So as of now I want to major in Chemical Engineering and I’ve been focused on Georgia Tech and UT Austin so far. How does Rice match up to these two? Also a factor that’s making me lean to UT Austin is I’m possibly considering going into Pharm D after my Chem E. Does anyone know if that’s feasible and likely to happen? I’ve heard UT Austin has an amazing Pharm D program but could someone expand on that?
I was considering getting a PharmD and I’m currently a ChemE major at UT. I ended up giving up on the PharmD when I saw that I couldn’t take some of my math/science AP credits for pharmacy school lol. Instead, I’m working towards getting a Business Foundations Certificate (a little more than a minor but less than a major) which is honestly pretty unrelated to ChemE, but the program integrates its course-equivalencies close enough with the ChemE curriculum that I can count some of my ChemE classes as business classes and graduate on time.
I think pre-pharm curriculum is a bit more in touch with ChemE than that of business, so you should honestly be good to go. There are many technical areas you can choose from as a ChemE major, and I know there’s a specific technical area that caters towards people who are planning on getting MDs and PharmDs, so it’s definitely possible to major in ChemE and later get a PharmD at UT. Other than that, I don’t know too much about PharmD specifically.
Although Rice is a better school overall, UT chemical engineering is pretty awesome. US News rankings recently came out, and we’re 4th (behind Stanford, Cal, and MIT, and ahead of both Rice and Georgia Tech)! I honestly don’t really like my advisor and I think we may have the worst department in Cockrell when it comes to undergrad engagement and fun stuff (ie: I’m pretty sure we’re the only “big” major in the school that doesn’t have first-year interest groups, and we don’t get cool major-related shirts and pens and whatever if you’re into that kind of thing), but the ChemE department does provides a lot of opportunities to help you in your future career (ie: research, co-ops, and internships).
Another note: if you go to UT for ChemE, don’t take the Intro to ChemE class. Biggest waste of time so far.
There are several factors to consider:
Which school will cost you less? (for some, it’s UT; for Pell Grant recipients, it’s Rice)
Which environment would you prefer: a school with some 39k undergrads or one with 4k undergrads? (again, some would prefer the first, and others the latter)
If you want to go into Pharma D, you should take a second look at Rice. You won’t miss out on co-op, research, or internship opportunities for engineering, and the Texas Medical Center is right across the street.