Running out of time ... Wash U / Rice/ or Harvard

Colleges & Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>I posted this on the Harvard thread and I wanted to see what Rice students though about the situation. I'm not tryin to be a troll. </p>

<p>Hey!
Just want to first say thanks for at least looking at this thread, even if you don't comment. My problem is that I just waited to long to decide. I'll take info from this thread with a grain of salt , but I would just like your opinion if you have one on what you would do if you were put into my situation.</p>

<p>I'm an african female from the south (Texas). I come from modest means. My life goal is to become a doctor and no mattter how hard it is.. how much I cry... or how bad it gets... nothing is going to stop from being a doctor, even if that means I have to reapply after graduationg from college.</p>

<p>I want to major in either organismal biology or biochemistry). But I also think that I would like to major in international policy or eceonomics. </p>

<p>I believe that I would be considered an average student at all three of these schools, but I work hard. </p>

<p>Money is not an issue b/c of financial aid , thankfully.
I visiteed all three schools.
Rice was fun. I went to two classes. One on human sexuality which was slightly boring and another on voting theory which was really good. </p>

<p>Wash U: GREAT... but I didnt really mingle with the entire student body because I went to the multicultural weekend. </p>

<p>Harvard: Just came back and loved it. I love the weather and the cool people I met there and I have a sibling there.</p>

<p>I want to go to a place that offers research oppurtunites, discussion in classes , flexibility, and school pride. I want to go to a school that is politically active. </p>

<p>I know that TF's normally teach classes at Harvard but I'm willing to make an extra effort to gain a connection with any and all the teachers I have not simply for reccommendations for med school , but because I really have a lust for learning. </p>

<p>I also want a place with great pre-med and graduate school advising.</p>

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<p>RICE 2012!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>haha. nah...it seems (according to your post) that you REALLY liked Harvard more than the others...do ya have any MAJOR negatives for the schools???</p>

<p>but you should go to rice b/c i'm going. ;P</p>

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<p>CHOOSE RICE!!!!</p>

<p>Rice simply has the best undergrad experience out there. The people are incredibly friendly and intelligent, the residential college system is amazing, and the research opportunities are plentiful. And if you're pre-med it's right across the street from the world famous Texas Mecial center. Also there's a lot more opportunites for talking to faculty and advising. College masters actually live within a few steps of your dorm.</p>

<p>Harvard and WashU are both great schools but I'll try to point out why they aren't as great as Rice.<br>
Harvard is not very undergrad-friendly and many of your classes will be taught as TAs. Honestly for undergrad, I feel like Harvard rides on its prestige and financial aid policies, but prestige will not make your experience and you said financial aid doesn't matter.
Wash U has a lot of fraternities/sororities (I think around 30% of people go greek) and I got the impression that it is kinda clickey. Also there are a lot of pre meds at WashU which tends to foster a lot of competition.</p>

<p>That's just my two cents. Your choices are all great and you can't go wrong. But pick Rice it's awesome. And I will also be a member of the Rice class of 2012 (WOOT! WOOT!) and I chose Rice over some ivies (and I'm from the northeast where people are ivy crazy and haven't heard of Rice)</p>

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<p>If you loved Harvard, go to Harvard. With a sibling there, you will have some one else to help you with the travel and show you the ropes. I think Rice is great, but if you prefered your time at Harvard, and finances are not an issue, go where you like! :)</p>

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<p>Rice is not very politically active.</p>

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<p>If you want to be a doctor come to Rice. Here are some things to consider.
1. Rice is very small so it is easy to get very close with professors--this helps for any type of rec you will need either for grad school or for a summer internship
Harvard is huge and although it is amazing and the name will carry you a long way it is hard (or at least I have heard from my friends that go there) to forge very close relationships with professors. Also the problem with TA's teaching classes. Huge freshman classes etc. My freshman year my biggest class was 70.
2. Because Rice is so small it is really easy to get research positions and also because we are so close to the med center. All of my pre-med friends are doing research in the med center and their professors helped them get these positions.
3. Rice is very friendly--not killer competitive. My friends at Harvard complain about how viscious people are in terms of getting the best grade in the class in order to stand out. Rice may be competitive but people are not mean and will not stab you in your back. </p>

<p>Rice is just amazing! You should come here!</p>

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<p>Rice is literally a walk across the street from Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world, indeed the biggest medical district in the world.</p>

<p>The center contains 45 medicine-related institutions, which includes 13 hospitals and two specialty institutions, two medical schools, four nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and other health-related careers.</p>

<p>Rice truly does emphasize undergrad research and the research opportunities here are phenomenal; as great as Harvard is, I just don't think Harvard can provide same opps for its undergrads since it's sooo grad focused.</p>

<p>So, if you're into med... Rice is where it's at ;) I'm a premed too and going to Rice! woooooooot</p>

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<p>What didja pick?</p>

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<p>My friend at Harvard tells me that the student body is sort of racist. Or rather, the prep-jock 2/3 of the student body is pretty racist. The racism tends to be attached to the "elite" student organizations (those for which there's an induction process) and the finals clubs. It is very very conservative. Nevertheless, Cambridge is just fantastic. Boston is a nicer city than is Houston. It would be cool to attend a school that's older than the country! Plus if you go to Harvard, doors will open for you. </p>

<p>You will find that east-coasters/midwesterners just sort of look blankly at you when you say that you go to Rice. I would imagine that you'll get a better education at Rice... Though all the TAs at Harvard are, I'm sure, very brilliant. </p>

<p>WashU is the most overrated school in the country, hands down. </p>

<p>Rice is very friendly to non-white students (like me) and the minority population is very well integrated into the student body. One never feels like an outsider... which was not the case at my boarding school.</p>

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<p>In the end I picked Harvard... I actually waited to the last second to decide...literally.. thank you everyone for the support and help!!!</p>

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<p>My son was accepted into Rice and 2 other top universities. It was a hard decision for us to decide which university to attend. However, we turned down Rice because of the negative comments about other universities by some Rice supporters.
In my opinion, Wash U, Rice, Duke, Johns Hopkins.. are all good universities. Ranking of a college is important but not so important if all of them are of first
tier colleges.</p>

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<p>

You let one of your deciding factors be the opinions of a few people on some internet forum? You really think that the three or four people who post negative things about other universities in threads like these are representative of the Rice population at large? I think most of the people posting comments like those are exuberant incoming freshmen who are totally convinced that Rice is the absolute best school out there (it is) and that anything any other university does differently is wrong (it isn't).</p>

<p>Seriously, though, you couldn't come up with a better reason than "three or four people on the internet said mean things about other schools"?</p>

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<p>No, we just don't like people bad mouth about other schools/people...</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>But you let the behavior of a few people on the internet be a deciding factor in a college choice?</p>

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<p>Not only am I having a hard time believing that this would be the determining factor for someone's college decision, I find it even more confounding that they would register on CC just to post this as their first post!</p>

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<p>^^Agree BE Susan. Rice is a fabulous school and everybody that I know there (not just briefly "met" either online or in person) is really great. They're serious, caring students. </p>

<p>OP come back in February (when Houston is balmy, wink) and tell us how much you like the weather in Mass :)</p>

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<p>Yeah.. I know.. the weather is killer in Mass. ( 5 moth winters sometimes) but I really like the cold and I've lived in Houston all my life, I think I need a change... :)</p>

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<p>EC1 sounds really, really sketchy. </p>

<p>That is an incredibly ridiculous and shallow reason as a basis for deciding where to go to college. It's like saying I'm not going to Harvard or Duke because some people from those schools decided to express their free opinions that I don't like, and of course their personalities reflect upon the university and the rest of the students as a whole. :rolleyes:</p>

<p>I don't know if this is a joke or not.</p>