Rice vs. UT Austin [biochemistry, pre-med]

College Search & Selection
1

Hey everyone!

I need some help in making my decision for which college to go to. I am currently deciding between UT Austin and Rice. I will be most likely majoring in Biochem and for sure on the Pre Med track.

Here are the pros and cons of each school.

UT
Pros

  • relatively affordable
  • I’ll probably be at the “top” with less competition
  • good for research (from what I have heard)
  • got into the polymathic scholars honors program
    • although I am not sure if this will help for medical school or not. From what I have seen you basically create a thesis about two different fields by the end of the program and take honors classes. My field would be public policy and medical field related
    • however, this would give me the small community feel I want in a school
    • may set me apart in medical school apps due to the thesis
  • affiliation with the Dell medical school
    • although I have no idea how good it is bc I cannot find any rankings for it
  • I know people already there and have a few friends going there - so it would make the college transition easier

cons

  • not as prestigious
  • I am not sure how well I would fit in since it is so huge and has a huge party culture
  • also because it is huge I assume there would be less personal connection with professors

Rice
pros

  • quite prestigious
  • very good for medical and research (right next to the texas medical center and has good connections, 90% of their premeds get into medical school as opposed to around 55% for UT)
    • of course there is also the fact that since RIce tends to be more selective, it admits smarter people and thus the statistic is higher.
  • culture wise I think I would be a better fit. I also love the idea of the residential college system

cons

  • It is very expensive. 70k per year versus only 30k at UT
  • Due to competition, I’ll probably be more around average

My parents say that I don’t need to worry about the money for both undergrad and medical school but I want to make sure that wherever I go I am spending it wisely and making sure it is worth it as it will surely make a sizeable dent in my parents savings. On top of this I have a younger sister that also will be going to college which makes it even more important I am making a good decision.

I am pretty much 50-50 split taking all the factors into account. Any and all input would be highly valued.

2

If you go med school you always need to worry about money.

If you want a smaller, likely less bureaucratic school with a fantastic residential system, then Rice.

Texas will be big sports. Greek. Big school. Smack in the city.

What it won’t be is easy. So unless you are Bill Gates, I would not assume you’ll be in the top or that the competition is less…especially in biochemistry where one could argue UT is superior to Rice.

Two different schools. Which environment do you prefer ?

3

Perhaps because Rice pre-med advising or pre-med committee strongly discourages any pre-med who does not have very high chance of admission from applying?

3 Likes
4

I don’t know about that 90% figure, but Houston is THE place to be for medicine. There are abundant internships/clinical/shadowing opportunities there. If you can afford the atrocious tuition at Rice, it could bode well for you. You would also do just as well at U of H with top grades for a fraction of the cost…just sayin’

With UT, you need to make sure they admitted you into the college of natural sciences. Otherwise you have to compete to do Premed later, which is an arduous and cutthroat process. The Dell medical school just graduated their first class a year and a half ago, and received full accreditation.