<p>I am planning on majoring in engineering, but I am not sure 100% on the type yet. After fin aid and scholarships, vandy is about 2500 less per year (not a very significant difference). I am a bit nervous about vandy's huge greek scene (dont know if I would join a frat), but I also definitely dont want to go to a giant nerd school - I want to have some fun. Rice is also within driving distance of home.
Im leaning toward rice, but waiting till I go to owl days to make a final decision (I already visited vandy and loved it).
What do you guys think?</p>
<p>This is just a paste of my reply at a similar thread before…</p>
<p>My profile:
BSE, Rice University '08
MS/PhD, Vanderbilt University (exp '10, '13)</p>
<p>I think I can give a fresh perspective on this question…</p>
<p>Pros of Rice:
From my experience, Rice kids are definitely smarter and are more of go-getters than Vandy kids. Not to knock Vandy kids; they’re great and are ranked top-20 in the nation for a good reason. Academics are harder at Rice than at Vandy; they give you more homework and expect a lot more out of you there than they do here. I think that if I did my undergrad here at Vandy, I would have come out with a better looking profile applying to grad schools; instead, I was that high school ‘genius’ who ended up feeling very very mediocre among the real geniuses.</p>
<p>No frats/sororities? That’s what the college system is for. I think this made life at Rice awesome because you were part of this diverse group of people the moment you walked through the doors. It really felt like a family, and there’s always a group for everyone. Even if the population is very very small (~3000 undergrads), nobody really ever feels left out.</p>
<p>People who have replied above are right in that Rice kids can be more liberal; Houston is definitely a more progressive city than Nashville. I thought both cities have their pros; being the fourth largest city in the states, it sort of never sleeps; there’s always a place open if you want to make that midnight run before pulling the allnighters.</p>
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<p>Pros of Vandy:
Vandy is in Nashville, which is definitely a smaller city and cheaper to live in than Houston. While I definitely do not see as many places open at 3am, there is enough going on around town that you never really feel like you’re in the back country somewhere.</p>
<p>Being a guy, I can tell you that girls at Vanderbilt are very attractive as a whole and a lot have the personality to go along with that. At Rice, I had to settle for what we considered “Rice-hot”. I won’t elaborate.</p>
<p>People are noticeably more conservative and ‘Southern’ around here. I think the student body can be a lot less diverse and it can seem at times like the frat/sorority scene dominates campus life, but what do I know… I think that you will build strong friendships wherever you end up, probably more so at Rice. The social scene definitely seems a lot more alive here at Vandy; at Rice, a lot of kids will tell you that they’re too busy to chill out some. Party scenes at both schools are relatively comparable either ways…</p>
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<p>Overall, I think that’s a great dilemma to have. I’d like to say that you should visit both schools while school’s in session before you make a decision. Good luck</p>
<p>I am in the same boat you are (engineering major accepted to both). But I visited Rice during February for Vision and plan on going to Vandy sometime during the next 2 weeks. </p>
<p>The class at Rice were great, prof. knew there stuff and loved what they did. They have also started to offer classes taught by students for 1 credit. Its just another way to learn different thing and meet new people. They just completed a new Engineering Kitchen I believe is what they call it and it is nice, but I got the impression that it is mainly for senior students and that otherwise you arent in there.</p>
<p>The Residental College system is very luck of the draw(some are new and nice others old and small), but it really seems to help create a sense of family. While there are some things that bring the whole campus together, sports are not one of them. Rice has its own form of school spirit, but its not the traditional homecoming week/school pride atmosphere that you will find at Vandy.</p>