<p>So after applying early decision and being deferred and then being wait listed for regular decision, I decided to commit to Northwestern. However, my counselor told me today that he was going to talk to Rice TOMORROW and they were going to put me on the spot and offer me admission. I am planning on doing some sort of engineering and I hate to look at rankings, but I know that Northwestern is ranked higher than Rice overall as a better school and as having a better engineering school by a number of reputable publications. However, being a resident of the Chicago suburbs, I know I would enjoy the weather in Houston. Also, I have to admit that from what I've seen, aside from the Ford Design Center at Northwestern, the facilities at Rice pretty much blow anything that Northwestern has to offer out of the water. Rice has an enormous endowment considering the size while Northwestern is a Big Ten school that has good all around athletic programs. I could go on and on comparing the schools and get absolutely nowhere. Any help would be much appreciated</p>
<p>Personally, although Northwestern is more prestigious and might be stronger in humanities/social sciences, I would say Rice is just as strong, if not stronger, in engineering/natural sciences. I also feel the dedication to undergrad teaching is better at Rice than at Northwestern, but I might be totally wrong.</p>
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Actually, Rice has actually beaten Harvard (yes Harvard) in some areas for with publications.
Rice is ranked #1 in the number of citations per publication for material science (big deal because it shows that others think Rice’s papers are amazing and worth citing). [Times</a> Higher Education - Top institutions in materials science](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410831]Times”>Top institutions in materials science | Times Higher Education (THE))
This shows that while Rice might not produces as many papers (entirely due to the fact that Rice is less than half the size of NU), Rice’s publications are well regarded.
Completely true, have you seen the Bioscience Research Collaborative? It is stunning. State of the art research center. Even Texas Medical Center uses it.
Rice has one of the larges endowment per student. What does that mean?? More research grants for you.</p>
<p>"However, my counselor told me today that he was going to talk to Rice TOMORROW and they were going to put me on the spot and offer me admission. "</p>
<p>Sorry, could you clarify what you mean by this?</p>
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<p>lolwut? Have you ever been here before?</p>
<p>@ kaekae: As I also hail from the Midwest, I can tell you I love Houston’s weather. Of course, the caveat is that I am going to get my rear end out of here before summer rolls around. Even if I had to stay in Houston during the summer, I would rather endure the humidity and hot weather of Houston over the cold, freezing, and snow in the Midwest. And Chicago weather is miserable in the winter… have you been there before?</p>
<p>Down here, or anywhere in the South, I wouldn’t say Northwestern is more prestigious than Rice. More like the other way around.</p>
<p>How’d it go?</p>
<p>P.S., I hear Selena Gomez is going to Northwestern. 
[Selena</a> Gomez to Take a Break From TV for College](<a href=“http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00025092.html]Selena”>http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00025092.html)</p>
<p>I’d still choose Rice, but that’s because I love Rice.</p>
<p>Haha my sister was trying to use the Selena Gomez thing to push me towards Northwestern. But anyways, I went to school today and my counselor called me into his office where he called Rice admissions and basically told them that Rice was my top choice. The admissions lady asked to speak to me on the phone and offered me admissions into Rice, which I happily accepted. I guess I was wrong in saying on the spot. It was more that my counselor’s credibility would have been hurt if he had called and advocated for me, and I accepted, but later down the road decided to go somewhere else. Thanks for your guys’ opinions. I am looking forward to spending my next four years in Houston and meeting all of you that are going.</p>
<p>That’s incredible, but anyway, how many days did Rice give you to commit, once they accepted you off the wait list?</p>
<p>They didn’t really say because, at least I think, they knew I was going to accept their offer. On the actual email that I got, it says, “To accept this offer of admission, submit your enrollment deposit by May 1, 2010.” So, to answer your question, I guess a little less than a week.</p>
<p>Nope, never been there specifically before, but now thinking about it I guess the summer is the worst part.</p>