Rice vs UT Austin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On an overall national level, Rice for sure. However, there are a few specific programs at UT Austin that are among the best in the country, better than Rice, such as engineering. Also, UT Austin is a reaaally big deal in Texas so if you know you want to stay in TX, a UT degree is probably your best bet. Most kids at Rice aren’t even from Texas and those kids generally have no real desire or intention to stay in Houston or the state after college.

A lot of assumptions here from someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about.

True, UT has a large engineering program but I wouldn't say it's head and shoulders better than Rice. And don't forget about Texas A&M, which has a pretty fair engineering department of its own.

About 35% of Rice students (and about 50% of the non-international students) are from Texas. When we toured last year, of the 12 or so tour guides working that day, I'd say half (at least) were from Houston, including our tour guide. I was surprised Rice didn't draw more from out-of-state.

I am a Rice undergrad/UT Austin grad school grad who lives in Houston.

[Anonymous]

Overall, UT-Austin is a better school. However that's primarily due to size, which gives it a lot of reach.

Rice will have better median students, will be easier academically, less pressure, more resources per student, small class sizes, etc. Given the option and a non-engineering major, students should pick Rice.

Anonymous wrote:If you are premed, Rice definitely because of the grade inflation and better resources for premed students. UT will be harder slog. Can be done but not as easily as in Rice

This is very true for pre-med students.

The advantage of these smaller privates is that the professors give out a lot of optional exams, extra credit and flexible deadlines.

At a large school like UT-Austin, the professors don't give a shit because they have 600 other students to take care of in their class. If anything, they make the low level course work so difficult simply to cull students out of a given major. If a student submits 1 minute later than the deadline, that's a 0. Optional exams don't exist. Extra credit doesn't exist - they want to kick out students of the major, not keep them in, and they already have a hard enough time grading 600 assignments without adding on more extra credit assignments.

Meanwhile, at Rice, professors will be extremely accommodating of students. At many SLACS and smaller privates, professors will take final reports/papers weeks after semester has ended if the student asks. Every other assignment is extra credit, they want as many of their students to get A's as possible. Exams are optional as in given 3 exams in a semester, they will drop the lowest scoring exam. Got a A's on the two midterms? Don't need to take the final.

[Anonymous]

Rice every time.

[Anonymous]

DD graduated this year from Rice and had an absolutely wonderful time. I agree that UT and Rice are entirely different. Aside from being smaller to begin with, Rice is divided into residential colleges. My daughter's best friends -- who I think will remain lifelong friends -- are primarily from her residential college. Rice places a premium on student happiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall, UT-Austin is a better school. However that's primarily due to size, which gives it a lot of reach.

Rice will have better median students, will be easier academically, less pressure, more resources per student, small class sizes, etc. Given the option and a non-engineering major, students should pick Rice.

Anonymous wrote:If you are premed, Rice definitely because of the grade inflation and better resources for premed students. UT will be harder slog. Can be done but not as easily as in Rice

This is very true for pre-med students.

The advantage of these smaller privates is that the professors give out a lot of optional exams, extra credit and flexible deadlines.

At a large school like UT-Austin, the professors don't give a shit because they have 600 other students to take care of in their class. If anything, they make the low level course work so difficult simply to cull students out of a given major. If a student submits 1 minute later than the deadline, that's a 0. Optional exams don't exist. Extra credit doesn't exist - they want to kick out students of the major, not keep them in, and they already have a hard enough time grading 600 assignments without adding on more extra credit assignments.


Meanwhile, at Rice, professors will be extremely accommodating of students. At many SLACS and smaller privates, professors will take final reports/papers weeks after semester has ended if the student asks. Every other assignment is extra credit, they want as many of their students to get A's as possible. Exams are optional as in given 3 exams in a semester, they will drop the lowest scoring exam. Got a A's on the two midterms? Don't need to take the final.

Did you actually go to Rice? As a Rice grad and as a science major there who went on to medical school, I can tell you there were no extra credit or optional exams etc. Rice is academically rigorous, perhaps more so than most of the other Texas schools.

[Anonymous]

Texas is better. I cannot think of a single program where Rice tops Texas. If you find one, please let me know. For that reason, Texas is better. Rice is ranked higher in US News, but take a look at the factor used and then take a look at US News Global Rankings (which takes prestige and research into consideration), and you will see that Texas is ranked higher than both Rice and UT.

As for A&M. The comments here should speak for themselves. Take conclusory statements about alumni resources with a grain of salt. How can an A&M Alumni know about Texas Alumni strength (their words)?

Regardless, if US News is your barometer for what is best, then take a deeper look into the the subject areas of interest and determine which of the three (3) universities is ranked the highest in the given subject. I would surmise that more often than not, Texas is at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Texas is better. I cannot think of a single program where Rice tops Texas. If you find one, please let me know. For that reason, Texas is better. Rice is ranked higher in US News, but take a look at the factor used and then take a look at US News Global Rankings (which takes prestige and research into consideration), and you will see that Texas is ranked higher than both Rice and UT.

As for A&M. The comments here should speak for themselves. Take conclusory statements about alumni resources with a grain of salt. How can an A&M Alumni know about Texas Alumni strength (their words)?

Regardless, if US News is your barometer for what is best, then take a deeper look into the the subject areas of interest and determine which of the three (3) universities is ranked the highest in the given subject. I would surmise that more often than not, Texas is at the top.

Spoken as someone who didn’t get into Rice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are looking for Alum strength and hope to stay in Texas, then Texas A&M is your best bet. The UT alums aren't nearly as helpful as Texas A&M alums who are generally very good about helping other Aggies.

Both UT and Rice have loony crazy left leaning students and administration. Another thing I really don't like with the two schools

Having said that, if you are looking at CS, Engineering or Business, I would give UT a decisive edge because you get as much or more after having paid a lot less. Those are the three areas where UT really shines in terms of how well its graduates do.

Aggies are a cult though.

[Anonymous]

Read somewhere that UT-Austin sets aside 90% of its seats to in-state kids. So the admit rate for OOS will be as competitive as Rice, if not worse, for high demand areas such as CS/Engr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall, UT-Austin is a better school. However that's primarily due to size, which gives it a lot of reach.

Rice will have better median students, will be easier academically, less pressure, more resources per student, small class sizes, etc. Given the option and a non-engineering major, students should pick Rice.

Anonymous wrote:If you are premed, Rice definitely because of the grade inflation and better resources for premed students. UT will be harder slog. Can be done but not as easily as in Rice

This is very true for pre-med students.

The advantage of these smaller privates is that the professors give out a lot of optional exams, extra credit and flexible deadlines.

At a large school like UT-Austin, the professors don't give a shit because they have 600 other students to take care of in their class. If anything, they make the low level course work so difficult simply to cull students out of a given major. If a student submits 1 minute later than the deadline, that's a 0. Optional exams don't exist. Extra credit doesn't exist - they want to kick out students of the major, not keep them in, and they already have a hard enough time grading 600 assignments without adding on more extra credit assignments.

Meanwhile, at Rice, professors will be extremely accommodating of students. At many SLACS and smaller privates, professors will take final reports/papers weeks after semester has ended if the student asks. Every other assignment is extra credit, they want as many of their students to get A's as possible. Exams are optional as in given 3 exams in a semester, they will drop the lowest scoring exam. Got a A's on the two midterms? Don't need to take the final.

Are you the former Rice undergrad? Because this does not describe the experience of my DS, a current student, and his friends.

[Anonymous]

I didn't like the feel of Rice nearly a much as UT. From what I could see, Rice's campus had pretty trees and quietly intense students. UT was attractive and Austin was an awesome town--up there with Ann Arbor, Madison and Berkeley. UT students also seemed more diverse and more outgoing.

I didn't really focus on academic differences as they both seemed very strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overall, UT-Austin is a better school. However that's primarily due to size, which gives it a lot of reach.

Rice will have better median students, will be easier academically, less pressure, more resources per student, small class sizes, etc. Given the option and a non-engineering major, students should pick Rice.

Anonymous wrote:If you are premed, Rice definitely because of the grade inflation and better resources for premed students. UT will be harder slog. Can be done but not as easily as in Rice

This is very true for pre-med students.

The advantage of these smaller privates is that the professors give out a lot of optional exams, extra credit and flexible deadlines.

At a large school like UT-Austin, the professors don't give a shit because they have 600 other students to take care of in their class. If anything, they make the low level course work so difficult simply to cull students out of a given major. If a student submits 1 minute later than the deadline, that's a 0. Optional exams don't exist. Extra credit doesn't exist - they want to kick out students of the major, not keep them in, and they already have a hard enough time grading 600 assignments without adding on more extra credit assignments.

Meanwhile, at Rice, professors will be extremely accommodating of students. At many SLACS and smaller privates, professors will take final reports/papers weeks after semester has ended if the student asks. Every other assignment is extra credit, they want as many of their students to get A's as possible. Exams are optional as in given 3 exams in a semester, they will drop the lowest scoring exam. Got a A's on the two midterms? Don't need to take the final.

Are you the former Rice undergrad? Because this does not describe the experience of my DS, a current student, and his friends.

Obviously who ever wrote that could not have been a Rice undergrad. I went to Rice and nothing in that paragraph describes anything remotely what the academic experience is like at Rice. I think most of the people posting do not have a clue about the university.

[Anonymous]

Financial aid is better for OOS at Rice than Texas. My family couldn't possibly afford Texas, but Rice's financial aid was reasonably generous.

[Anonymous]

Rice by a mile, if you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't like the feel of Rice nearly a much as UT. From what I could see, Rice's campus had pretty trees and quietly intense students. UT was attractive and Austin was an awesome town--up there with Ann Arbor, Madison and Berkeley. UT students also seemed more diverse and more outgoing.

I didn't really focus on academic differences as they both seemed very strong.

My DD is at Rice, and I think the campus and Rice Village are gorgeous. I’m thrilled she chose Rice, which is a phenomenal school. I’m not sure there is another school in the country that matches UT Austin in terms of how well the campus is integrated into the surrounding city though, and what an amazing city it is. We hope she gets a grad degree there so we have more excuses to visit Austin.