Hi everyone! I’m a rising senior and I’m having a tough time deciding about which school I want to apply ED to. I would love some advice / guidance / insight into these two schools.
At Penn, I would major in biology and minor in history; at Rice I would major in history and minor in biochem. I would be on a premed track at both schools.
Things that are important to consider:
-Strength of Biology / History / Spanish programs
-Difficulty of classes
-School atmosphere / culture
-Viable study abroad options (Spanish speaking country)
-Availability of research and internship opportunities
-Pre-med advising
-Debate Team
-Dating life for a gay guy
I visited both, but the problem is that I also loved them both. Here are the unique pros and cons of each:
RICE
pros: smaller school = closer relationships between students, laid back atmosphere, happy students, OWeek, residential college system
cons: smaller school + Texas + not many other schools in the area = poor dating scene for gay people, weather
PENN
pros: I like Philly more than Houston, dedicated and hardworking student body, love the east coast, “ivy league” (fwiw)
cons: expensive, maybe a bit too intense / stressful, Wharton exists
Thanks so much!
Someone had a similar question last year, and this is what I wrote:
Looking at Rice’s early decision numbers, the acceptance rate is slightly higher for ED. But Rice does not seem to fill half of their class through ED as other schools do (last year it was 1/3 of the class). I have no idea how strong the ED pool may be at Rice, because there will always be strong students like yourself who ultimately select Rice but apply early to other schools (Ivies, Stanford, MIT). Have many students applied ED to Rice from your school? Do many get in RD from your school? It is important to look at admission trends to get a feel for your chances. For example, at my daughter’s HS it is known that a student must apply early to certain schools to even have a shot (Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern come to mind), since they do not accept many (or any) during RD. However, the kids from my daughter’s school who get into Rice are typically accepted during RD. For your school, it may be different.
As far as your list of items to consider, hopefully a student or parent will come give their perspective.
If you love both, then honestly, you’ll probably enjoy your experience at both. It seems like you’ve considered both school’s characteristics quite a bit and you’re at an empasse at the moment. I would consider two final things: 1) Where you want to live in the future. If god forbid, you don’t get into or decide not to go to med school and want to go into industry, the school you go to will have more opportunities closer to where it’s located. That being said, if you’re for sure going to some type of school after undergrad then it probably won’t matter as much since you’ll be displacing yourself again; 2) Cost, if things are tied go to the school that’ll save you $$$, especially as a premed since you’ll be shelling out money for pretty much a decade straight.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ll get good, if not quite similar experiences in either school. You won’t find everything you like in wherever you go, but it seems both schools have enough to offer to keep you quite happy. So I would start thinking about life after graduation, which ultimately, you’ll only have control over how much money you pay/save and where you’re geographically located.
Also, out of curiosity, why are you flip flopping your major/minor (i.e. history/bio of some sort) depending on which school you attend? Is it simply because Rice doesn’t have a history minor? If that’s the case, I would put a warning flag here because in the grand scheme of things, the label “minor” on your resume/cv/application really doesn’t matter; it’s more about what skills/knowledge you gain from the classes you take that minor in. So I would stick with majoring in whatever subject you think you’ll have the highest GPA and/or enjoy the most.
There is a student from the 2017 application cycle who was deciding between Rice and Penn - @ambitionsquared . Not sure what they decided but they might be able to provide some additional insight.
Just a note: per my friends, Houston has a vibrant gay dating scene and Rice University is close to Montrose.
@Faulkner1897 @PSLifestyle
OP, I went through a similar decision. In full honesty, I liked Rice a bit more, but in my community there is a big focus around Ivies, and my parents (strongly) advised going to the “fancier” school. I highly suggest you don’t succumb to this mentality.
To compare them, I thought Rice seemed much more enjoyable. The kids were much more down-to-earth and inviting versus those at Penn (who were polite but a bit standoffish). There are so many awesome traditions (like beer bike, O-week etc). For your field (pre-med), it might even be more beneficial career-wise than Penn.
However, there are a couple aspects I liked better about Penn. For my potential interests (business/film), Penn is undoubtedly stronger. Also, in my area (Nor Cal), almost nobody I’ve talked to has heard of Rice (including well-educated bosses of major corporations); In general, Rice’s reputation seems to be more regional. I also didn’t like Houston much (I’ve spent a lot of time there), and thought Philly was much more interesting.
Good luck in your decision!
@PSLifestyle It looks like UPENN’s ED is the same as Rice now at 22%. I remember at Rice it was mentioned about being able to study abroad, but not sure how that fits into premed. I don’t remember what percentage do it. I would suggest visiting. My son fell in love with Rice after he visited. The people were so friendly, even the teachers talked with us. It is good to do an interview and also check out the presentations they have. Though I did tell my son that he would most likely work down there and he was fine with it. We did go in the summer. It was about as hot as it gets and he still loved it there. He has some friends all ready and he hasn’t even started. They are friendly. I have heard that the classes at Rice definately prepare you for med school. It has been said that medical school is a breeze compared to Rice. It seems the people that go on are well prepared.
It is true that Penn accepted 22% ED, but they received 6147 applications and accepted 1354 - and they have 2455 spots. So they accepted 55% of their incoming class through ED. http://www.thedp.com/article/2016/12/early-decision-release.
Ultimately, it comes down to fit but there is a certain amount of strategy involved in deciding which school for ED.
Thank you all so much for the thoughtful replies!
@ChiGuy123 The only reason I would major in history at rice, but only minor in it at Penn, is that the history major at Penn is a bit more intensive, and I wouldn’t be able to reasonably fit in all of the requirements alongside all of the other courses I need for med school.
@ambitionsquared My parents / friends / high school definitely have that same attitude where they place ivies on their own distinct pedestals over other, equally good schools. I definitely felt a calmer vibe at Rice than at Penn. Where did you end up going?