Urgent Need for Help to Decide on Rice or Cornell, many thanks!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rice University
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<p>I am struggling between Rice and Cornell. I haven't decided on my major, should be on the professional track of statistics, biology, math with some stint on economy, or philosophy or psychology, and possibly pursuing graduate school but that is not sure yet.</p>

<p>Based on the information I can obtain so far, Rice students may receive more attention from the professors, tuition is much lower than Cornell, smaller faculty to student ratio and a more intimate residential system, which means it pays better off in terms of value for money. Texas has a booming economy at the moment. Cornell has more options of majors and has a prestigious name. One thing that bothers me is that I am not really very sure if I will be on the science track or on the business track like economic. The beauty of Cornell is that it is strong in most of its majors, in case I change my mind not to pursue science, I can get good programs from business at Cornell as well. I know Rice is strong at engineering, architecture, BME, but not sure if its art majors like business, economy, math, are as well recognized. </p>

<p>As I am an international student, few people in our country heard of Rice, but most of the people know Cornell is an ivy. Cornell is the most expensive among the ivies and it location is remote and the weather is cold. However, I feel like I need to struggle or fight to get the resources and attention at Cornell while I can easily access to internships or lab opportunities at Rice because it is said Rice offers more internship opportunities than their student numbers. These are the real stuff that the student will immediately benefit from. </p>

<p>However, I have consulted many people, not to mention people in my home country, even people from the northeastern part of U.S. do not really know much about Rice and most of them go for Cornell without hesitation. That is to say, an ivy brand will provide me better access to better employers, but should I sacrifice those tangible benefits so obvious at Rice to get a ivy name? Also, I have relatives in Texas which may provide some logistics convenience for me. Anybody who has facts of Cornell does offer more than the name of an Ivy? Also, it is surprising that Rice offers free laundry while Cornell charges for using its gyms.</p>

<p>To be more specific, my concerns will be:</p>

<ul>
<li> Provided that I am performing equally well at both schools, which one will be better help me to get jobs after undergrad or going to grad schools?</li>
<li> Will employers/grad schools recognize Rice outside of the south?</li>
</ul>

<p>It is really a tough decision, please give more insider advice to help me make a decision. </p>

<p>Many thanks!</p>

2

<p>I hope I can help give some feedback! First off, read the reply I posted to the thread that was very similar to this one titled Rice vs. Cornell. Cornell has a lot of disadvantages in my opinion and the only benefit I see to it is actually its Ivy name. Cornell does not offer the learning environment, the value, the student experience, nor the attention to its undergraduate programs that I feel any student considering school seriously need to look at.</p>

<p>Provided you do equally well in both schools, Rice would grant you essentially the same opportunities up north (and even more if you stay in the south since it is one of the only prestigious schools down here) in terms of finding jobs and applying to grad school. Rice is very well known among all the employers that matter and switching between majors is really easy here, but you are right about the majors. Cornell does beat Rice in prestige in business (where prestige seems to matter a bit more for the very competitive jobs), but in science and engineering it is essentially the same except with all the added benefits of Rice IMO. </p>

<p>Basically, if you want to do science and engineering-related things as your major I think you should come here. If you want to do humanities and business related things Cornell is more well-known, so it might be better to go there, but you would have to work harder and enjoy life less unless you learn how to make the most out of Cornell’s enviornment.</p>

<p>Rice has excellent grad school placement and employers know the Rice name well in the industry. If you are doing science or engineering that is great.</p>

<p>Personally, this is about what you want to do. I dislike Cornell for many reasons and I would not go there if I was leaning toward engineering, science, or math, but possibly for business I would depending on the financial differences. </p>

<p>I hope this helps a bit. Rice is a fabulous school, but it is hard to give you better advice without knowing your intended major. I feel people overrate prestige a bit too much and that it would be easier to do great things here at Rice as an undergrad than Cornell while enjoying life and being more inspired. Keep in mind financial differences as well! Good luck!</p>

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<p>Many thanks for your kind comments, they are all very reasonable and informative!</p>

<p>How competitive Rice’s undergraduates are from majors of math/statistics, finance compared to Cornell? Will the undergraduates from Rice be competitive to get jobs in these majors what will they usually do? And for BME, Biology, will the undergraduates from Rice be competitive to get jobs in these majors and what will they usually do?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your time!</p>

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<p>BME and Bio are for sure excellent here and extremely competitive when it comes to the job market and grad school. I don’t know much about Rice’s finance programs regretfully, but given Cornell’s location, I would imagine it is better. Mathwise, our CAAM program is good for sure, and I don’t really know much about Stats and others sadly. :(</p>

<p>I am an chem engineer by major and chose Rice over some very big names (Berkeley included) to come here. I firmly believe I made the right decision talking to friends who choose the others.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would actually contact some of the Rice faculty (you can find these by searching for the department of interest and just shoot them an email). I don’t think they will turn you down. Google is your friend for this! :D</p>

<p>I am sorry I can’t answer your questions more specifically. I hope you get the help you need and I offered at least some support.</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

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<p>Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>gaogao, you should also research the quality of life in each school as they are diametrically different and will significantly affect your experience, especially being an international student. This was my experience when we visited each school and chose to completely eliminate Cornell after the visit. If you are coming from a cosmopolitan area, big city, warm weather, Ithaca will be a giant culture shock. It is as far away from civilization as possible. There are only buses going to NYC, from 4-6 hours, depending if the route is direct or not. Some people say that is the same distance as Boston to NYC but the Boston-NYC has multiple bus lines running every hour and the ticket is $15 each way. Cornell-NYC is ~$80 one way or $110 round trip. Syracuse is just a depressed parochial town, 60 min from Cornell, nothing to write about. Cold, freezing cold, heavy snow. It has the nickname of the “suicide school.” The administration only bothered to install the suicide barriers at all bridges when they were hit by the 180 million lawsuit from a parent after the latest suicide wave. Small town atmosphere, pretty campus. Rice is at Houston, the energy capital of the world. High energy, great vibe and life, solid economy, going around Houston you could feel the strong economy. There are excellent opportunities for internships, even during the academic year. The students are happy, very friendly and full of energy. It also has a ballet, symphony and opera, just an indicator of what the city can afford to support. Rice actually is voted in the top 5 every year as having the happiest students. The most amazing tidbit from the visit, if your room has a private bathroom, THE SCHOOL cleans it twice a week. They provide students with free subway pass to go anywhere around town. There is a majort art museum near Rice that I can not remember which it was. Beyond the shopping at Houston, there is also Rice village, half a mile from the campus, a major European style shopping area that is spread across many blocks. If you are interested in medicine, across one side of Rice are a gazillion of hospitals, block after block with hospitals, plenty of internship opportunities. Rice has a strong name in the USA and you will have equal name recognition as Cornell. Having family at TX will also help you as a support system because it does become difficult sometimes for foreign students, especially during short holidays like Thanksgiving.</p>

<p>A good advice someone else had given on CC to another international was to go to google earth and do street views of both campuses and surrounding areas and spend an hour on each as it will give you a view of how each area is.</p>

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<p>I agree with Ana1’s comments. Cornell really seemed dark and not somewhere I would go for school simply because I would be unhappy and would not reach my potential as a result. One correction though - many people have a private bathroom (especially in the newer colleges), but some places still have communal bathrooms. I am one of those people and though I though it would be difficult, it actually has a large number of benefits too (like socializing with people on the way to brush your teeth). I never have to wait for a shower or anything like that and my room is very large, well furnished and very close to the central quad.</p>

<p>I feel Rice is a much better option for most things.</p>

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<p>It is not about the private bathroom, but that the school itself cleans it. I have not encountered it anywhere else! It is amazing.</p>

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<p>your comments are very helpful! I know all the benefits of Rice which are the very thing that make me struggle…I will make a list with pros and cons.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your insights!</p>

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<p>Who said they got their bathrooms cleaned twice a week!?! Mine definitely only gets done once. I feel ripped off!</p>

<p>I’m totally kidding. It is awesome that we get our bathrooms cleaned and my roommate and I have an awesome relationship with the woman who cleans ours. This along with free laundry are the types of amenities that always shock my friends from other schools. We’re super spoiled here.</p>

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<p>Cornell is the Ivy League school that I respect the most, as it has fabulous engineering and science programs. Some of the most brilliant and articulate people that I have ever known attended Cornell (including a couple of Rice professors).</p>

<p>That being said, Ithaca is remote, dismal, and cold, and I’ve heard some horror stories about what students go through there. On the other hand, Rice is the cat’s pajamas. I chose Rice over Cornell; you should do the same.</p>