Rice University vs. University of Texas at Austin?

[sciencenerd2017]

Hi everyone! I've finally narrowed my choiced down to Rice (35k/year) and regular (no honors) UT (25k/year). I'm from Houston and love both schools equally, and they're so different in terms of social life, which makes it hard to compare. Is one significantly better for a pre-med?

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[efle]

Is UT admit to the honors program or regular ol' UT ?

@Lucca might have something to say on this one

 

[Lucca]

Congratulations on your great options. My college choice was similar to this except it was full ride at UT vs Full cost at rice. Considerably easier than the choice you are making since I too thought both schools were great hehe.

Coming from a senior:

pros of Ut:

- way cheaper than rice (not the case for you given your situation)
- Austin > Houston imo but Rice is in the best part of Houston for sure.
- school sports a way bigger deal if that is important / attractive to you. Football is srs business and football season is a lot of fun.
- tons of resources for people to get involved with research. It is relatively straightforward to get involved with research from the first semester you are on campus, esp with things like the freshman research initiative providing a structured way to do that.
- Lots of variety in coursework/professors offered. Degree plans are fairly flexible and you can take a hardcore class with 10 other people that will be challenging and interesting or a class with like 100 ppl in it that is basically a breeze but still gets you upper division science credit.
- if you decide against medicine, Liberal Arts, Business and Computer Science are all very strong here in terms of getting people into good jobs post grad, esp if you are coming from honors.

Cons of UT
- outside of Texas the Rice name is "bigger". Inside of Texas I would say they are essentially equivalent.
- big state school = impersonal and uninvolved administration unless you are a part of a smaller dedicated program. Intro classes are huge and boring and impersonal. Teaching labs are the worst here and a massive pain in the ass.

Pros of Rice:
- Collegiate housing system makes for a more tightnit community right away.
- smaller liberal arts school is probably a more nurturing and involved educational environment
- smaller classes, this is always a plus imo
- smaller research enterprise and resources compared to basic science at Ut but the research they do have is excellent and Rice is a couple of blocks away from the Texas Medical Center for clinical / research opportunities.

Cons of Rice
- Pricier.
- Everybody is going to know everybody after a couple of years. Could be good or bad.
- might be harder to keep a high GPA

 

[Lucca]

I'll add that in terms of getting into medical school, I don't think the choice will make a difference. Go to the place you like the most / vibe with the students best / are most excited about from an academic standpoint. If I were in your shoes, I would probably choose Rice but it's a toss up.

 

[sciencenerd2017]

Is UT admit to the honors program or regular ol' UT ?

@Lucca might have something to say on this one

Just regular old UT, otherwise it would have made my choice easier

 

[efle]

I personally would lean towards Rice in that case, though I was the type of person that wanted very badly to be surrounded by other tryhard nerdy kids in college. Rice is one of the premed powerhouses on a per capita basis (like Hopkins and WashU and Duke) and will be a great undergrad to be at if you change your mind about medicine and want to go after something else. Other considerations like the massively different school sizes and different cultures (e.g. Greek presence, sports) looks like Lucca already covered