<p>I am a prospective freshman for the 2015-16 school year and I am trying to decide between Rice and UT Austin for Mechanical Engineering. I know that the Rice name is really good but UT has a better ME program. If I do get into Rice, it'd most likely be with ED since my stats are good but not great. I was wondering if anyone thinks I should ED Rice for ME over UT and if so, why? I'm planning to get an MBA after a few years of working after my bachelor's and I want to try and get into one of the Ivies for my MBA.</p>
<p>Also I don't plan on partying in college too much (no drinking until 21) and so was wondering if I would be able to get by in college with people like me in both Rice and UT. Since I'm doing ME I know that I will most likely not have too much free time anyways. I know UT is famous for partying but since it's a large campus I thought that it'd have something for everyone, even the non-partyers like me. I also heard that Rice is actually a pretty hardcore party school on weekends and that would be harder to avoid since it's a smaller campus. Please please please tell me if I'm wrong as this information impacts my college decision. All input is really appreciated as I go through this stressful time of college apps and stuff and help from UT/Rice students would really make my decision much easier and would help a lot.</p>
<p>Can you visit both? They are both great schools, but pretty darn different. Small vs large, self contained vs open… The differences are more with respect to their cultures.</p>
<p>Rice has residential colleges, so easier for freshmen to make friends. I hadn’t heard it was a big party school, but had heard there are programs to protect students who drink much----a students taking care of students type program. </p>
<p>UT has Austin. There is a feeling of excitement and energy on campus. No, you don’t have to drink to have fun. There are so many people, you can surely find others like you. </p>
<p>I’ve visited both and frankly I like both since ut still has a somewhat small feel to it since it usually has decently small classes. Rice has class sizes comparable to ut but I feel like ut has a lot more things do to as far as clubs and stuff.</p>
<p>Did you like the OEDK at Rice? What about the automotive car racing projects that the MechE seem to like? Did you like the big focus on nanotechnology/materials at Rice or interested in other areas? UT is 4 or 5 times larger program for MechE, but doesn’t seem to be as big in Materials as Rice. Would you want to double major? Rice seems to encourage broadening their students a lot and many double major.</p>
<p>My son liked the environment (and campus) much better at Rice than UT (where he worked one summer) but UT has a big program with a lot to offer. And of course, he liked the friendlier environment at Rice - was friendlier by far than all of the other colleges he visited (and he loved that there are no frats at Rice).</p>
<p>Why are you deciding NOW??? You don’t even know if you’ll be admitted to Rice!!! Why bother picking Rice as “your choice” and then find out that you have been rejected? What would be the point of this exercise.</p>
<p>Both schools will be fine for MechE. I doubt either one is any better. Your parents may have a say once they see how much each will cost.</p>
<p>@2018RiceParent What major is your son doing? Also I am looking to do just the general ME without specializing until I get a feel for what type of engineering I’m truly passionate about. </p>