<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>