Taking classes related to entrepreneurship or finance at Wharton.
Greater number of opportunities although they maybe are harder to take up.
Upenn Cons:
Still my more expensive option of the two by 10k a year.
High-stress culture, really rigorous
Seems like they care a little less than Rice for their students. (possibly because of the larger student body)
Rice University
Rice Pros:
Excellent financial aid (4k to attend)
Highly Respected CS degree
Happy Student body. (less cut-throat or stress culture)
Smaller Student Body
Warm weather! Very pretty city and campus. Location is becoming better for tech by the day.
Seems like they care for their students more than at Penn
Easier to Approach funding and other opportunities.
Rice Cons:
The lesser-known brand name. (marginal and not important but is sub-consciously becoming a factor)
Only 35 cs faculty so less diverse options for research. (though they have 6 people in ML which is quite broadly what I’m interested in at the moment).
I feel better cared for at rice, and more exposed to the world at Penn. I have excelled under stress up till now, but I’m kind of scared that Upenn’s stress will be too much, especially after looking up my classmates on Linkedin. I really love the residential college system at Rice. I’m not really a very sociable person initially but am extremely extroverted after becoming close friends. The 10k isn’t a huge burden since I can probably pay it off with internships or work-study but, I’ll almost be on a free ride to Rice.
I would like to know how much better is the CS program or academics in general at Upenn compared to Rice. Personally, I feel like I fit in slightly better at Rice, but think I’ll be happy at Penn too (I haven’t visited either so it’s just from youtube videos). Penn takes the edge on the Minor or secondary interest side though.
I have read the Cornell vs Rice thread, and it has helped me get a rough idea but it was kind of focused on comparing classes and comparing the cs departments and the SIlicon valley outcomes…some factors that aren’t deal breakers for me.
Both are fine. If you don’t even know exactly what you want to do, the specifics about a particular department are pretty moot. Choose the school that will be most supportive in actually helping you to decide what your life path will be.
Both are outstanding schools that can get you wherever you want to go. If money is a factor (the extra cost would cause financial hardship for you family, be funded with loans etc.) then go with the less expensive option. If money is not a factor then go with your personal preference. The most important piece of advice I can offer is that once you make a choice, never look back!
Congratulations!
Both are great schools. Rice sounds like it’s $40K cheaper for you and you prefer the overall atmosphere there. Your cons there are also easily mitigated:
Rice has great name recognition and reputation where it matters.
35 faculty is PLENTY for an undergraduate department, especially for undergrad research opportunities. I went to an LAC with around 10 full-time faculty in my department and still did research. 35 is a wealth, especially if there are 6 in the area that you think you want to do research in.
You can’t really pay off $40K with work-study; you don’t really make that much with work-study. You could theoretically pay it off with your internships, but why do that when you can enjoy your money?
yeah $40k to pay off on your own is a lot (during college time), if that’s your WHOLE loan-load, than just pay it off afterwards. However, Rice is just a great place and you get it at a discount.
You have two great choices in Rice and Penn. I will discuss Penn since I have a kid there. The Penn brand is strong and there are plenty of research opportunities in CS. However, there is a stress culture and lack of focus on mental health and emotional wellness. Several professors openly disdain their students and treat them accordingly. Penn Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is overwhelmed and suggests that students in crisis either find off-campus mental health services or take a leave of absence. In your misery, you will bond with your classmates as everyone tried desperately to maintain their Penn Face—the outward appearance that everything is fine even though you’re miserable inside. Go to Rice. It’s an excellent college at a great price and you will (likely) be happier.
Rice has good entrepreneurship opportunities too including an entrepreneurship minor. Go with the school that is the best fit. https://entrepreneurship.rice.edu
Thank you all for your advice and input. I would like to mention that the 40K over 4 years isn’t something that will be a burden on my family or myself.
CS is probably the most meritocratic field out there. Getting internships and jobs are mainly dependent on your coding schools. Prestige of the undergrad school doesn’t matter really. Many companies even hire people without degrees.
So just pick whichever school you think fits best. Good luck.
If OP is interested in a career as a programmer. Either of these two schools will be more than sufficient. I agree that prestige isn’t a factor and people without CS degree (or any degree) can become a successful programmer.
However, OP seems to be more interested in machine learning. Neither school is a powerhouse in that discipline but Rice offers very few such courses (at any level) while UPenn at least offers a few more ML-related courses (at the graduate level).
This discussion has little relevance to OP’s question because there is little prestige difference here.
But in reality prestige/rankings/selectivity etc is a real proxy, albeit poor proxy for an estimate of candidates’ natural ability / work habits. i.e. if they got into those schools it tells you something about them, and it’s a persistent factor - like a characteristic of their “talent”… terrible proxy, I know. But many people use it … and TBH every time I tried to tell myself - let me give the benefit of the doubt and deviate and interview / hire people form lesser “ranked” schools, it ended up biting me … yes … small sample size … yes only anecdotal evidence … but you know that “some” filtering has been done for you when you talk to people that have gone to certain schools …
I agree with everything you said… for firms in financial services. For tech firms, they seem to base their hiring decisions more on the tests and technical interviews.
