UChicago vs. Rice

<p>I know that my friends got tired of trying to help me decide between these two schools, so I decided to ask all of you for opinions! </p>

<p>I am a senior coming from a Midwest boarding school that focuses on math and science, and am looking to major in physics in college. I want to have a well-rounded education and college experience.</p>

<p>It would be great to hear about the physics department of each school, difficulty in finding research opportunities, class rigor, quality of professors, etc. </p>

<p>As far as financial aid goes, I received full tuition from UChicago (merit based) and near full tuition from Rice (mix of merit and need based, also including work study). The cost of each will end up being around the same amount per year, so money doesn't really affect my decision.</p>

<p>I would say that my major concern about UChicago is its academic intensity, which excites me and intimidates me at the same time. However, a minor concern of mine is the lack of social life of UChicago students. I am a fairly social person and I am wondering if going Greek and joining a sorority at UChicago will help me find a better balance of work and play (but like I said, minor concern).</p>

<p>As for Rice, I am mostly concerned about the quality of the physics program compared to UChicago's.</p>

<p>Any input would be wonderful :)</p>

<p>Has it occurred to you the reason your friends are tired of trying to help you decide is that this is a “no-brainer”?</p>

<p>As you are at a Midwest math/science boarding school, you are not going to have any climate or cultural adjustments to make at UChicago. Students from the South, West and East sometimes do. I know about this as a U of C alum.</p>

<p>In terms of a “well-rounded education” UChicago offers really the best that can be offered by a university with its common core curriculum. The humanities, social science, civilization and arts part of the core (9 quarter courses) features classes typically 20 students or fewer. The science part of the core will be no problem for you.</p>

<p>In terms of your fears of UChicago intensity, especially as physics major, you have to realize the U of C is on a quarter system and not on a trimester one. 42 courses are required for graduation. If you have some AP as is typical, then 42 courses over 4 years can easily be knocked down to 40 or fewer courses, even when forfeiting some AP credit. You don’t need to take 4 courses all the time. If you are worried about 2 or even 3 difficult math and physics courses at the same, then take just 3 courses for that quarter.</p>

<p>Rice just is not going to offer you what the University of Chicago has in terms of physics. Rice has a good reputation for engineering and applied science, but it is not on the short list of top physics universities in the world like Chicago. You are not trying to decide between Rice for engineering or Chicago for physics, are you? </p>

<p>Have you not visited the U of C ? Since you are clearly trying to make this “decision” as difficult as possible, you could always take another look and do an “admit overnight”, just to get out of jail at boarding school. However, what you want to be focused on right now is the dorm selection process at the U of C. There is a obvious affirmative answer to joining or doing anything extra-curricular as being more social at U of C or elsewhere.</p>

<p>You would be very foolish turing down a full merit scholarship at the University of Chicago for something less at Rice, especially for a physics major. Think of how many people around the world are jealous of you! Maybe it’s time to quite pestering your friends at boarding school?</p>

<p>May be there is something holding you back for thinking it so long. Do not forget that Rice students are voted the happiest every year. Rice students are very polite, energetic and full of enthusiasm. Dorms are bright and sunny, plus free laundry, and housekeeping cleans the private bathrooms in the rooms every week. Houston is a great city, is the second US city with most fortune 400 headquarters, great weather. Not everything is about academics but quality of life as well. You should not have a problem academically or finding research opportunities at either school.</p>

<p>Any personal decision like this can be complicated and difficult, but I wanted to reassure you on the fear about Chicago’s academic intensity. It is extremely rare for anyone to recieve a full merit scholarship at Chicago. If they have awarded you this, first, congratulations! That is a high honor. Second, I would not worry about whether or not you have what it takes academically. </p>

<p>Clearly, there are lots of other factors to consider, but in my opinion, this should not be one of your chief concerns.</p>

<p>Again, do one of those Admit Overnights at Chicago set up through the Admissions Office. Would you also turn down MIT or Yale for Rice because it is #1 on Princeton Review’s happy camper list? “Free laundry”, “housekeeping cleans the private bathrooms”, and “fortune 400 headquarters” don’t make a great university.</p>

<p>Here are some physics links:
[Physics</a> - University of Chicago Catalog](<a href=“http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/physics/]Physics”>Physics < University of Chicago Catalog)
[About</a> the Department | Department of Physics](<a href=“http://physics.uchicago.edu/about/]About”>http://physics.uchicago.edu/about/)</p>

<p>rhg3rd - I’m a UChicago alum too, and UChicago ain’t Yale or MIT…</p>

<p>lighter, from the perspective of a current parent whose son also considered Rice, let me offer my view on four issues you raise: (1)quality/opportunity wrt physics, (2) academic intensity, (3) social life (4) well rounded education</p>

<p>(1) I imagine you’ve checked the reputational rankings for physics depts. Chicago>Rice). The faculty at Chicago is stellar, and accessible. Research opportunities abound. And, of course, it’s pretty cool to have Fermilabs and Argonne as sites for undergrad research opportunities, not to mention being at the school of Fermi and the first sustained nuclear reaction.</p>

<p>(2) academic intensity is a relative matter. My son, who is bright but no genius, has actually found UChicago no more intense than high school (private and top notch, admittedly, but in fact, his GPA is ~.2 higher at UC). While he isn’t majoring in physics, it seems to me unlikely that physics is disproportionately more difficult than other majors if comparing the high school to college variants. And UChicago’s adcom are no dummies – the fact that you’ve received full tuition when only ~10% of admits receive any merit aid (and that’s usually $5K/yr.) should set your mind at ease about your ability to handle the work. I will say that when son calls home, in part it’s to gush about his courses, so for whatever a sample of one is worth, it’s all excitement and no intimidation. </p>

<p>(3) Social life could not be better for son. Of course, the house system helps you establish your posse from day one, but then you augment your circles with classmates (Core classes being 20 or less and discussion based helps) and kids in the RSO’s you may join. Daily life is social for anyone who’s a social creature, if only for meals (usually at his house table, so built-in company) and hanging out some in each other’s rooms, but of course, there’s much more. Friday and Saturday nights are son’s designated playtime. That’s when he and friends usually go downtown or into the neighborhoods for dinner and maybe live music or a comedy club, then back to campus for a party (often more than one in a night). The frat/sorority parties are open to all, so no need to “go Greek” unless you want to. </p>

<p>(4) the Core ensures a well-rounded education, something which doesn’t necessarily happen at all top schools. In some ways it’s like high school on steroids in that you have to eat something from each of the four major food groups, so to speak. However, there’s a fair amount of choice within each category, so the Core ends up being an expansive rather than restrictive experience, and yet it creates a bond amongst the student body. By contrast, you could go to a fine school like Brown or Amherst and intentionally create a well-rounded educational experience for yourself through judicious and disciplined course selection, or you could “play tennis without a net” for four years.</p>

<p>All the above notwithstanding, Rice is a fabulous school (we really liked it on our visit, just not as much as we liked Chicago) and you would certainly not be doing yourself a disservice to choose Rice over Chicago. While I know Rice only by repute and one campus visit back when, I felt a rather different vibe than Chicago’s, in part, perhaps, because a significant portion of the student body is from Texas. The advantage to Chicago’s physics over Rice’s is, in my opinion, not significant enough to overweight the degree of “fit.” The schools are different enough that you should be able to get clear about which one fits YOU better. The good news is that you’ll likely end up thriving and being happy at either.</p>

<p>About 50% of Rice is from TX because the state is double the population of IL and keeps growing. Rice also does not have to compete with another major university in their backyard as UChicago does with NWU.But the last few years has started aggressively recruiting to diversify geographically and improve its social studies depts.</p>

<p>No question, go to UChicago. Better academics and reputation and it seems better fit for you. But if you have a problem with the core or the whole life of the mind thingy, Rice it is.</p>

<p>Nah bro, you can have a fulfilling social life if you try hard enough at Chicago. Rice is probably more well rounded, but Chicago is marginally more prestigious in my opinion. It’s a toss up. Go with your gut.</p>