Hey guys, so here’s the scoop,
So I got accepted to my dream school, Duke University and after an incredibly long month of consideration and decision, I decided to turn it down because it was far too expensive.
Fortunately, I received a merit scholarship from Rice University and that is where I chose to go to.
Not gonna lie here when I say that the decision was hard. I had actually spent the entire month of April believing and hoping we would be able to afford Duke (before my FA package came in) but when it came, although we got a significant amount off, my parents and I would have been in roughly 60k + in debt (in bank loans, etc) by my senior year if I ended up going. It literally took till the afternoon of May 1st before I realized that my dream school would most definitely not be worth the ridiculous debt and financial stress, especially since it’s only undergrad.
Although I’m still a bit bummed, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that my parents can now pay my tuition rather comfortably (I got $96k for all 4 years from Rice)
Choosing to keep my head up high can be hard sometimes because when I went to Duke’s Blue Devil days, I clicked immediately with loads of people and fell in love with every single aspect of that campus. Now that that’s all said and done, I am ready to see what Rice has in store for me. Now I come to you guys, specifically those who have been in a similar situation to share your story and how it turned out for the better.
Rice and Duke’s academics are fairly similar in strength so I’m not too worried about that at all, but if you have any extra information about how Rice does in the internship/networking/job field then I’m all ears. And since I am going into engineering, I know Rice fares a bit better in that field. So what I am seeking advice on is actually the environment/atmosphere of Rice.
Just a few things, I am a pretty social person and I heard that Rice lacks that in its student body? This is a stereotype obviously but I heard a lot of people come off as “awkward”?
So I was wondering if anyone has any words to say against that? How do socially adept people thrive there? Like I am looking for friends that work/study hard but know how to have a good/funny time, that’s what I saw in the masses at Duke and I would like to know how Rice fares.
I saw the campus, it’s nice (not a Gothic wonderland) but it’s still very nice 
the campus is rather small though so I don’t know how I feel about that. But the dining options were EXCELLENT plus we’re in Houston so there’s loads of off campus fun!
And lastly, is the weather THAT BAD? Like every time I hear the about the humidity of Rice, it is accompanied by the word “unbearably” lol. I am from Texas but the region I am from has heat but RARE humidity. So I’m used to the blazing sun, just not the blazing humidity.
All in all, yeah I’m a bit upset that I didn’t end up getting what I wanted. But I know everything works out for a reason, I would rather have to “compromise” (I say that because who knows I may get there and love every bit of it and it turns out to be far from a compromise) for 4 years and coast the rest of my life (bc my undergrad is debt free) than have a pretty awesome time for 4 years and leave with $60-80k debt lol.
Anyways, I’m up for any advice! Thanks so much!