<p>I'm trying to decide between Wash U and Rice.
I'm interested in Psychology (?) and money isn't a factor.</p>
<p>I'm curious how Wash U and Rice compare in regards to academics, research opportunities, reputation and general experience.</p>
<p>I have already visited Wash U and I liked it a lot. I'm going to visit Rice in a couple of weeks</p>
<p>Any input would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>bump! I really need some help!</p>
<p>So I suppose you double-deposited?</p>
<p>Rice is the better school.</p>
<p>d4r7h3v1l,
I had to send in the wash u deposit.. I'm a transfer student and wash u notified me a whole month before Rice did. I'm trying to figure out if pick Rice and if I should send in that Rice deposit...</p>
<p>any more input out there?</p>
<p>Does weather matter to you? Houston is hot and VERY humid. When it rains, the streets flood at the drop of a hat. Houston is sprawling and not esp. attractive (the city-not the campus). St. Louis is smaller and more manageable and, in my opinion, is the cooler city. Those things should not be of huge importance as an undergrad; just a few things to consider.</p>
<p>"Rice is a better school"</p>
<p>Who said? Based on what?</p>
<p>Houston has nice warm weather and the students are not usually there during the summers, when it IS hot and humid. Flipflops in February is a GOOD thing! Houston has the edge over St. Louis in just about everything except terrain (flat and boring). The arts scene (symphony, museums etc) is great and very accessible to Rice students. The Rice campus is gorgeous as is the surrounding area of Houston, with big older homes, great shopping and lots of trees.
Rice has the edge for strength of academics, although WashU is a fine school.</p>
<p>You can't go wrong with either school, so it's really a "fit" question and where you feel more comfortable. Both campuses are gorgeous and fun; Washu is bigger which can be better (or not) depending on what you prefer. WashU gets four seasons --- enough winter to enjoy the snow but not enough to get sick of it. They are both fine colleges academically, but imo, WashU is more impressive across the board. A university with a top 10 (#3) medical school, a top 20 (#19) law school, a top 25 (#25) business school is going to have a good handle on how to prepare undergrads for future options in life. </p>
<p>For psychology, WashU's graduate program --- and the trickle down theory implies that UGs benefit from strong grad programs --- is tied with that of Brown and Duke, with a peer assessment rank of 3.7, so I think Washu gets the edge there for the OP.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A university with a top 10 (#3) medical school, a top 20 (#19) law school, a top 25 (#25) business school is going to have a good handle on how to prepare undergrads for future options in life.
[/quote]
grad schools have nothing to do with undergrad school... Different faculty, different resources, endowments, etc...</p>
<p>Different faculty in grad school? I never knew that.</p>
<p>^^^In general, graduate school (as opposed to professional school) faculty are the same as undergraduate faculty. Medical school and law school faculty do not generally teach undergraduate courses, but the presence of a top medical school does have positive implications for research opportunities for undergraduates.</p>
<p>^I was mostly referring to med and law schools (shouldn't have used grad school, even though they are a type of graduate school)</p>
<p>Rice is located right across the street from the huge medical school complex which includes Baylor, UTH and others. There are plenty of opportunities for Rice students to get involved in research and get exposure to the medical community.</p>
<p>Rice campus and surrounding area is beautiful, people are engaging, residential housing is well thought of, and tons to do nearby. Humidity is really no factor unless you are going to spend your summers in Houston. I love Texmex too!</p>
<p>and D1 sports at Rice (such as it is). Baseball is great, at least. You DO get to see some other great teams once in awhile.</p>
<p>I could say so much for this thread, but I'd just like to say that the person who chooses WashU (or just about ANY other school) over Rice because of medical school placement or med intern possibilities is a HUGE idiot (or just doesn't know anything about Rice). I'd also generalize this to most grad school programs to some degree, but especially med school.</p>
<p>I'd say go with WashU, just because I've heard it's pretty fun. It's a super hot school right now. Don't know much about Rice though...</p>
<p>Rice I say</p>
<p>Dude, I had the same dilemma as you did, Rice vs. WashU, and totally chose Rice. Best decision I ever made.</p>
<p>Rice is truly one of a kind.</p>
<p>On a more practical level, unless you got generous financial aid/scholarships from WashU, Rice is significantly cheaper and you can save your money for grad school if that's in your future. This was one of my main concerns when making my decision, though of course I did not choose Rice just because it was less expensive to attend, but <em>in addition</em> to all of Rice's other awesome qualities.</p>
<p>That being said, either school is a great school. If I didn't have the Rice option, I'd most likely would've gone to WashU.</p>