<p>im planning on being an econ major and i live 45 minutes south of USC.
so which is better:</p>
<p>usc with a full scholarship </p>
<p>or rice with a 20k scholarship.. which would make the cost about 10k a year. </p>
<p>opinions?
i know they're very different schools but i can see myself very happy at either.</p>
<p>Truly, I would go with Rice off the bat. i mean you can get a part time job and get the 10,00 Dollars. . Rice more prestigious school.
Well hope to see you there 2011 because that when im going there. or hope to.</p>
<p>rice is a much much better school. i don’t think there even is a comparison. the students are generally happier. the classes are generally better. you get to be in a completely new environment in what i think is the perfect class size (800ish). i know a lot of people who felt they would be really happy to be at usc, but only to find that it was a huge disappointment. that said, 10k+/ year is not a negligible sum either. if 10k a year is not a big deal, i think its a good investment. good luck!</p>
<p>Rice economics isn’t exactly its strongest dept, but neither is USC econ…</p>
<p>I’m going to be an econ major at Rice next year and I went to the Rose Bowl, so I am an expert on both schools.
I think Rice is an absolutely fantastic school in every sense, but I have to admit that supposedly econ is one of Rice’s weaker departments, even though all of Rice’s departments are very strong. I don’t know much about USC econ, but I know that USC business is pretty good and can get people great jobs because USC has amazing alumni connection. Also Rice has a 6 course business minor.</p>
<p>You would love Rice cause every student at Rice loves it cause of everything. Rice is going to be more close-knit and personal in the sense that you will know most people. USC is far less so.</p>
<p>If you want to go straight to the business world out of college, then employment opportunities will be solid for both. With Rice, there won’t be a ton of employment opportunities in NY/LA/Chicago cause it’s small, cause the alumni connections aren’t great, and cause it’s not one of the Ivies, cause Wall Street recruits Ivies. However, Rice is a very good school, and if you want to go to grad school (MBA or econ PHD), grad schools love Rice. I also think that you really can’t go wrong with Rice. It’s an amazing school, you will love the residential colleges, the classes are really small, there are no TA’s. In contrast, I can’t guarantee that you will get the same quality education or have the same quality classroom or dormroom experience at USC.
I of course would recommend Rice ahead of USC cause I’m biased, but of course it should partially depend on how big a deal 10k is to your family. Also does the USC scholarship factor in room and board, cause if so that would make the difference 20k instead of 10k?
I think Rice is a better school, and I think you would have a great time at Rice cause everyone does. One important thing is why do you want to go to Rice? Why didn’t you want to go to Vanderbilt, or Penn, or Stanford, or Dartmouth, or Pomona? Is Rice a good personal match for you, or is it just a very good school you applied to cause its highly ranked?</p>
<p>Good luck, and I’d suggest posting this question also in the business major forum.</p>
<p>In short, if you feel like Rice is a very good personal match for you and the money difference isn’t huge for you, I would strongly recommend Rice. It really imo is a lot better than USC, though the econ program differential may not be as big.</p>
<p>Also if you like LA more than Houston, that may be an important factor.</p>
<p>Did you feel more “at home” when you visited Rice or USC? That’s important. Also, don’t choose Rice cause its ranked higher or is supposedly more prestigious (it’s not super prestigious outside of Texas). If you are to choose Rice, choose it because 1. You know you will love it and can’t go wrong there or 2. because you love small classes, the residential college system, the fact that you’ll be surrounded by a lot of smart people, the small classes, the fact that your professors will know you, whereas they probably wouldn’t at USC.</p>
<p>GL. I really have to recommend Rice cause its just great, but USC is also a good choice. Also keep in mind the money isn’t that critical, parents are usually happy to pay extra for their children if it means their children will be happier/more successful. Imo the money shouldn’t be the main factor if you parent (s) can pay for it without suffering, cause the important thing is your future. Seriously, if you want to go into business, 40k is not much in comparison with what you will make in the future. Having a great undergrad experience that sets you up well for the future is more important.</p>
<p>I’m just rambling cause 1. I love Rice and 2. I love economics and 3. Rice can use some more economics students. It has too many engineers already.<br>
But seriously gl with the decision</p>
<p>I talked to the financial aid people the other day because of an inconsistency my son noticed on his financial aid status page. At one point, while the guy was trying to resolve the inconsistency, I said, “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter. My EFC is (x dollars) and that’s right around tuition anyway, right? So if it’s too hard to fix it won’t matter much.”</p>
<p>He said, “Well, no. Our price is up to $47,000 now.” (WAY higher than I thought.) “That means we need to fix it, unless you don’t want your son to be eligible for ($47,000-x dollars). You wouldn’t sneeze at that, would you?”</p>
<p>Point being: You said you got a 20k scholarship, which left you with a cost of $10k. We haven’t heard from Rice yet – acceptance-wise or dollar-wise, so we haven’t seen the financial data you’ve seen. Are you sure about your numbers? If the guy I spoke with is right, the 20k would leave you 27k including room and board, maybe 17k not including room and board.</p>
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<p>Komargo, that’s not true. My son has had a couple of TA’s, the absolute worst being the one who taught his intro Econ class. English was not his first language (maybe not even his second!). </p>
<p>Rice probably has fewer TA’s than a lot of comparable schools, but they DO exist.</p>
<p>USC is better known for buisness than Rice, so if you want to eventually get an MBA I would go USC. On the other hand, Rice is a smaller school with more personal attention, so it’s a toss up. But overall, I would go to USC because of the amazing scholarship, which will leave you more money for grad school.</p>
<p>thanks all for your replies … especially kamargo haha :)</p>
<p>My plan for now is to go to grad school, so in that respect Rice does seem to be the better choice. I didn’t apply to Marshall at USC and I’m not planning on being a business major… if i was going to change my mind about majoring in econ it would probably be towards political science or some other humanities subject.</p>
<p>Also 10k a year isn’t a strain on the family or anything. If I go to Rice my dad will pay for it all and I will be left to pay for grad school on my own. If I go to USC, my dad will give me the 40k that I saved towards paying for grad school… which would pay for a year… so that’s the only consideration money wise. </p>
<p>And also I did apply to rice because I thought it was a good match. I visited this year with the visions program and I really liked the vibe, the professors, the colleges. I also think theres something to be said about leaving so cal. The beach and weather and beauty is nice but i think it would be good for me to experience a different crowd of people. </p>
<p>My only real negatives with rice is that its halfway across the country (not that big of a deal, just more complicated than 45 mintues away) and that its about the same size as my high school… which seems a little small to me for college. Its awesome to have small classes and personal attention but I wonder if it ever gets to be a little TOO small. And of course theres the 40k i’ll be missing out on 
</p>
<p>But i think its really cool that people in the rice forum actually respond and have good advice, unlike usc haha… makes me want to go to rice more</p>
<p>Can you afford 10k a year without going into major debt? If yes, choose Rice, definitely. If not, USC is the way to go.</p>
<p>I like Rice better, obviously, but I think they’re comparable schools. And suffice it to say that USC has a more influential alumni network.</p>
<p>^^ he said it isnt</p>
<p>“Also 10k a year isn’t a strain on the family or anything.”</p>
<p>Id go for Rice. I personally love the small classes. There is something unique that can be learned when there are 6 people in class. The faculty are amazing, be it 3 people or 50.</p>
<p>But, thatsnotmynam, are you sure that your 20k a year scholarship will leave your parents with only 10k a year to pay? We haven’t heard from Rice yet (son applied to Shepherd – Shepherd undergrads haven’t heard), so I don’t know for sure … but the fin aid officer told me on the phone – it will be 47k total cost this year.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m only talking about tuition, not room and board… My family doesn’t qualify for financial aid so I think the number he’s telling you is the total cost of attendance (includes room and board, fees, everything) not only the tuition. The full ride at USC doesn’t include room and board, so really at Rice my family would pay 20k a year total, and at USC they’d pay 10K a year total (and i get the left over 10k a year). And yeah Simplelife I’ve already been accepted and seen the tuition costs and everything. Tuition is most definitely 31,430, and room and board is 11,230 a year.</p>
<p>Got it. Thanks for the explanation. I was curious.</p>