<p>so i got accepted to MIT, but if i get into rice as well i will strongly consider it. I really would like to double major and rice seems like a great place to do that (in comparison to MIT). one of the questions i have is about grades...I would like to go to grad school, but am worried about my GPA being hurt by the ridiculously hard classes of MIT. I think i could handle the work and all, but i dont want to devote every moment to my GPA.
so my question is, how are grades and the workload at rice? I am not lazy by any means, but i want some fun and time to relax. also, do rice students have a good admission rate when applying to some of the top grad schools?</p>
<p>alright well i wanted to do aero/astro engineering, which i dont think rice has...so i guess mechanical engineering. pretty much my question from the previous post with an engineering or maybe like a physics major in mind. I wanted to double major with economics.</p>
<p>for the Rice admissions rate when applying to top grad schools, my interviewer told me that was the biggest reason he wanted to go to Rice. He said that about 75% of all graduates from Rice were accepted to their #1 choice for grad school.</p>
<p>This depends a lot on your personality and your high school preparation. </p>
<p>If you love studying, studying will be much less painful. If you are highly motivated, things will be easier. If you are a perfectionist, it will be harder, and if you are willing to prioritize and let a couple of things slide so you can do your best on others, that will be good. There are certainly people at Rice who manage to balance working and having fun, and there are always people who are getting fabulous grades and having an amazing social life. Most people at Rice really do pull that off quite nicely.</p>
<p>But it hinges on your high school preparation. What kind of high school do you go to? How will your preparation compare to kids from the middle of nowhere who had no AP classes, no extra curriculars at their school? How will your preparation compare to kids from the best high schools in the country? If you have taken college courses before, you will be ahead of the game, and your workload will be easier, etc.</p>
<p>Either school will not be a walk in the park, but if you put your mind to it, you will suceed.</p>
<p>well i think i am pretty prepared. i have taken about 15 AP courses and have worked 25-30 hrs a week since sophomore year. so i have the whole high school preparation and time management deal down. The thing is, i really havent had to work that hard to get good grades, so i guess I will need to get used to that. But I know that when i care about something, I put a lot of effort into it.</p>
<p>And then for what i want to study, NASA is so close and would provide some great opportunities. But then MIT has sooo much to offer as far as research and having some incredible professors around. gosh, maybe Rice will just reject me and make my decision easier.</p>
<p>I think what my concern really boils down to though, is will i be able to enjoy myself while getting grades sufficient for top grad schools.</p>
<p>Even though I am not a student at Rice, whenever I go on the campus, I feel at home. This ambience is not really perpetuated by the scenery, but the students, who are warm and welcoming. In terms of "fun," I think the social sphere will not be too hard to maintain along side the studying and, if anything, the students around you will have to work just as hard and will engender an atmosphere of self-discipline as they work to maintain their grades.</p>
<p>gospurs-
Anxiousmom's child is at Rice (as is mine). As for fun- having been to both campuses, I think you will be able to have a more "fun", relaxed (?), well-rounded college experience at Rice-- that is why my s. chose it, despite thinking for years that he wanted to go to MIT. When we visited MIT, he felt it was much more appropriate for grad school. One caveat-- if by "fun" you mean access to a stellar sports (workout/pool etc) facility-- you will prefer the brand new one at MIT to the underwhelming one at Rice. The nicer facility at Rice is for the athletes. However, replacing the current Rice gym is on the priority list. The baseball, soccer and football arenas are, however, great.</p>
<p>yeah i seem to be in about the same situation as your son was. and yes by fun, i pretty much mean a relaxed experience. First i need to get accepted to rice and then i will visit both and decide. from what i am hearing (as much as i dont want to accept it), Rice seems like a good fit for me. It is just so weird wanting to go to MIT for so long and now seriously considering turning it down. I think there will be a lot of people who know me that will be absolutely shocked if I choose Rice. But i need to really decide for myself and stop worrying about turning down the name. Then the other thing i keep thinking about is if i decide to not go to a grad school, which of the two would give me better job opportunities. this is tough, ahhhh</p>
<p>thanks for your responses guys, i really appreciate your insight. another question jym626, what did you and your son notice about MIT that gave yall the impression that it wasn't the place for his undergrad education?</p>
<p>Gospur-
My s. sat in on a class (with a pretty nifty technology system where they worked in groups) and spent a lot of time talking to students. He also met with faculty and got a tour of the physics labs. I have a good friend who is an MIT grad, and she spoke honestly of both the pros and cons-- said when she was there, there wasn't much "patience" for questions in the classroom. It was seen as a waste of time. You were expected to ask after class or look it up in the book. Yuk. My son loves the class discussions. My h. has a good friend who went to MIT for both undergrad and grad, and still lives in Cambridge, who spent time with us as well while we were there. He took my h. and s. around to the dorms and frats at night, when things were more "active" (I stayed back at the hotel with my younger s. and played in the 8" of snow). At any rate, despite the undergrad research programs they have, my s.came away with the strong impression that the focus of the faculty's attention was towards the grad students. My s. didn't want to have a lot of large, lecture hall style classes (though in fairness,there are probably an equal # of large/small classes at both schools) and while he doesn't mind grad students handling the tutorials, he really wanted to be taught predominantly by the faculty. It didn't help that when we were in the Physics dept, the sect'y pointed out a nobel laureate faculty member who went right by us and didn't give us the time of day. And basically, the # of grad students outnumbered the # of undergrads (like 6k to 4k) at MIT (reverse is true at Rice- twice the # of undergrads as grad students). He just didnt want to go to undergrad where the focus was not on the undergrad education- plain and simple. While I was surprised, given how long he'd talked about MIT (and he is a very strong, well rounded student with med school research experience, etc,who had a good chance of being admitted), he left clearly saying - "nope-- this is for grad school". We visited many schools, north, south, east and west, and when we hit Rice, it was a great "fit". He applied and was accepted ED. He loves it, and has absolutely no regrets. He is a very self motivated student- and knew that he'd push himself no matter where he went. He felt the Cal Tech envt was too intense, and he would rise to the intensity, which wouldnt be healthy. He works hard, but finds the time to go out with the bicycle club on rides, and even took a breakdancing class!! (I finally got a demonstration tonight). He has a good work/life balance at Rice. Also, Rice has a good entreprenerial program, which intrigued him, as he hadn't decided if he wanted to do engineering, grad school or r&d. He liked the idea that if you wanted to be an entrepreneur, there was a program to assist with that. Anyway-- bottom line-- all things considered, Rice met more of what he was looking for in his personal and academic college experience. My s. loved to read about what was coming from the MIT media lab and published in Popular Science every month - was very gung ho on MIT until he got there--- Then, it simply didn't feel right.</p>
<p>wow thanks a lot for taking the time to write up such a great, detailed response. I think it is very important to visit both of the schools (assuming I am accepted to Rice), and that is just what I am going to do. It is really going to be hard to get to check out MIT, given financial circumstances, but I am going to do my best. Im gonna try to go for campus preview weekend. I love having classes where I feel comfortable to just ask questions, so I dont think i would like that attitude. I want more of the personal, small school feel, but not lose out on the strength of academics. hmm i got a lot to think about</p>
<p>gospurs-
Happy to help. That is exactly what the CC is for. If you do plan to go visit Rice, pm me and I'll be happy to put you in touch with my s. I am sure he'll be happy to help too. Are you considering an overnight visit to campus? He has hosted several prospies-- in fact one was admitted ED. Also, Jenskate is a current student, and she is happy to answer questions onthis forum as well.</p>
<p>yes i am planning on visiting overnight. i was thinking maybe a saturday night in like two or three weeks. Im from San Antonio so I guess i can just drive over to Houston and check it out. I need to check out the Rice website to see how to schedule an overnight visit. Ill definately PM you...it would be great to talk to your son since he went through what I am going through. Is there a way to request where you stay for that night?</p>
<p>gospurs-
My s. said he'd be happy to host you as a prospy - PM me and I'll give you his info. He is pretty sure you can request a host for an overnight visit.</p>