Rice and Wash U and BC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD was WL at BC and Wash U but in at Rice. We are shocked. Can anyone tell me more about Rice? The more we read, the more impressed we are!

I went to Wash. U. I think Rice is probably similar, but in Houston and probably a little more prestigious.

Going there would be comparable to going to Harvard or Yale, but with fewer classmates who are children of heads of state.

???

Lots of kids with similar stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD was WL at BC and Wash U but in at Rice. We are shocked. Can anyone tell me more about Rice? The more we read, the more impressed we are!

I went to Wash. U. I think Rice is probably similar, but in Houston and probably a little more prestigious.

Going there would be comparable to going to Harvard or Yale, but with fewer classmates who are children of heads of state.

???

Lots of kids with similar stats.

Lots of kids with similar stats at Northeastern, so I guess that must be comparable to going to Harvard or Yale too?

WashU has a lot of high-stat kids, but they're the type of unhooked, high-stat kids who aren't the "full package" enough to get into an Ivy/Stanford/MIT/CalTech/Chicago/Northwestern. Maybe weak ECs, not "unbelievable" recs, or application essay-writing isn't their strength, whatever. It's overhated by its detractors and overrated by families drinking the school's Kool-Aid, but at the end of the day it's a solid private school for a number of fields, but has glaring issues in others (CS is a big one), and has very good regional, decent national, but limited international name recognition. I've run into more students that regret going there than otherwise, but I'd be willing to guess that many kids who go there and finish a premed track won't regret attending.

As mentioned, it's also a pretty unpopular destination for those elite N.E. boarding school kids. Pretty much any other T20 can pull top students easily from those places, but WashU can't seem to carve a niche. Rice isn't that much more popular, but still definitely has more of a draw for those families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the kids at Rice are happier than the kids at WashU? Is there any truth to this?

Couldn't be more true. Soon to be former student at WashU here (transferring out), and the general sentiment is that most departments/programs are nowhere near good enough to justify/make up for the total lack of name recognition the school has outside of the midwest. The CS department is downright awful, as are a lot of fields that aren't related to premed.

+1. WashU barely has name recognition outside of Missouri. At least Rice has pull in Texas.

Even without a full cycle of knowing how well Rice's undergrad business program prepares students, if recruiting in finance/consulting is a priority then Rice would be a much better bet. Olin doesn't do anything special to help undergrads that an average state flagship can't provide, and the outcomes for kids in most of WashU's schools don't justify the price.

You'd be surprised how much pull Rice has in the northeast. I'm coming from an NE boarding school (not Andover or Exeter but on that level), and if you aren't getting into an Ivy/Stanford/MIT, students are much more enthused about getting into Rice as opposed to WashU. If WashU is your "top" option, then you'll usually be pretty disappointed with how your college process shook out, and kids would rarely matriculate there (often choose UNC, NYU, Wake, BC, NEU over WashU) despite around 40% of applicants each cycle getting in.

I can't, for the life of me, understand why WashU is ranked above a place like NYU in USNews–NYU is as good, if not better, in nearly every field/major, and has much better national and international name recognition. I assume it has something to do with the large endowment, but that means nothing if the school is unwilling to actually use it for anything outside of the med school/pre-med opportunities.

I also hope that the facade of WashU having some of "the happiest students in the country" dies soon. Most students are unhappy being here and have very valid complaints, and whoever makes those sorts of lists must've polled 5 freshmen on full-tuition scholarships that don't know other colleges exist, or the kids in Olin who have 10 minutes of HW weekly and party on weeknights. The housing situation is also awful, and the dorms are only "nice" if you can live in them–only freshmen are guaranteed on-campus housing, and around 70% of sophomores get it, but juniors and seniors are barred from living on-campus unless they are in a frat (by far the best housing situation, as they are quite literally on-campus between the gym and academic buildings) or an RA. I was one of the unlucky 30% of sophomores pushed into WashU's off-campus housing, and it's not only their most expensive housing option, but it's a 30-min walk from the rest of campus and a 40-minute walk from the nearest dining hall.

WashU laughably has no real positive campus culture or identity, and anything they try to push is as manufactured as their prestige. The only thing I could say about an "identity" is that it is an overpriced Ivy-reject school for premeds, and I have been shocked with how many students I've come across here who try to transfer out (many, like myself, come to the school knowing they'll try to transfer). I'm so thankful I don't have to come back next year, and if anyone in the future sees this, please stay far, far away from WashU unless it is your only financially-viable option. Don't be fooled by whatever USNews or Niche ranking they are able to buy–the level of education or weight of diploma offered at the school doesn't match that "T15" number.

You entered WashU expecting to hate it. Perhaps your experience at WashU was a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD was WL at BC and Wash U but in at Rice. We are shocked. Can anyone tell me more about Rice? The more we read, the more impressed we are!

I went to Wash. U. I think Rice is probably similar, but in Houston and probably a little more prestigious.

Going there would be comparable to going to Harvard or Yale, but with fewer classmates who are children of heads of state.

???

I don’t get the impression that the typical class at Harvard or Yale is any better than a good class at other T50 schools. If anything, the typical class at Harvard or Yale may be worse, because the professors are so famous, or under so much famous to produce amazing research and/or save the world, that teaching ranks low on their list of priorities

I think that what makes Yale and Harvard special is the occasional amazing class and the brilliance of the other students. If you’re writing for the Harvard Crimson, for example, you might be on a staff that’s almost as well-trained as and much more innately brilliant than the staff of just about any other newspaper in the world.

[Anonymous]

Ivies doesn’t aim for best individuals, they aim for best cohort, covering college’s needs. Their students are in no way any better or worse than top 10% students at any other top 100 school.

[Anonymous]

All schools do that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the kids at Rice are happier than the kids at WashU? Is there any truth to this?

Couldn't be more true. Soon to be former student at WashU here (transferring out), and the general sentiment is that most departments/programs are nowhere near good enough to justify/make up for the total lack of name recognition the school has outside of the midwest. The CS department is downright awful, as are a lot of fields that aren't related to premed.

+1. WashU barely has name recognition outside of Missouri. At least Rice has pull in Texas.

Even without a full cycle of knowing how well Rice's undergrad business program prepares students, if recruiting in finance/consulting is a priority then Rice would be a much better bet. Olin doesn't do anything special to help undergrads that an average state flagship can't provide, and the outcomes for kids in most of WashU's schools don't justify the price.

You'd be surprised how much pull Rice has in the northeast. I'm coming from an NE boarding school (not Andover or Exeter but on that level), and if you aren't getting into an Ivy/Stanford/MIT, students are much more enthused about getting into Rice as opposed to WashU. If WashU is your "top" option, then you'll usually be pretty disappointed with how your college process shook out, and kids would rarely matriculate there (often choose UNC, NYU, Wake, BC, NEU over WashU) despite around 40% of applicants each cycle getting in.

I can't, for the life of me, understand why WashU is ranked above a place like NYU in USNews–NYU is as good, if not better, in nearly every field/major, and has much better national and international name recognition. I assume it has something to do with the large endowment, but that means nothing if the school is unwilling to actually use it for anything outside of the med school/pre-med opportunities.

I also hope that the facade of WashU having some of "the happiest students in the country" dies soon. Most students are unhappy being here and have very valid complaints, and whoever makes those sorts of lists must've polled 5 freshmen on full-tuition scholarships that don't know other colleges exist, or the kids in Olin who have 10 minutes of HW weekly and party on weeknights. The housing situation is also awful, and the dorms are only "nice" if you can live in them–only freshmen are guaranteed on-campus housing, and around 70% of sophomores get it, but juniors and seniors are barred from living on-campus unless they are in a frat (by far the best housing situation, as they are quite literally on-campus between the gym and academic buildings) or an RA. I was one of the unlucky 30% of sophomores pushed into WashU's off-campus housing, and it's not only their most expensive housing option, but it's a 30-min walk from the rest of campus and a 40-minute walk from the nearest dining hall.

WashU laughably has no real positive campus culture or identity, and anything they try to push is as manufactured as their prestige. The only thing I could say about an "identity" is that it is an overpriced Ivy-reject school for premeds, and I have been shocked with how many students I've come across here who try to transfer out (many, like myself, come to the school knowing they'll try to transfer). I'm so thankful I don't have to come back next year, and if anyone in the future sees this, please stay far, far away from WashU unless it is your only financially-viable option. Don't be fooled by whatever USNews or Niche ranking they are able to buy–the level of education or weight of diploma offered at the school doesn't match that "T15" number.

You entered WashU expecting to hate it. Perhaps your experience at WashU was a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Thought the same thing, what an odd post.

[Anonymous]

I think RICE is better known as a 'unique' school. Lot of very high achieving students CHOOSE to go to Rice over the lower Ivies and Duke etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the kids at Rice are happier than the kids at WashU? Is there any truth to this?

Couldn't be more true. Soon to be former student at WashU here (transferring out), and the general sentiment is that most departments/programs are nowhere near good enough to justify/make up for the total lack of name recognition the school has outside of the midwest. The CS department is downright awful, as are a lot of fields that aren't related to premed.

No dog in this fight, but I would say that Wash U is better known than Rice, and both would be known by grad schools and large employers.

Y are b
When your college is often mixed up with at least 3 other colleges (UWash in Seattle, Washington College, GWU), then no, I don't think you can say it's more it’s


"well-known" than a place like Rice. Of course, there are differences between WashU and those other places, but it's nothing spectacular or unique enough to make WashU a household name. Everything WashU offers is done better by some other school ranked in the T30. Internationally, Rice holds much more water as well.

You are on drugs if you think Rice is better known, it simply isn’t it. There are one or two over the top parents of Rice students here. Both are known “enough” by the people who matter, those who hire or admit to grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think RICE is better known as a 'unique' school. Lot of very high achieving students CHOOSE to go to Rice over the lower Ivies and Duke etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the kids at Rice are happier than the kids at WashU? Is there any truth to this?

Couldn't be more true. Soon to be former student at WashU here (transferring out), and the general sentiment is that most departments/programs are nowhere near good enough to justify/make up for the total lack of name recognition the school has outside of the midwest. The CS department is downright awful, as are a lot of fields that aren't related to premed.

No dog in this fight, but I would say that Wash U is better known than Rice, and both would be known by grad schools and large employers.

Y are b
When your college is often mixed up with at least 3 other colleges (UWash in Seattle, Washington College, GWU), then no, I don't think you can say it's more it’s


"well-known" than a place like Rice. Of course, there are differences between WashU and those other places, but it's nothing spectacular or unique enough to make WashU a household name. Everything WashU offers is done better by some other school ranked in the T30. Internationally, Rice holds much more water as well.

You are on drugs if you think Rice is better known, it simply isn’t it. There are one or two over the top parents of Rice students here. Both are known “enough” by the people who matter, those who hire or admit to grad school.

Agree with Rice being much more of a "unique" school–the impression I get from WashU is that the aspects that make it great are all done better by an Ivy/Duke/JHU, and so on. Nothing about the experience there can't be achieved by another school in the T15 range, but pretty much any school that can do that has better name recognition, and hence a student will gravitate towards that pedigree. No matter how high WashU climbs in the USNews rankings, it's still not a "dream school" for much of those top 1% of HS students–there are around 30 or so universities and 8-10 LACs kids would plausibly pass over for WashU all things held equal. Historically their yield rate is quite low even with taking a ton of kids ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the kids at Rice are happier than the kids at WashU? Is there any truth to this?

Couldn't be more true. Soon to be former student at WashU here (transferring out), and the general sentiment is that most departments/programs are nowhere near good enough to justify/make up for the total lack of name recognition the school has outside of the midwest. The CS department is downright awful, as are a lot of fields that aren't related to premed.

No dog in this fight, but I would say that Wash U is better known than Rice, and both would be known by grad schools and large employers.

When your college is often mixed up with at least 3 other colleges (UWash in Seattle, Washington College, GWU), then no, I don't think you can say it's more "well-known" than a place like Rice. Of course, there are differences between WashU and those other places, but it's nothing spectacular or unique enough to make WashU a household name. Everything WashU offers is done better by some other school ranked in the T30. Internationally, Rice holds much more water as well.

It wasn't until about two years ago, when a friend's child matriculated there, that I realized it was a different school than Washington & Lee.

[Anonymous]

Accepted to rice 3.9uw/4.7w/1490 SAT

[Anonymous]

So?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to rice 3.9uw/4.7w/1490 SAT

Congratulations! You’ll love it there. Rice is a special place.

[Anonymous]

Honestly BC is more well know in terms of name recognition than wash u or rice. Definitely the least prestigious of the 3 but most well known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly BC is more well know in terms of name recognition than wash u or rice. Definitely the least prestigious of the 3 but most well known.

For the longest time I thought BC was BU!