Hi,
I’ve been debating for the past month between these two schools and as May 1st approaches I’m still indecisive.
I’m an international student (Canadian born Chinese) wanting to study biology, then possibly going to med school after undergrad. I’ve made a quick pros and cons list for both schools:
Rice - Pros
Smaller classes, more contact with profs
Better bioengineering program (this is a possible path for me although I’m unsure atm)
Better academics overall
Ranked high for quality of life/happiest students
Rice - Cons
Hot/humid weather and very buggy
Smaller campus, might feel stifled
UCLA - Pros
Perfect weather and better local area
Better reputation
UCLA med school is very well known
UCLA - Cons
Larger classes
Academics not as good as Rice?
I’ve been consulting various friends, parents, teachers and even a few current Rice/UCLA students and overall I feel like Rice has better academics, but UCLA has better environment/atmosphere and reputation.
Any advice/suggestions? Thank you! Also, cost is not an issue for me (:
Rice is a STEM-focused school with great engineering programs. I never feel socially stifled here. I’m an Ecology major and have felt I’ve gotten a great STEM education thus far. Research opportunities are generally easy to obtain.
UCLA is certainly the better known school: It is a large state university located in a major American city (that is the epicenter of the entertainment industry) and featuring a number of prominent intercollegiate athletic programs. All of these factors work to give UCLA a high profile among the various flagship state/public universities in the US.
Reputation, however, is a rather different–and somewhat more nebulous–concept. For example, Williams College is not at all well know among the general public, but, among those who are familiar with the academic environment int he US, it has a better reputation as an undergraduate institution than does UCLA.
Something similar might be said of Rice, though it doesn’t have quite the elitist cachet that Williams does. Or, to put the matter another way, there are more students who were accepted at UCLA but rejected at Rice than there are students who were rejected at UCLA but accepted at Rice.
NOTE: If you are considering the matter from an Asian/international perspective, then UCLA certainly has the better “reputation,” simply because people there have heard of it (since it is large and located on the West Coast). If you plan to attend med school in Asia, this is a point worth considering.
By some rankings, Rice sends a higher percentage of its students to medical school than any other university.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/nerdscholar/grad_surveys/grad-school/medical