<p>I got accptance letter from Rice last week and from Chicago today.
So, I need your help for choosing university!! As a Korean student, I really dont’t know much about these universities. Perhaps, no better than stats shown in wikipedia and collegeboard.com.</p>
<p>As my nickname indicate, I am a biology major and my dream is to become a world renowned biology professor in USA top universities.</p>
<p>Just considering official ranking and academic prestige, Chicago might be better one. However, considering educational quality of Ungrad courses, I think Rice can be better since its student to faculty ratio is higher(5:1 while Chicago is 7:1) and its average class size is smaller(I heard it’s about 15)</p>
<p>I also prefer small size school(I mean small in number of students), however, I am also interested in the academic atmosphere of chicago.(students seriously discussing about Homer and Machivelli… How fantastic!!)</p>
<p>I also prefer warm climate. Though I don’t like hot climate neither, I really hate cold weather. Coldness and flu cut down my academic performance to below 30% of normal level. Also consider the grade. Though I got in a good college, it would of no use if I get bad grade. I heard that both Rice is tough, but Chicago is even tougher. Note that, as you may have noticed, I am not yet good at English since I have never lived in foreign countries and started my English studying when I was 12. (Though tough courses in undergrad might be beneficial in long term.)</p>
<p>Accessibility to world-renowned professors and opportunity of ungrad research program might be also important for biology major. I do not know which one is better in this criteria.</p>
<p>And do not consider about fees and cost since I got full scholarship for undergrad course from Samsung(No matter how expensive the cost is)</p>
<p>So, overally, which one can be better school for me?</p>
<p>where r u getting these stats? chicago is 4:1 in ratio!</p>
<p>hi biocrat im korean too. but i live in houston tx.</p>
<p>oh wow, for me, i knew that my hardest decision in life was where i’d go if i got accepted to both rice AND uchicago… i was waitlisted at rice and i was already liking chicago more and more… so i definitely chose chicago and took my name off the waitlist. </p>
<p>for me, i realized i didnt want to stay in houston my whole life. and i also liked the city chicago much more than houston. and personally, i was really attracted to chicago’s creativity/uniquness (just by looking at the UNcomm app, for starters) as well as its very rigorous academics. (although im not sure if i can actually handle the workload-_-)</p>
<p>it seems like you already have the pros/cons of the schools… ah it would be nice if you could visit both and really experience how it feels on campus to get a better feeling of the college atmosphere.</p>
<p>although i may sound ilke i may be of no help, many people told me that if i happened to come across thesame situation as you, they said to actually visit the college.
they also told me “its not the college who makes the person, but the person who makes the college” so wherever i ended up, it was my choice to take up the most optimal opportunities and to make the college experinece the most educational/fun for myself. </p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>oh yea, chicago is 4:1. not 7:1 lol</p>
<p>I guess I’m somewhat confused about the stat. 4:1! Wow!! That might greatly affect my decision. Then, its average class size would be even smaller !!</p>
<p>Well, then, I think my greatest opponent in Chicago would be the coldness !! I am not quite sure whether I can deal with the -18 celsius degrees temperature.</p>
<p>If you really don’t like cold, then why’d you apply to Chi? Winter in Chicago can be brutal, not with snow, but with cold wind. Other than that, I’d say the two are a toss up. You’ll work hard at either.</p>
<p>One difference is that Chi does not have engineering, but is probably stronger in the social sciences and humanities. (except for music performance, which Chi does not have)</p>
<p>So, if you’re more of a techie, think Rice. If you’re more of a theorist, think Chicago.</p>
<p>Congrats on the Samsung scholarship!</p>