in the carribean.</p>
<p>Save the money for med school. Yale is just another top 20 school. The “vastly superior” connections is not worth 200k over 4 years</p>
<p>Writergirl - Coming from the northeast, I ran into some of the exact same elitist attitude toward Rice from friends, school etc. Basically people saying “why would you want to go there when you could go to x,y,z”. </p>
<p>Now, comparing my life this year to my that of my friends in various fancy ivies, I am so glad I came down to Texas. They say things like “Rice seems like so much fun” or, “Providence/New Haven/Boston is freeezing!” The ivies are built up your whole life as the ideal place where you go if you’ve been the best in high school. Now, I see friends now becoming disillusioned about the whole ivy ivory tower, especially when they realize what they are paying. </p>
<p>Not saying that the ivies are bad, but just that since Rice is:</p>
<p>so much fun, has such great weather (it’s been in the 70’s fairly consistently since mid-february), has a great collaborative work style, has great classes+profs, is very challenging academically, isn’t snobby, and has amazing, smart people,</p>
<p>it shouldn’t be written off immediately in favor of any ivy. Come to owldays!</p>
<p>No offense taken Antarius! I’m not sure what’s right and what’s wrong, that’s why I’m here.
I’m not going to med school though (absolutely certain of it, my whole family is in the medical field and I’ve seen too much of it to be very fond of it loll)…
Thanks mggirl!!! That really helped! I love everything about rice, so it should be a no brainer right? But I still can’t help but be bothered by other people’s opinions. Even independently of the money issue, it would be a tough decision for me!<br>
I can’t go to owl days because I already signed up for this duke weekend next weekend. I already visited rice though and loved it!
I definitely feel like everyone is pushing yale or harvard without knowing anything about it. One person asked me if I got a merit scholarship there? And when I said no, they seemed disappointed. Another person asked if I got a full ride scholarship to MIT (a rumor) and I was like no… I only got in… People don’t really know much about schools here… Is three months of people being in awe of me worth four years of my own life? I think some people would say the prestige at Yale is worth it.
I mean, Yale seems like a good fit too! Is it silly to let money be a deciding factor? My parents COULD afford it, but I could probably have much more monetary freedom at rice (study abroad, new computer, visiting when I’d like to…) My guidance counselor said yale is worth a few sacrifices.
I should probably add that I want to get happiness out of college? That may sound silly and unambitious? I just want a job I really like. And I think Rice would be perfectly fine at that.</p>
<p>I agree with that. Rice would be a great fit. Regarding finances, as I have said before, I do not believe that the advantages Yale has over Rice is worth 200k. That money can be used for a more comfortable college lifestyle, traveling, graduate school etc. </p>
<p>If the choice was Yale vs. University of New Haven, then paying the extra may be justifiable. The Ivy’s, Stanford, Rice, Chicago, Emory, MIT, Duke etc. are pretty much interchangeable in terms of quality. There is a large overlap in terms of admitted students as well.</p>
<p>It really comes down to where you want to go. If you feel that Yale would make you happier, then Yale is where you should go. Do not pick Yale because you think it is more prestigious though. They are all great schools, go where your heart is.</p>
<p>Antarius is right on the money. Yale is a great school, and I think it is very similar to Rice in many ways, but for most people I don’t think the extra cost associated in your case is worth it just so your neighbors will be impressed. Especially given the enthusiasm you seem to have for Rice, this should be a no-brainer. </p>
<p>OMG, I thought getting admitted selective colleges is the hurdle, but having to make decision among UChicago, Columbia, Rice and Swarthmore seem even harder. My son got excellent scholarships and research grant from Rice which has narrowed down the choice between Columbia (no scholarship) and Rice. He will be visting Rice and aspires to do premed/economics. Any advise? Though we will not starve if he goes to Columbia, it will be very very hard financially for us.</p>
<p>Two years ago we visited Rice during one of the admit days for my son. A student on one of the many panels summed up Rice this way when a parent asked about the student competitiveness - At Rice we all know we’re smart. We’re top 10% of our graduating class. We don’t need to compete with each other. We collaborate.</p>
<p>To me that is one of the biggest differences between the reputations of Rice and HYPS.</p>
<p>Parent 62 - Your kid will have as many opportunities at Rice as he/she will have at Yale. The place is wonderful. People in Academics and fortune 500 companies know about Rice, and Houston is home to the most Fortune 500 companies in the USA now. Your neighbor will get over your kid choosing Rice over Yale. </p>
<p>One of the most wonderful things about Rice is the collaboration, sense of inclusive community, and balance in life and fun there. In addition, there is a lot of support (not “hand-holding”), but support for the students in the form of Resident Associates (who live in the res colleges - who are not undergrad students, but rather profs or PHd students) and College Masters (who live in attached houses.) This might seem like a small thing, but it helps Rice students feel like family, and when your kid gets in an accident, mono, emergency room or has some other emergency, it is nice to know that there is someone there who knows your kid and will step in. I still remember the College coordinator who offered to stop and pick up a birthday cake for DD; the personal letters I got from the Dean and college master when I was concerned about a safety issue - which they immediately set about fixing; we are personal friends now with the college prof who mentored my daughter (they stay with us when they visit our city, and we with them), and are thrilled with a professor who hired my son almost on the spot to do research with him, and has mentored him the last two years. DD went abroad several times due to the largess of Rice, and DS received valuable training in another state due to the largess of Rice. </p>
<p>Your kid will not be put at a disadvantage by attending Rice- but he/she should attend the school that is most appealing to him/her. (P.S. - does your kid want to do the “core” curriculum that U. of Chicago requires, or have more flexibility in curriculum at Rice?)</p>
However, my guidance counselor told me that the connections at Yale are unmatched by Rice, and my dad says that I’d have to be the very best at Rice if I wanted to get anywhere (and you guys are all pretty freaking awesome, so I know I won’t be…) I’m intimidated by Yale a bit though, Rice seems less competitive and more collaborative? I’m so confused. </p>
</p>