<p>Zealously, thanks for your reasoned rationale for your decision. You did the right thing by weighing the pros and cons, visiting both places, discussing finances with your parents, and ultimately picking the place you feel is right for you. Congratulations!</p>
<p>As a recent Plan II Honors student (graduating with honors) go to Rice, and don’t look back.</p>
<p>Plan II students have great SAT scores and are whip smart, but most will rely on their high school knowledge to get them through because some of the Plan II classes are that stupid. You can get away with not opening a book for 4 years and relying on your high school/general knowledge.
The absolute worst classes I took at UT were Plan II.
The professors basically give all the students A’s to keep Plan II averages up.
The students are the best *<strong><em>ters in Texas—they don’t do their homework and rely on their cleverness to get them through.
I am now having to explain to potential employers what Plan II is, and I honestly don’t know how to describe it–</em></strong><strong><em>ting for high IQs 101?
The advisors pick favorites, so good luck if you’re not one of the chosen ones early on. (Hint: if you’re super hippy or extremely liberal or borderline crazy or a fantastic </em></strong><em>ter, they will love you).
Advising was HORRIBLE. The advisors are nice, but they don’t care if you’re not a favorite.
The Plan II Thesis, the “capstone experience” for seniors? You have to wing it. They give terrible guidelines and worse support. My friends who chose to do English Honors or other honors theses produced much better work, and had a more academically enriching experience than…well, almost everyone who wrote a Plan II Honors thesis.
UT is really not much better unless it’s engineering. You’ll literally be in classes where students will not know the dates of WWII, or they will confuse there/their/they’re. UT Admissions must just pick applications out of a hat because so many students at UT are dumb as sticks.
If you’re in Texas, people *might</em> know what Plan II is…but if you’re from anywhere else in the U.S, or if you’re planning on working outside of Texas people will not have any idea what you’re talking about, and then when you try to explain what Plan II is, they’ll say “Oh, well, that sounds different.”</p>
<p>Basically, I regret choosing UT Plan II Honors over other programs and schools. I feel like I had an empty academic undergraduate experience. I feel more loyalty to my other B.A. degree than Plan II. I was very involved with the Plan II program and students, but wanted to come on here and be honest so I can potentially save someone else from making a poor decision. I loved all my friends in Plan II, and I did have a few really spectacular professors, but the program needs to get their head out of the sand and recognize that they need to step it up in a MAJOR way. Recruit out of state students! Make it recognizable on a national level! Screen your professors! Have better advising! Provide more thesis support! Get rid of Plan II Physics (biggest waste of time and energy)! Stop letting Plan II students think they can BS their way through everything–that’s not the real world.</p>
<p>College is priceless. Dont let money be the only factor. If you dont enjoy this experience all the money is wasted.</p>
<p>@zealously
You probably don’t read these anymore, but I would love to hear how your first year at Rice went. My daughter is in exactly the same position you were in last year. We can afford to send her to Rice without incurring debt. Are you still happy with your decision?</p>
My son (who is now a pre-med sophomore at Rice) was in the same boat recently. He fell in love with Rice and it’s been a super fit. I think he would have enjoyed UT but I also believe he would have wanted to go the Greek route (which Rice doesn’t have) and that could have been an academic distraction for him. He plays rugby, loves the residential college system, and we love that we can see him often since we live in Houston. It’s such a personal choice and they are two very different great schools.