<p>DS has been accepted to Rice-BioEngg, WashU-BME and GATech-BME.</p>
<p>Rice and WashU is going to be we paying it out of our pockets; can not qualify for Financial Aid</p>
<p>GATech - he is a PS finalist with full tution paid</p>
<p>Any obvious advantages of picking Rice over GATech? </p>
<p>Please share your thoughts</p>
<p>Still waiting on 29th for some schools</p>
<p>Congrats to him for his acceptances! I understand the decision that you facing is very tough and I ran into a very similar one last year when I was making the decision between paying more money out of pocket for Rice vs. UT, Austin.</p>
<p>I am a freshman studying chemical engineering at Rice (so can’t say much about WashU) and absolutely love it and can’t see myself anywhere else. Though I am paying more than I would at all the other places I could have gone, I feel it is personally worth it for me since within my first month of school I started working in a chemical engineering lab doing research (this helped me net a summer internship with a petroleum company already) and I feel I am not restricted in what I can do here compared to what I would have been able to do at UT. Also, I am not sure about WashU, but Rice has one of the best Bio-Eng programs in the country.</p>
<p>However, if money is an issue, I would suggest he go to GT. GT is a great school and free tuition is a big burden off of the family, not to mention being a PS is a great distinction that apparently helps in networking with professors and faculty.</p>
<p>I would suggest he visit Rice and WashU if he gets a chance before making the decision because it may be possible that the personal traits of a college and the opportunities he gets there may be more worthwhile. Still, full tuition is very hard to beat if he got nothing from Rice nor WashU. Find what fits all of you best and talk it out as a family!</p>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<p>Georgia Tech’s undergraduate biomedical engineering program is ranked 2nd in the country - much higher than that of Rice or WashU. </p>
<p>[Georgia</a> Institute of Technology | Overall Rankings | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/georgia-institute-of-technology-139755/overall-rankings]Georgia”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/georgia-institute-of-technology-139755/overall-rankings)</p>
<p>In my opinion, ESPECIALLY with tuition paid, GATech is by far the best option for your son. Even without any scholarships it would be the best option.</p>
<p>Rankings at both schools are very good with GT being much better. I agree with magnet, GT is a better option here especially with the full tuition. My D has also made it into GT for biomedical eng but only made it as far as semifinalist. </p>
<p>From all the input from lots and lots of posts I have read, graduating with as little debt as possible is the key. What is one thing Rice would offer him that he would not get at GT and is that “thing” worth the extra cost to you?</p>
<p>Good options either way, congratulations.</p>
<p>WashU and Rice are top notch schools. Better ranked overall than GT, but OTOH GT is VERY well respected for engineering. Free vs. ~$200-240K to attend the other two for four years - that is a no-brainer. Go GT and use the money you save to pay for grad school. You really want to get at least a Masters if you are going into a career in engineering. GT is expressing strong interest in you with an award like that one - always a good thing.</p>
<p>Personally I don’t care about rankings, especially when all 3 are GREAT schools. But if you do care, according to U.S.News and World Report,. for Biomedical:</p>
<p><a href=“http://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical[/url]”>http://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical</a></p>
<h1>2…GT</h1>
<h1>6…Rice</h1>
<h1>13…WashU</h1>
<p>More importantly, the internships and hiring at GT are fantastic. Companies from everywhere swoop down on these students and they have multiple offers. None of our kids went to GT, but we have many friends whose kids went there on full scholarships, and never looked back.</p>
<p>I’m a current Rice student, and I’m extremely happy with my decision to be here. That said, as long as your son feels he would be happy at GT, it’s clearly the best option. The money saved will be well worth it in the long run, and it’s not like he’s sacrificing academic quality by taking the free option.</p>
<p>The question for your son to answer is whether he would be so much happier at Rice or WashU that he’d gain more from that increased happiness over the next four years than from saving $200k+</p>