Seeking advice. Rice or Emory? UR or Brandeis?

College Search & Selection
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<p>
[quote]
but I've heard, culturally speaking, it's a terrible city, consistent with the Texas stereotypes

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Um, I don't think your opinion is very valid based on what you "heard." If you've actually experienced it, then maybe you can gain a bit more credibility. And seeing that you don't even mention the old money very upscale neighborhood that Rice is in, you clearly don't know what you're talking about. Your ignorance is irritating.</p>

<p>Rice is literally across the street from Texas Medical Center, the world's biggest medical district. It has over 13 hospitals, 2 nursing schools, 2 medical schools (including Baylor College of Medicine), and more. Um, I really do think Rice beats Emory in this aspect. Rice doesn't even NEED a hospital with all these resources literally at its palm, but actually Rice and Baylor College of Medicine are seriously discussing to merge.</p>

<p>You notice how I don't say anything about Emory and Atlanta, because I've never been. I've also heard that there's a lot of segregation and not a lot of racial interaction, etc. and a lot of other things, but I don't really care about that because it might not be true after all and everyone has different college experiences.</p>

<p>And obviously you have Atlanta/Emory bias. Okay.</p>

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<p>It's not my opinion (hence the "I've heard"), it's that of my 3 friends that go to Rice and several who visit Houston (one lives there and goes to Emory), so i would imagine there's some truth to it. Emory is also cliquey and has a lot of JAPs. It's naive to just ignore what several people tell you about a place in the interest of keeping an open mind. And why would I mention the upscale neighborhood? Emory is in one too. They cancel out. Not to mention that has nothing to do with what I was saying.</p>

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<p>If anything, Rice and Houston go against the "Texas stereotype". </p>

<p>"Heavy racism"? Rice was #2 by Princeton Review for having Lots of Class/Race interaction. </p>

<p>Houston is one of the best cities to "Live, work and play"
Best</a> Cities to Live, Work and Play - Kiplinger.com</p>

<p>And Rice has amazing opportunities with the Texas Medical Center. With a possible merger with Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital, there will be even more.</p>

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<p>Brandeis for neuroscience, no contest!</p>

<p>You're welcome.</p>

25

<p>Well that would certainly contradict what I've been told. Racism aside tho, it's not exactly a secret that most Americans don't like Texans. I've met people from all the major regions and nobody seems to have a positive image of Texas except for Texans, because of their don't mess with Texas, elect our governor as president or we'll secede from the union kind of obnoxious attitude that quite a few of them have. One of my HS friends grew up in Texas and even she won't go to school there because of the culture (which to me was a HUGE red flag). So if you're looking to go to school in Texas, you should probably make a point of checking out the culture first to see if it's ok with you. If you don't feel comfortable in the city, you're college experience is gonna be considerably restricted. Emory students use Atlanta almost as an extension of the campus, and it's fun because Atlantans are cool people. If I had a problem with them, I would stay on campus and college would get pretty boring after a while. I mean what's the point of going to school in a city if you don't like the city, right? That's all I'm saying really. I've heard some bad things about Houston and Texas that you should probably check out before you fall in love with Rice. It's just a friendly warning from someone who isn't biased towards Rice or Houston not an attack...Hotasice. And I'm NOT biased towards Emory either. I just decided to stick up for it because I think it was unfair for dou to make a decision based on a biased view and argument for Rice without anyone presenting the other side.</p>

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<p>I live in Atlanta, and my s. went to Rice. In his 4 yrs in Houston I never once heard him talk about any experiences with racism in Houston. Houston is a wonderfully contemporary, metropolitan city, with many of the same features as Atlanta. Being surrounded by "Texas" could be the same "drawback" as Atanta's being surrounded by "Georgia". People spread incorrect stereotypic garbage about Houston. Don't listen, OP. Houston is a fine city, and their light rail ground transportation is easier to use than Atlanta's MARTA</p>

<p>Many of the students at Rice spend time down at Rice Village-- a fun enclave of shops, restaurants, etc. Rice</a> Village At this point, Emory doesn't really have a similar area. The small set of shops across the street from the main entrance are limited and some are in the process of renovation. [url=<a href="http://www.emoryvillage.org/%5DAlliance"&gt;http://www.emoryvillage.org/]Alliance&lt;/a> to Improve Emory Village Homepage<a href="Note:%20There%20is%20a%20mainstay%20called%20%22Everybody's%20Pizza%22%20that%20has%20been%20there%20forever%20and%20is%20pretty%20good">/url</a>. There is a lot of construction going on at both campuses, if that matters to you. But both campuses are very pretty.</p>

<p>My sense is that the Emory students do more off campus stuff around Atlanta than the Rice students do in Houston (though besides the village, they do go to House of Pies and a few other classic hangouts). My sense is that Rice students do/find more to do on campus than Emory students do. Hope that helps.</p>

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<p>el duque,
I'd suggest you go easy on your assertions about Texas. The people are spirited in their affection for the state and this can strike some as over the top, even obnoxious, and may turn off some folks. But I suspect that part of the reason some non-Texans aren't too fond of the Lone Star State is that lots of local folks aren't caught up or impressed by all of the media hype and "prestige" that goes with the establishment colleges of the Northeast and the liberal, academic intelligentsia. Texans aren't looking to the NYT and its media thinkalikes for validation. </p>

<p>If you want to criticize the weather, the flatness, the brownness or something like the undisciplined building patterns, that would be fine, but otherwise, you are missing the real picture of the state. Texas is a diverse state that ranks 2nd in the USA in both population and size. It's a pretty innovative place that has created many extraordinarily successful enterprises, eg, NASA, Dell, TI and a whole host of tech companies and much of the energy industry, that add to the nation's development. And as for diversity, Texas lives it daily in a way that is truly only matched by other border states such as NM, AZ and CA as the Hispanic population is huge and growing quickly. </p>

<p>Academically, UT is seen by most as the main story in the state although conservatives might protest and proclaim A&M as the state's leading educational institution. But private colleges like Rice, Baylor, TCU, SMU, etc. are very well-regarded in the state and regularly produce leaders across a wide range of industries. Rice, in particular, is the academic gold standard for the state and IMO is the most underrated college in the USA. Put Rice in a city like Philadelphia and I am confident it would be a darling of Northeasterners and a fixture in everyone's Top 10 Colleges list.</p>

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<p>LOL-- I was going to comment about Houston's crazy zoning (or lack thereof) Hawkette, but I decided not to. I was also going to call el duque "el dufus" for merely relaying second-hand comments/opinions when it seems he's never set foot in Houston (or perhaps any of Texas) but I decided not to do that either :D</p>

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<p>I think Rice has a program called Cognitive Science which may not be the same as neuroscience. They had about 16 graduates from their cognitive science program last year. Brandeis had about 18 grads from its neuroscience program.</p>

<p>Emory's neuroscience program is 5 times as large as Rice and Brandeis. Emory had 113 grads last year. I would definitely favor the program at Emory.</p>

<p>The U of R program is just a graduate program, I think, not undergrad.</p>

30

<p>Haha. Thanks everybody. I'll be applying/have applied to Rice and Brandeis. I like the cognitive science program in Rice which combines neuroscience, psychology, etc. It's kinda similar to the PNP major in WashU.</p>

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<p>"I was also going to call el duque "el dufus" for merely relaying second-hand comments/opinions when it seems he's never set foot in Houston (or perhaps any of Texas) but I decided not to do that either"</p>

<p>Are you serious???? You do realize this entire website is based on second-hand knowledge?!! You put a son through college and you're calling me a dufus...and you think that's clever? Boy I wish my dad was as smart as you! LOL!...oh wait I forgot, I'm not a 12 year old girl. Grow up and get back to me. Then maybe you'll understand what I said.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
You do realize this entire website is based on second-hand knowledge?!!

[/quote]
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Most posters share their personal experience, share information, data or opinion (usually their own opinion, not someone elses) . Have you ever BEEN to Houston, or for that matter any part of Texas? If not, then don't slam it based on cracks others make about it. And by the way, I didn't call you el dufus. I just thought about it. But if you are going to base your opinion on a city or a whole state because of what your HS friend said or because of some silly stereotypes, then the dufus title wouldn't be far off.</p>

<p>And by the way.. even though my s did not "love" the city of Houston per se for whatever reason, he LOVED Rice and had a fantastic 4 years there. Much of the social life occurs on campus at Rice. The city itself didn't make or break his experience there one way or the other.</p>

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<p>No you didn't understand. Let me explain: people ask questions about schools that they don't know about, then people who do know about the school answer, the OP then draws a conclusion, and voila!, without ever visiting, has second-hand knowledge of the school. If people on this site didn't believe second-hand knowledge was valid, well it wouldn't have much of a purpose at all now would it?</p>

<p>And people on this site post their friends' stories/experiences and things they've been told about all the time. I don't know where you've been. You're even doing it with your son. In fact you could probably just look up 3 random threads right now and find at least 1 'I've heard' or 'My friend' or something to that effect.</p>

<p>And, once again, I don't base my opinion on what I've heard, I don't have an opinion on Texas at all as difficult as that is for you to understand. I know what other people think tho, not just one or two but what everyone I've ever talked with about Texas thinks. My uncle from Arizona, my dad from Chicago, my HS friend from Texas, my friends that go to Rice, my roommate from Georgia, my roommate's girlfriend from Houston, my coworkers who frequent Texas on business, my coworker from Texas, my friend from Maryland, another friend from San Francisco all have firsthand experience and they all gave me the same general opinion. So I drew a conclusion, much like someone would who posted a question on CC. Now you must admit that conclusion is valid if you believe this site has a purpose at all.</p>

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<p>Hahahaha! Thanks for the "lesson" on CC. Thats pretty entertaining. No "lesson" is needed. No one "misunderstands" anything. I just don't agree with you. </p>

<p>To the OP-</p>

<p>Rice and Emory are both great schools. I would refer you to Hawkette's and hotasice's posts. (Also.. from "my" experience, Rice students are friendlier and more laid back-- no "attitude").</p>

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<p>Have you gotten into these schools. If you have, good for you. If you haven't, what are your stats like.</p>

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<p>I don't think you understood a word I've said this entire time. You never responded to an actual point I made. I don't even think you know what 'disagreeing' with me would mean, you just think I sound ignorant, ignorance is bad, therefore you should fight it. The only opinion I have is that Texas is a pretty disliked state across the country. My advice is to find out why it's so disliked and make sure YOU like it if you're going there for college. Maybe your son spent his time on campus, but if the OP is looking for an internship by school then maybe he'll be spending quite a bit of time in the nearby area. Maybe he'd even like to eventually get a job there, in which case it's extremely important that he like the city.</p>

<p>In the future, you cannot write, "I was thinking about calling him..." on a forum without actually calling them that since everyone, including that person, can read what you're saying. Write it in a PM if you're talking to one person and don't want someone else to be able to read it. El Duque => El Dufus is not clever. It just makes you look 8. You can't quote words that weren't said or written. You can't talk about how your son spent most of his time on campus and then argue about not sharing other people's experiences if you weren't personally there. That is entirely hypocritical (unless you went to college with your son). Laughing at people and mocking them without saying anything is a childish defense mechanism used when you're not intelligent enough to come up with anything else to say.</p>

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<p>Give it up-- no one cares, and you are just proving my point. If you want to listen to ignorant comments about stereotypes-- thats your perogative. If all your relatives hate Texans, then gee-- I guess it must be so. Your comment that
[quote]
it's not exactly a secret that most Americans don't like Texans.

[/quote]
is about the most ridiculous of all. I am surprised hotasice and Hawkette were as polite in their responses to you as they were, especially with the accusations of racism in the "terrible" city (as you call it) of Houston. If you are going to insult a city and its people, try having something to back it up with, as Amadani asked of hotasice in post # 11, saying
[quote]
If you are going to do contrasts I would encourage you to focus on things that you can actually back-up with facts instead of hearsay.

[/quote]
Your discussion about Emory Hospital (you left out the Rehab center, the Childrens Hospital of Atlanta/Eggleston and Wesley Woods geriatric center up the road on Clifton) and the CDCP are reasonable, but your lack of awareness of the huge medical center complex across from Rice, that clearly Dwarfs the Emory Hospital system is nothing short of ignorance about the Houston Hospital resources. Go argue with or try to lecture someone who cares.</p>

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<p>OK...you WANT that to be ridiculous, but I absolutely DID back it up with several people across all age ranges, regions of the country including Houston itself, and ideologies, people who conduct business there, live(d) there, vacationed there, and go to school there. All very intelligent people who aren't in any way "ignorant" or prejudiced I might add. And I have trouble assuming their opinions are ignorant or stereotypical since they have all been to Texas and their opinions are relatively consistent despite most of them not knowing each other and experiencing very different parts of the state. It's not anywhere near the logical leap of faith to assume they are a pretty good representation of the American sentiment in general that you make it out to be. You seem to think I saw that my dad doesn't like Texas, my uncle doesn't either, "Woah! NOBODY likes Texas!" but that's just another sign of your lack of comprehension. You can ignore the evidence all you want, but that doesn't make it any less true. You never had a point so I'm not sure what I'm proving and if you don't care, I suggest you stop writing.</p>

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<p>Oh and just so you know, Texans, at least the ones I know (and probably more. I don't think they were looking to make any friends with the "don't mess with Texas" motto stamped on so many bumpers), don't take offense to being widely disliked or even 'hated' if you want to call it that. They know why and look at it as a confirmation of their pride, which is true but it's obviously a little much for people.</p>

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<p>El duque,
Sorry that the thread has degenerated into this mess. Seems to happen frequently on CC with schools located in the South/Southwest, a region to which many outsiders assign massive (and frequently outdated and inaccurate) stereotypes. In my two plus years of posting on CC, I have read uninformed, even bigoted, remarks time and again with absolutely terrific colleges like Duke, Vanderbilt, Emory, and now Rice. </p>

<p>I will be among the first to offer that many Texans are a different strain than those from other states, but if you know the breed, then you will see much of that difference as a strong sense of self and a positive. There is enormous local pride and, while I don’t disbelieve your personal examples, I assure you that they are a small, small minority for the state. Texans have a lot to be proud of and, like most other states, don’t take well the criticisms of outsiders, eg, the elites of the media and academia and elsewhere. </p>

<p>To Texas’s credit, the folks there believe in themselves and their state and don’t look to fit into some “appropriate” template created by (mostly liberal, mostly Northeastern) non-Texans. For decades, Texas has been a punching bag in their worlds for Hollywood, the liberal media, academic elites, etc, but so frequently the opinions and commentary have no basis in personal experience or rely heavily on insubstantial anecdotes. As someone who has experienced Texas, the South and most other parts of the USA, it gets tiresome (to say the least) to hear/read the ignorance/slanted commentary repeated over and over and over. It’s a shame that, in the media’s presentation, the vilification of Bush has overshadowed all other possible perspectives of this state and its people, but the reality is that there is A LOT to like about Texas. </p>

<p>As for one of the things that Texas has to be proud of, I count Rice University. It is an absolute gem and IMO, the equal of any of the non-HYP Ivies. Its small size and large numbers of Texans limit its national profile, but the quality there is undeniable. Tarnishing that school and the city of Houston with lamentable (and usually wrong) stereotypes about Texas is unfortunate. </p>

<p>For other readers, I urge you to review the comments from current/former students and their families. I believe that their descriptions are far more accurate of what a student would experience at Rice and provide much more concrete insight into the school, the city and the state.</p>