Barnard or Rice for CS (+business/econ)

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Intended major: computer science; possibly something business/econ related as well

Barnard
Pros:

  • NYC! so many opportunities and experiences, and I feel like I’ll broaden my horizons there
  • has a small liberal arts college experience, while proximity to columbia also provides access to a larger, co-ed experience
  • great alumni network

Cons:

  • seems to have a less tight-knit school spirit/community
  • very small campus
  • talked to some current students; seems like it’s difficult for first-years to adjust

Rice
Pros:

  • gorgeous campus
  • a friendly and comfortable school environment (especially w/ the residential college system)
  • flexible CS degree (can double major etc. relatively easily)
  • more well-known

Cons:

  • living in texas would be a pretty huge adjustment from where I live now (and the weather seems a bit difficult to handle)
  • not sure about availability of cs/business opportunities, especially those outside of texas?

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to visit either schools’ admitted students events. I have been to Barnard’s campus, but not Rice’s!

One other thing I’ve been considering is getting a master’s degree (most likely in something business administration-adjacent)–in which case Barnard would have a greater connection to Columbia’s graduate schools and the opportunities for business in New York. I’m uncertain about Rice and its admission to graduate schools–so advice would be greatly valued.

any help/information would be amazing! thanks so much!

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So you might be interested in this study of the top 30 feeders to top 10 MBA programs, particularly the second list, the per capita list (since you are looking at small schools):

Rice is #18 on the per capita list, which is very good since it is competing not just with universities but also LACs with a big business presence. In fact the only LACs ahead of it are CMC, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Wellesley, Colgate, and Swarthmore, which is not exactly a surprising list to people who know LACs that are plugged into business communities. The only universities ahead are Dartmouth, Chicago, Yale, Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Brown, Princeton, and Penn, again not a surprising list.

And per capita, Rice is actually ahead of universities like Cornell, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Tufts, and Columbia, which is quite impressive, and also LACs like Bowdoin, Pomona, Wesleyan, Colby, Washington and Lee, and Bates, which is also quite impressive. Finally, I note the study lists the top two destinations for each college, and with Rice it is Harvard and Northwestern, an interestingly diverse list.

Barnard in contrast did not make this top 30 list. To be clear, I don’t think means it is a bad choice for business. Indeed, I think a lot of that is just self-selection, as in people with business interests looking at NYC colleges might tend to choose a lot of other places besides Barnard for various reasons.

But still, my point is I would not be particularly worried about going to Rice if you were thinking about possible MBAs and such. In fact in general, it is an extremely well-regarded college by graduate programs and professional schools, and has national placement into such programs. So I think you would be happy with Rice if that ends up your path.

OK, so to me this is more about things like whether you would actually like being in a smaller women’s college, and living in NYC versus Houston for four years. Those are obviously very personal things so no one here can actually tell you what to think.

That said, I do believe it is important to understand that Houston is a huge city full of all sorts of interesting experience opportunities, things to do for fun, and so on, way more than you could ever exhaust in four years. NYC too, of course, but I personally believe past a certain point, even more stuff is kinda irrelevant since you couldn’t possibly get to more than a fraction of all that stuff anyway.

On the other hand, I think the weather is something to seriously consider. Obviously air conditioning has made the growth of large cities in Texas a possibility, and you won’t necessarily be there in the summer, and it is only four years anyway. But again, no one here can actually tell you what to think about that.

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Fwiw, Rice does a great job of matching you with like minded roommates. My s, who is quite involved in social action and environmental issues, etc, was very happy at Rice and still keeps in close touch unity his roommates and his mech e friends

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This is not even close to being an apples-to-apples comparison. You couldn’t have picked (or have been picked by) two more different learning environments. Barnard is not just part of a greater metropolitan area or a cozy bedroom community facing skyscrapers in the distance. You will be right in the middle of a densely populated, urban neighborhood; the quickest way to reach almost any destination will be on foot or by taking a ride “in a hole in the ground”, as the song says. The people are so liberal that even conservatives hold on to quirky, eccentric ideas like gay rights, no guns in schools,and wearing surgical masks during cold/flu season.

In other words, The City is an education in itself. And Barnard is the perfect home base from which to experience it.

The other choice is Rice.

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We toured both Barnard & Rice. They had very different vibes, if you can visit I think you’d know which one fits you more. D24 ended up applying ED to Rice , and is attending in the fall. For some context, Amherst was her second choice school, she does love the idea of a LAC. D24 currently goes to an all-girls school and had zero interest in Barnard, but we were on an athletic recruiting trip to Columbia for her twin , so we did the full Barnard tour. For her, Barnard was an immediate no. The campus is smaller than her current high school, so that was a negative for her. She also could not see herself living in NYC. The main pro, if you don’t want to be at an all-girls school, is the access to Columbia. It seems there were a lot of NYC locals on our tour, which was interesting to note. Ultimately, she really loved Rice and its happy students, beautiful campus, residential college system, prefers warm weather, and is a STEM major so Rice is an overall better fit . But this was all very personal and particular to D24, so you may have different reactions. Good luck with your decision, both are excellent schools!

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Both will provide excellent education, opportunities, alumni networks, name brand recognition and grad school placement. So in this case it is completely valid and safe to choose based on your gut.

Congrats and best wishes!

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My daughter went to Rice and also had to choose between Rice and another school that would have been a very different experience. I know it’s hard when the schools are both good options, and have very different things going for them. In your case I don’t know enough about Barnard to offer and great advice but you asked about employment/grad school outcomes for Rice so I thought I’d post these links to some data Rice releases.

Here is some info about where Rice students end up for grad school. You can sort if by undergrad major if that’s helpful:

And here is the same info but for jobs:

I think you’ll see you don’t have to worry about a lack of opportunity for Rice grads. My D and her friends who went on to grad school had fantastic opportunities. She has close friends at Columbia, NYU, Harvard, GaTech, etc. Rice is well known and respected among those who matter!

Best of luck to you making a decision. My D was also very concerned about the whole Texas vibe thing but we went for admitted school day and Houston was not what she expected. No strong southern accents, no cowboy hats, etc. The students are very diverse and while Houston is a large city, the campus itself is beautiful and self-contained.

Good luck to you! It sounds like you can’t make a bad decision!

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Odd comment. Not even tongue in cheek amusing. Houston is hardly the sticks. And there is decent public transportation. The theater district is nearby, the hospital complexes are incredible (if that is of interest) the campus is gorgeous, and there are guys. :slight_smile: Not just in an affiliated school.

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Never said anything about Rice. Oh, wait. Okay. My bad.

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Rice was ranked #1 in Race/Class interactions by Princeton Review

“Besides ranking No. 1 in the categories on quality of life and interaction between races and classes, Rice also ranked third among the nation’s best-run colleges and best student newspapers. The university ranked No. 5 in best health services, No. 6 in best college dorms, No. 7 among the nation’s most beautiful campuses and No. 9 among the nation’s most LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.”

https://news.rice.edu/news/2020/princeton-review-rice-has-best-quality-life-us#:~:text=Owls%20again%20rank%20No.,for%20race%20and%20class%20interactions&text=Rice%20rates%20among%20the%20top,the%20nation’s%20colleges%20and%20universities.

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