frutiaspice

Ok, so I'm having trouble deciding between these two schools. (I know that I'm on the MIT forum and will probably get more biased answers but I really would like some advice) I'm looking to major in biology and going for premed. (I may also try to double in economics if I have the energy) I applied to the Rice/Baylor eight year medical scholars program and was invited to interview, but results aren't back for me though some people already got in. I'm going to assume I didn't get in.

I really love MIT, it's been my dream school. I love the nerdiness, the quirkiness, the opportunities, Boston being around the corner, and the culture that's there. The people seem amazing! However, I'm not getting financial aid and if I'm looking to going to med school, it's going to be expensive. Also, I'm worried that with MIT being so hard, I might not get a high enough GPA for med school.

Rice on the other hand is offering me their trustee's distinguished scholarship (20kper year for four years) and the century scholars (4k for first two years as research stipend). This makes it soooo much cheaper (even cheaper than UCs for me). Also, I'll probably end up getting a higher GPA at Rice. I visited and I really liked Rice. However, I feel that I fit with MIT better.

So suggestions?

qandanj

S is in the same situation (but he does not want to study medicine), and to my dismay, he would not even consider Rice (would have saved a lot of money). I really liked Rice, as I spent over four years there as a graduate student. The only thing I did not like was the weather during the summer. MIT is not for you if you want to go to medical school. I have known kids who graduated from MIT could only get accepted by 2nd rate and 3rd rate medical schools.

CalAlum

That's a tough decision, one to make in discussion with your family. MIT is more prestigious, but Rice University is ranked among the top 20 American Universities as well (source: U.S. News & World Report). It's an open question as to whether graduating from the most prestigious institution makes a large difference in one's future career. In a 1998 study following the paths of students who had been admitted to the top schools but chose to enroll elsewhere, Alan Krueger at Princeton concluded that the prestige of the school made little difference, that the quality of the student determined future success. You've been admitted to MIT, one of the most selective institutions in the nation. If you accept Krueger's conclusion, you have to believe that there's no reason you won't be just as successful in life if you matriculate at Rice.

My personal opinion about the education available at each school is a little different, and I'll just toss it out here for the heck of it. Quite a few students have posted here about medical school. Presumably, they all plan to be doctors. Is that really the limit of your ambition? Will you become the person in the white coat who looks in my kids' ears, or the person who logs into the hospital and performs endless gastric surgeries? Or do you have any ambition to be a medical researcher, or someone who invents medical technology, or someone who might eventually take a leadership role in national health policy? I mean if it's the latter, then MIT beats Rice hands down.

Switching gears (not to confuse you, but there are many sides to this issue), the money is a very serious consideration. Personally, I do not believe that any student should graduate from MIT with more than around $15,000 of debt maximum. As far as I know, based on my own conversations with MIT's Fin Aid Office, MIT agrees with this. So if the choice to go to MIT would mean taking on much more debt than this, then by all means, choose Rice.

cosmology1002

GO TO RICE!!!! It will be SO much cheaper than MIT, but it is also a very good school. If you don't get into the 8 year program at Rice that is okay because as you said, you will get a higher GPA at rice and better grades and, medical schools mostly care about your grades at college and your MCATs. Even though MIT is one of the best schools in the world you would have a better chance at medical school at rice and it would be less money.

cellardweller

This is simply false. MIT actually does very well getting students admitted to top med schools. It gets around 10% admitted to HMS alone, only second to Harvard College. If GPA and MCATs were the only factors, the statistics would be very different. The reality is that certain schools do much better than others and that which college you graduate from does matter, especially with the most selective med schools. 90% of MIT undergrads who apply to med schools and take advantage of the premed advising get admitted to med schools and most of them get into to top medical schools. I seriously doubt that Rice does any better.

molliebatmit

And I've known kids from MIT who went to medical school at Harvard (I know a lot of these, actually), UCSF, WUStL, and UPenn.

If you love MIT, and if your family can find a way to make it work, go to MIT. If your family can't find a way to make it work, go to Rice.

Physics08

[I have known kids who graduated from MIT could only get accepted by 2nd rate and 3rd rate medical schools./]

That's because these students probably made lives difficult for themselves by majoring in some sort of engineering or by double majoring. If you're worried about grades for medical school, then major in science instead of engineering, etc chemistry or biology over chemical engineering/biomedical engineering.

Olo

From what I remember (and you'll want to double-check this), Rice has quotas per major. If you slip up in the weed-out class, you can actually get removed from your major. Then you're stuck in a school studying something you don't want to study...

jym626

^^ I've not heard that there a quotas for majors at Rice. Where did you hear this, Olo??

The Speaker

So let's say I head into junior year already with $30,000 in debt...

Would MIT FinAid take this into consideration at all or not?

CalAlum

^^That's a question for the Financial Aid Office. Ask them!

Cincinnatistudent

"From what I remember (and you'll want to double-check this), Rice has quotas per major. If you slip up in the weed-out class, you can actually get removed from your major. Then you're stuck in a school studying something you don't want to study..."


This is just false.

Olo

I heard it from a friend who had to choose between Rice and Penn. He ended up choosing Penn, and he told me he had heard about a majors quota at Rice.

Again, this was several years ago, and I mentioned in my original post you'd definitely have to check up on it.

Thanks for clarifying...

jym626

Olo-
Thanks for clarifying. As has been said, never heard of there ever being a quota on majors. That just doesn't seem to make any sense.

anxiousmom

No quotas for majors at Rice and you don't get removed from your major if you slip up. That's totally untrue! Actually at Rice it is incredibly easy to change majors. Rice has comparable stats: 90% admitted to med school. Rice is located across the street from the LARGEST health complex in the world, including many hospitals, research and med facilities, making for unlimited opportunities.