<p>So I was recently accepted to Rice University and received a Trustee Distinguished Scholarship of $21500 each year for four years. I was also, however, accepted into the Cockrell School of Engineering for Biomedical engineering at UT Austin but did not receive any kind of aid and did not get into the Engineering Honors Program. Even though I applied for biomedical engineering as my major, I am likely to change my major and am interested in business. I know UT is known for business and Rice is know for biomedical engineering and premed. I am leaning towards Rice due to it's environment and people and it will cost almost the same as it would to attend UT Austin. I am just asking for people's advice and opinions on my situation. Should I take advantage of UT's large variety of majors and facilities or Rice's close-knit community and resources? I also applied for financial aid at Rice and am waiting to hear back from them. Do I have a good chance of receiving financial aid on top of the merit aid I was already offered? Another reason why I'm leaning towards Rice is because they want their students to test out different subjects and courses before deciding on their major, whereas at UT it's suggested that you know your major coming in as a freshman. I'm looking for more information on the two universities from preferably current students/graduates. Thanks!</p>
<p>I visited Rice last week, and while it wasn’t the right place for me, it really is an incredible school. I would definitely recommend it, especially considering your scholarship. Congratulations, and I hope you end up in the right place :)</p>
<p>Two great schools so you can’t go wrong. Congratulations. With the price being about the same, you should go to the school where you feel is the best fit. Consider which environment will give YOU the best chance to learn, grow, and enjoy your college years. For example my D absolutely loves the close-knit atmosphere of her LAC while my S wanted (and thrived in) a larger school. Each went to a school that was suited them.</p>
<p>My son had almost this exact same dilemma, and is currently a freshman at Rice. He is studying Computer Science in the College of Engineering, but had been admitted to the prestigious Turing Honors program at UT. However, Rice offered him the same scholarship offer you received, narrowing the tuition gap to 10K per year. It was a really tough decision since he would have been in the honors dorms at UT, helping to focus that world to a group more like that of the college system at Rice. So in our minds the decision was “more prestigious program and more options at a giant school with a lot of partiers” vs “more prestigious smaller school with more personal attention and an overall student body more like him.” Austin and Houston settings both have advantages as far as we’re concerned.
Consider that if you switch to business, that likely means some graduate school, so you can switch to a school that’s tops in your field at that time. Did you just attend Owl Days at Rice? That helped my son make a final decision. He had a lot of interaction with current students, and that gave him a sense that he was among his peers. He also got to goof off with them doing things like dodgeball. He is an easy going kid that I think would have been happy at either school, but he absolutely loves Rice and has grown so much this year being away from home. He was immediately part of a family at his college, and his social life was almost instantly so much more active than in high school. Yes, this means attending some parties, but also orchestral performances, museums, playing racquetball, lots of game nights with friends and fun pranks. He was assassinated last night in a campus-wide game of assassins. His classes are tough and he has a lot of late nights working to beat the mean, as you would expect. The more academic extra-curriculars he has been inspired to accomplish and take on by the people around him has really amazed us, as have his increased confidence and ambitions. But you may not love Rice as much as he. As happy1 says, go where your gut says you fit in best. You want to go where you’ll be happiest, as both will provide good career opportunities. Visit each school again if necessary. </p>