<p>Well, I wouldn’t rule out CMU or rice…they might offer the best campus community out of all the schools you have to choose from, and both are solid in engineering but will allow you to explore other interest-definately not rigid. As for prestige, people in the US def. have heard of Imperial-at least most people i know and I’m from the Midwest…so Imperial does have that advantage as you already know. I honestly feel like you should choose Imperial-London is by far the best location out of those schools and you can make the school as big or as small as you want it to be. You have all the perks London has to offer socially and academically-the pubs, the internships, etc. yet you can still join clubs that provide a smaller, tight-knit community within the larger university. Also, because people concentrate in a certain field, wouldn’t that mean you would be around others with your interests more and therefore become closer to those people? </p>
<p>If you truly are put off by London’s size, then don’t go, but I feel like it would be worth it-being able to concentrate in engineering instead of getting a broad liberl arts degree is very impressive because you are practiaclly guaranteed to know your stuff-and employers will take note of it.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you may love Rice. The school has the residential colleges which help students build really close realtionships with one another, and it has a great (and well-known) engineering school that you still allow you to take other types of courses. The location is also a plus (for shopping, internships, exploring), but doesn’t jeopardize student life on campus. </p>
<p>Good luck with your great college choices! I’d go with Imperial or Rice, depending on whether or not you can deal with a larger school in London…</p>