Hi,
Requesting last minute help! My daughter has acceptance at Rice and WashU. She started with a PreMed focus. During the college visits, she is now thinking of Computer Science as a 50:50 possibility. This is to check the prospects of WashU vs Rice for Computer Science. How easy is it to get interships and jobs in big tech and smaller growing companies in the Silicon valley? Is there a startup culture at either of these two universities? Does the location make a difference?
She is leaving Berkeley and U Mich, because her primary focus is still PreMed. So somewhat confused. Thanks in advance for all your help!
I don’t understand this comment. Is she trying to choose between all four colleges?
If her primary focus is premed, she needs to have a very high GPA. My understanding is that UCB is a bit cutthroat and maintaining a high enough GPA for med school is very difficult.
I think it will be tough to transfer into CS at most of these colleges. I am not knowledgeable enough to know which is best for CS, but if med school is in her future, she should go for the lowest cost option where she will have the best chance of maintaining a high GPA.
She can do a premed intention at any of these schools. I would suggest leaving that part out if your decision equation. So many students who start with premed…don’t actually apply to medical school at all.
Look at the other qualities of these schools….location, weather, activities she might enjoy, etc.
Is she declining her acceptances to these two colleges? UMich is a good destination if she wants to pursue CS. Lots of internship and job opportunities as they have a strong reputation and a great alumni network.
Is she a direct CS admit at UWash? If yes, go there. But it sounds like she’s not, so it’s going to be hard to switch into CS later.
If pre-med is higher priority, I think Rice would be a good option, although she can do it anywhere else as well. Cost and ease of getting a high GPA will be primary considerations.
So it looks like she needs to figure out her priorities quickly.
WashU and Rice are direct peers in an all-around sense, and both will serve her well for Pre-Med. Both also offer a plethora of other quality majors if she ends up not going to med school.
So assuming cost would be similar to attend both, she should choose based on fit – academic, environmental, vibe, etc.
Unless she is certain though that she wants a small school, there’s no reason based on what you’ve posted to eliminate either Michigan or Cal. If either are her instate flagship, and she’s ok with a big school, that’s the one I’d choose.
The first caveat is that it can be hard to get into CS at Cal if that isn’t how she was admitted.
The second caveat is that CS and pre-med don’t align very well. There just isn’t a lot of overlap. It might take her longer.
Thank you!
She has acceptances from these 4. Ruling out Berkeley because of the competition, and limitations of not allowing easy transfers to CS, in case that ends up being her path. (Her primary focus has been Premed, but she is increasingly talking about Computer Science, which she has done a few high school courses in).
Now only considering WashU and Rice. Michigan and Cal are ruled out. Now focusing on if Computer Science becomes the choice, whether WashU or Rice have reasonable big-tech and smaller growing companies as options? And if there is a startup culture, if a student comes up with ideas?
Thank you! We live in the DC area. UMich and Cal are both out-of-state. WashU and Rice seem to offer reasonable PreMed structure, just not sure how good the computer science options are offered in those places.
WashU does not do direct admit by major, but students are admitted to a school (e.g., Arts and Sciences, McElvey, Fox). It’s fairly easy (relatively more easy than at some of WashU’s peers) to change schools at WashU. Rice is similar in structure (admission to school, not major) and generally straightforward to change schools too (of course some majors excepted like engineering). Students at both schools frequently have a double major and/or minor across different schools.
OP, is your D accepted to the engineering schools at both WashU and Rice? You can look at the career center website for each to see outcomes, but I am sure CS grads get excellent internships and job placement from each. WashU Olin students have an entrepreneurial bent with start up competitions and such. I am not sure about McKelvey, hopefully someone else can weigh in.
I agree with the others that your D should choose based on academics, CS curriculum, and fit to make her decision. Good luck to her.
Yes, we are running out of time. She has an acceptance at WashU (not Univ of Washington - Seattle). We are just trying to figure out the ease of transfer from PreMed to CS at WashU and Rice. Looks like Rice keeps it easy. Ruling out Cal because it is difficult to transfer there.
Thank you!
Our daughter is accepted to the flagship programs, based on her Pre-Med heavy application. Not to the Engineering schools. But looks like WashU and Rice both allow reasonable transfers to Engineering programs.
Any information about startup culture at these places? I see in your note about the startup competitions. Any info about whether that is a growing trend? D saw stories about some innovation centers. Not sure whether that is a new thing being promoted, or if there is a reasonably mature ecosystem?
D thought Michigan may be too competitive if she ended up staying in PreMed track.
Though I read somewhere that their med school ends up picking up 40% of its intake from UMich undergrads
All of these schools will be competitive for a person with a premed intention (which can be done with any major). The courses are challenging and will attract high achieving kid for premed. One college won’t be less competitive than the others. My opinion.
Yep, and for any kid considering Pre-Med, it is good to have a plan B and even C – other majors/vocations they might consider in case med school becomes a dubious proposition or they change their mind.
St Louis has a growing start-up industry, particularly in biotech. WashU offers many ways to tap into that - in particular look at the first year biotech explorers course. This is a course that runs over 3 semesters with a smaller group (16-18)of students that stay together the entire time. It is run by the chair of the biology dept. It offers direct engagement with those involved with the local biotech industry. It offers exposure to the many different aspects of the industry - not just science, but also business, innovation, finance, data analytics etc. Part of the class is building skills such as participating in case comps and resume building. They bring in leaders in the industry to speak to the students as well as local field trips to biotech companies.