Anonymous wrote:I know this thread is mostly dead, but I'm here because my son has the same decision. It seems odd to me that all the replies for Cornell > Rice are snarky and short and don't give any reasoning. Care to elaborate?

Which one let him off the waitlist?

I went to Cornell and studied public policy. I genuinely liked the school, but I would strongly consider Rice if your child is at all adverse to very cold weather.

Anonymous wrote:I know this thread is mostly dead, but I'm here because my son has the same decision. It seems odd to me that all the replies for Cornell > Rice are snarky and short and don't give any reasoning. Care to elaborate?

Your son's situation is different. What does he want to study ?

I know this thread is mostly dead, but I'm here because my son has the same decision. It seems odd to me that all the replies for Cornell > Rice are snarky and short and don't give any reasoning. Care to elaborate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really depends on the kid. My kid is happy at Cornell. He would not want to be in Texas.

Mine too. Would much rather be cold than hot.

College is off from first week of may to august so you only deal with few hot weeks, Cornell is open for most of the dead winter so you really have to like cold.

OK, I'd choose Rice over Cornell and warm over cold any day but I do have to say, it's more than a few hot weeks. Houston gets pretty hot in March (80s) and stays hot til October. I LOVE hot weather so to me 80s is perfect but a lot of people wouldn't be happy having it be that hot in spring and fall.

Yes, true. But the students leave in May and don’t come back until August. They miss the worst of the hot weather.

Bu on a cheerier note, they do get back in time for hurricane season.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really depends on the kid. My kid is happy at Cornell. He would not want to be in Texas.

Mine too. Would much rather be cold than hot.

College is off from first week of may to august so you only deal with few hot weeks, Cornell is open for most of the dead winter so you really have to like cold.

OK, I'd choose Rice over Cornell and warm over cold any day but I do have to say, it's more than a few hot weeks. Houston gets pretty hot in March (80s) and stays hot til October. I LOVE hot weather so to me 80s is perfect but a lot of people wouldn't be happy having it be that hot in spring and fall.

Cornell over Rice, always.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

Honestly if your DC did not vibe, move on[b]. Open up the slot for some other kid who would love to attend Rice. I think there are plenty. DC will be happiest where they feel they vibe. I know it sucks they have to decide so quickly.

+1 -- from a parent of a Rice grad who had a lot of fun there

Rice grad again. So, as to the atmosphere. When I was there, the student body was very small, and it was divided into 9 "colleges", which made it feel even smaller. It's a large campus, even the dorm rooms were roomy (my boyfriend's dorm room at Baker was nothing short of enormous. Studio apartment size, all to himself). So it did have a quiet feel. Also, many of the kids there were off-scale smart, but completely not interested in a social life. There really were some odd ducks. I was a very social person and the first semester felt like a let-down.

That said, I found my people. People I am still close to today. I was very happy there in the end. And I'm thankful I wasn't at a fratty school with heavy drinking and a hook-up culture. It was a safe space. I would feel confident sending my daughter there.

Congratulations to you daughter. She should be super proud she was accepted, even if she goes in another direction!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

You can’t tell that from a visit unless it’s one of those accepted students’ sleepover weekends.

Of course you can, especially with a school with a reputation for being a bit quirky like Rice. Excellent school for the right kid, but not for every kid.

Okay. Whatever you say. But no school is fir every kid. I have a DD at Rice and after 2 years there, her description of the social life doesn’t match yours. And she is a fun loving kid. But you must know better because you made a visit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

You can’t tell that from a visit unless it’s one of those accepted students’ sleepover weekends.

Of course you can, especially with a school with a reputation for being a bit quirky like Rice. Excellent school for the right kid, but not for every kid.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

You can’t tell that from a visit unless it’s one of those accepted students’ sleepover weekends.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

Honestly if your DC did not vibe, move on. Open up the slot for some other kid who would love to attend Rice. I think there are plenty. DC will be happiest where they feel they vibe. I know it sucks they have to decide so quickly.

Thanks for posting, my DD is choosing between Rice and another T10 school. Name recognition is a factor for her, so your input is appreciated. I know you are a grad but, do you have any insights into campus life? She didn't have a good visit. Seemed like it lacked a fun social atmosphere.

Rice grad again. I was responding to the comment that Rice did not have name recognition in this area. It does, (not just here, I've lived in several cities across the country). And as I stated, obviously Cornell has great name recognition. Cornell is an excellent choice if it's the right fit. Just sharing my person experience. I recently went through a pretty intense job search and everyone I spoke to told me they were impressed with Rice on my resume. And like I said, it's been 25 years.


I will say that my classmates who went into tech have made a killing. Google, VC, FB executives. Also many doctors. I'm a non-profit executive so probably the poorest one of the bunch