<p>HELP!</p>
<p>I have 5 days to decide between UNC Chapel Hill and Rice. I want to major in English/Poli Sci/Econ if i go to rice, and journalism/poli sci/econ if i go to UNC. I'm at my wits end! please help!</p>
<p>which do u want???
PPick your major not college... is it english or journalism u really like?</p>
<p>I love both schools! I was at UNC for undergraduate (a long time ago...) and my daughter is currently at Rice. I had a wonderful time in Chapel Hill and my daughter loves Rice. </p>
<p>Both have good academics, rankings, and reputations. And that's about where the similarities end. Surely the differences can help you decide which is best for you. </p>
<p>UNC is a large public school in a small town. Rice is a small private school in a megacity. Everything in Chapel Hill revolves around the school (or the hospital) and the students. Houston is - well Houston. There are lots of attractions, events, and offerings that have nothing to do with Rice. Do sports matter to you? There's nothing like college basketball in the ACC - IF you're a sports fan. How about weather? My daughter loves the weather in Houston. If you like some winter, or skiing, you'd be better off at UNC.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. When you make it don't look back! Either will be fantastic.</p>
<p>Don't pick the major - pick the school. Most kids change majors!! Some change majors many times. Rice is better in terms of exploring different classes, changing majors and still being able to graduate in 4 years. Choose the school that you will enjoy the most - majors can and usually do change. :)</p>
<p>It really depends on which type of college experience you want.</p>
<p>UNC is a large state school. If you really want a community feel you might find it lacking. It is very easy to get lost in the crowd and you will have to make an effort to find you social circle.</p>
<p>Rice is obviously a small school and its residential college system makes it feel smaller. You will have an instant social community in which to interact and you will have a very strong loyalty and almost family feeling among this group.</p>
<p>However, it has some obvious benefits. More people means more avenues to explore. There are more organizations on campus, when you go to such a large school you are bound to find other people with whatever interest you have. And obviously UNC has ACC basketball, which if you are a sports fan is amazing.</p>
<p>Both are excellent schools, UNC is more well-known but Rice is the more prestigious name among people in the know. Also, being a state school the vast majority of UNC students are from NC, whereas Rice has more geographic diversity if you care about that.</p>
<p>And given the number of people who change their major I would very much disagree with Antarius statement of "pick your major not your college". That could lead to some disastrous results.</p>
<p>there should be no contest here, Rice is overall a much better school. On average, the kids are MUCH smarter (yes, they are). Just by SATs, Rice is at a 1440 and UNC is at a 1280. I don't know what ur debating here, but that is a HUGE difference.</p>
<p>smarter doesnt mean better u tool. last time i checked, i didnt find friends by looking at their sat scores.</p>
<p>Rice is better...no contest.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i [don't] find friends by looking at their sat scores.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is an interesting premise. Statistically, speaking, you, the average human (should you exist) do find friends that are like you. While sat scores may not be a valid indicator, your perception of other people's intelligence does shape your choice of friends. Interestingly, most married couples vary in IQ by about 10 points (for the first standard deviation of variation between couples). </p>
<p>You bring up a good point. While SAT scores reflect what someone does, they cannot define a person and therefore cannot help you make friends. However, you must acknowledge the minor correlation between one's person and one's SAT scores (the converse? or is it inverse? or double contra somethingverse?) and that in the end, you try to make connections with people like you in some manner.</p>
<p>It tends toward equilibrium.</p>
<p>(or is it disequilibrium?)</p>
<p>blah blah blah dude...</p>
<p>what? you're boring.</p>
<p>Say something legitimate.</p>
<p>i liked jakpot's post... was nice to read and quite sensible :)</p>
<p>"Interestingly, most married couples vary in IQ by about 10 points (for the first standard deviation of variation between couples)."</p>
<p>jakpot, can you point me to the reference to the above statement? Thanks.</p>
<p>Yes I can it's in my Psych. book... I'll do it tomorrow.</p>
<p>confusedman's statement is golden</p>
<p>i second whodunnit's post.</p>
<p>My d was an out of state candidate accepted into the Honors program at UNC-CH. She is from Houston and was accepted into UT Honors, A&M Honors, Tulane Honors, conditionally accepted at Cornell and waitlisted at Rice as well. And honestly, she thought of all of them, UNC was her biggest reach given the low acceptance rate for oos candidates. So we were thrilled by her acceptance into Honors there.</p>
<p>She fell in love with Carolina for many reasons...the campus is stunning; the honors program is in the top 8 in the nation; because of the core year, she can take both pre-med and classes in the top-ranked journalism school which is important because like most 18 year olds she doesn't yet have her life planned; the people were exceptional both intellectually and socially; she has good friends who will attend Duke and she gets a huge kick out of that Duke-Carolina rivalry; there are actually four seasons in CH, and Carolina beaches do beat Galveston beaches (though as a Texan that pains me to say)...</p>
<p>And at Carolina, she felt she got the intellectual academic atmosphere of a highly selective like Rice, but also the great university experience of a spirited, sports-minded school like UT. For her, it's a perfect fit.</p>
<p>Oh...and to address a couple of misconceptions about UNC-CH. </p>
<p>The school is larger than Rice...but certainly not a supersized university like UT or A&M. When she visited, my daughter discovered the UNC campus is very manageable, there was a strong sense of community and she loved Franklin Street. She's already learning the lingo...says the place is so cool, it's where the 'Dookies' come for fun.</p>
<p>Also, it is very easy to experiment and explore your options academically. You can remain undeclared until junior year which, I believe, is similar to Rice. As I mentioned in the previous post, she is interested in journalism, as well as sciences. At a school like UT, it would be very hard to be in the College of Natural Sciences and have the option of dabbling in their College of Communication; yet at Carolina, where the journalism school is up there with the best like Columbia, she CAN take classes.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do. Engineering? Definitely go to Rice. Architecture and Music? Go to Rice. Science? Both UNC and Rice are good.<br>
Personally, I wouldn't even think twice about going to Rice considering that their both about the same cost (UNC-30k vs Rice-35k). However, if you live in NC or if you get a huge scholarship (like 15k) then I'd go with UNC. You really can't go wrong with either schools.</p>
<p>I am still feeling guilty of convincing my DS stick with the school he signed up before May 1th. Rice have been his top choice schools since he was junior in HS. but since he got waiting listed by Rice, we started exploring other options. he decided sign up BU. I know Rice ranked much higher, but I really concerned about the location: hot and humidy in Houston and the distance. I like Boston and BU's biomedical eng. program and graduate job placement. Plus, everyone I have asked around here know very little if not at all about Rice. But the more I research about Rice, the more I like the school. Did I make terrible mistake?</p>