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<p>At least Texas is not as bad as New Jersey in this respect, as evidenced by so many New Jersey residents who want to go “anywhere but Rutgers”, even if the more expensive school is not really “better”.</p>
<p>Go to UT Austin and stop thinking that it is a let-down to go there.</p>
<p>Quote:
“Originally Posted by tk21769
The average SATs at Cal are about 50-60 points higher per section than they are for the general population at UT.”</p>
<p>Yes, and the average SAT’s at Rice are about 40-50 points higher per section than they are for the general population at Cal.</p>
<p><a href=“Rice University”>Rice University;
<p><a href=“http://opa.berkeley.edu/statistics/cds/2012-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://opa.berkeley.edu/statistics/cds/2012-2013.pdf</a></p>
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Good for you!</p>
<p>I can’t believe I missed this thread. This topic is near and dear to my heart, since three years ago my daughter choose a full tuition scholarship at a state university instead of Johns Hopkins. Even though she wasn’t very excited about her choice, she soon learned that she was surrounded by like minded kids at her school. She also was surprised by how challenging some of the classes could be.</p>
<p>Because she choose that option, we told her that study abroad programs, spring break trips, clothes, and other fun expenditures would not be a hardship for us. She has really milked that!! But we could have never afforded her trip to Australia last summer, or her trip to Europe this summer, if we were paying for Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>So go to UT, and then pursue your graduate degree at an institution that you feel gives you more prestige, if that is what you want.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the full ride!!</p>
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<p>Wow - it is nice for an adcom to be so honest. Although, he might have used differentnumbers as in “It’s ridiculous to have to pay this insane amount of more than 30K to attend UCB.” – which is a bit closer to the truth. </p>
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<p>Not unusual for students who do have options in April. The only surprise here is that the discussion is about a school that should not be that attractive for a full-pay OOS who has MUCH better options (financially and academically) in his … own backyard. </p>
<p>If he only could lift the “prestige” blindfold and stop listening to the clueless voices around him.</p>
<p>Xiggi: thanks…yes, and the more I explore about UT, the more I have learned about the special opportunities/facilities they are providing to their students. I think UT is trying really hard and sincerely to become a world-class university.</p>
<p>I had earlier crossed off from my list UT’s offer to join the CS Turing Scholar program because I thought I couldn’t pursue both ECE (hons) and CS (Hons) together, but today they said it was absolutely possible and the advisers would help me structure it! I’m glad I revisited the Turing Scholar offer; it offers small class sizes, close faculty interaction, research and internship opportunities.</p>
<p>I too was pleasantly surprised by the adcom officer’s openness. I looked around to see who else had heard it, but I was his only audience at that time. I think he did mean what you suggested, Xiggi, that the add-on for OOS is the part that is unfortunate.</p>
<p>And remember how much your saved money will come in handy when you pick the internships or summer programs you REALLY want, and how much help the extra cash will be in selecting a graduate school program. </p>
<p>If there is one negative about Austin, it is the hot and humid summer … but you know that since you live there. You will have plenty of opportunities to set your sail to a cooler destination during those hot months. </p>
<p>The best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Hey, I got your private message, but apparently you need 15 posts to send pms so I am just going to reply here. </p>
<p>I did go to Rice and enjoyed my time there, but I ended up transferring to UT Austin. </p>
<p>As for your decision, if I were you, I would just go to UT Austin. Berkeley and Rice are not worth the extra cost. All three schools are great schools and the education you get will be more or less the same. The earning potential will also be the same with a degree from any of the 3 schools. How much you learn does not depend on what school you go to, but on how hard you are willing to work. Rankings mean very little and you should never base a decision on that especially in this case where all three schools are very good. </p>
<p>Also, you can definitely do both Turing Scholars and ECE. It will be a lot of work, but if you can do it, I highly recommend you do it. </p>
<p>For finding a job, UT has something called EXPO, which is an engineering career fair that occurs in both the Fall and Spring and a ton of companies come. EXPO is way bigger than the career fair at Rice like it is not even worth comparing. EXPO takes up the Erwin Center and lasts two days. Even over two days, there are so many companies that it is difficult to get to all the ones you want to talk to. </p>
<p>For caliber of students, I would say Rice has the highest caliber of students on average because it is a private school and has higher standards for admission. That said, the best students at UT Austin and Berkeley are all very smart and can easily compete with students from any school in the nation. </p>
<p>Also, if you are interested in grad school, the top schools will not care which of these 3 schools you went to. If you want to pursue a PhD, the only thing they care about is your ability to do research and recommendations (and to a certain extent, your GPA and coursework). </p>
<p>Basically, go to UT Austin. It is simply not worth it to pay so much to go to Berkeley or Rice.</p>
<p>thanks everyone</p>
<p>So I ended up canceling my exploration trip to UC Berkeley this weekend.</p>
<p>UT A is looking like the choice then.</p>
<p>Hope to double major in CS Hons (Turing) and EE Hons (different college than CS). I do hope it can be done.</p>
<p>Thanks, all</p>
<p>You are making the right decision. Congrats!</p>
<p>thanks to everyone who gave their advice. Accepted UTA!!</p>
<p>Congratulations! Best of luck, and hope you are looking forward to freshman year.</p>
<p>Fantastic! Thanks for letting us know.</p>
<p>Congratulations, sanchanim! I loved UT. My dad is still a full-time prof there, so I get to visit campus often. There are just so many opportunities there. You will have a first-class education. Good luck!</p>
<p>Congratulations – you made a great and prudent choice. But quit calling your new school UTA – is the University of Texas at Arlington – nobody ever calls the University of Texas anything other than UT!</p>
<p>^paying4: oh. ha .ha. i stand corrected!!!</p>
<p>You’ll have a great time at Texas. Congrats!</p>
<p>AUSTIN is such a cool and fun place. Congrats and enjoy!</p>
<p>thanks all. now i just have to figure out how to attempt a double major in EE and CS together and both in Hons. Also need to figure out how to have a ‘far from home ’ experience while attending college in my parents’ town</p>
<p>You will be living in a dorm or some other place other than your parents’ house, right? If so, then it will be different from continuing to live at your parents’ house and commuting, which some feel can make college feel like an extension of high school.</p>