Yeah, I get that. My concern is more for the student, however. The extra $ from Oxford/Emory is nice but the higher GPA requirement and it’s related concerns needs to be factored into the decision making process.
Right now it sounds like your heart is set on Rice. Since it’s affordable, go with it.
Is the Oxford scholarship only for the 2 years you’d be at Oxford ro all 4 years int he Emory system? I am familiar with both Emory and Rice. I personally prefer Rice for multiple reasons. Feel free to PM me for more info.
@jym626 It would be for 2 years at Oxford plus 2 years at Emory (48k per year for 4 years).
Rice is a great school but definitely is more known for STEM. It’s a counterpart to Brown.
Rice is great for STEM but has other fabulous programs- the conservatory is just one.
Just ran the “Rice vs Emory” on Parchment. When students had both choice, 84% chose Rice, 16% chose Emory.
Hey ambition, what did you decide?
@ambitionsquared How was your Owl Days experience? The video summary posted by Rice on their website looked great. My D goes to a 1 day Admit Day next Monday.
@lz57c4 Still not sure.
@Houston1021 I had a really great time at Owl Days. They took great care of me there, everyone was incredibly welcoming.
I definitely prefer Rice over Emory, but I’ve been having some second thoughts. I feel like I might have a higher GPA and less competition for internships at Emory, since the caliber of students there is (on average) a bit less strong than that of Rice. Then again, maybe my gpa would be about the same when factoring in Oxford grade deflation. However, I feel like I could never experiment with other majors (maybe comp sci or stats) at Oxford-Emory because I would be nervous about my GPA dropping below threshold to keep scholarship (3.4).
I have also been thinking about the more expensive schools (mainly Penn and Duke). My parents decided that they could pay 220k, so I would only have to borrow 60k total. They also said that there are some things that might work out well in the future (certain stocks, business ventures etc.), so my expected contribution could decrease further. I loved Penn when I visited recently. A “name brand” degree isn’t the primary factor in my decision (I would choose Rice over Cornell/Berkeley), but I must confess it is enticing to have the prestige that comes with such a well-known school like Penn. I realize that sounds materialistic/vain (and I apologize for that), but my folks share that sentiment (they both like wearing their new Penn gear lol). However, thanks to their incredible generosity and hard work (for which I will always be grateful), I could instead go to Rice and use the 80k left over for grad school.
People who matter will know Rice as well as Penn. Save your money. Rice is exceptional.
What @jym626 said. I can see paying that difference (if affordable) for a significantly better school where you’d encounter significantly more academically strong peers, but this is not that.
Also, a financial plan based on “things that might work out in the future” is not a plan.
Not intending to be harsh, but I encourage you to choose your school for the right reasons. not whether you parent like the shirts, or whether penn is ranked higher in usnwr. Rice is at the same tier, that’s all you need to know. Beyond that it boils down to specifics of what you’re looking for.
If you want to pay twice as much for the same quality, I guess that’s your choice (along with your folks). Think ROI. Those would be some $120k sweatshirts I guess.
I also wouldn’t assume that it’s easier to get a higher GPA at Emory.
$120k sweatshirts … or downpayment on a home … or no sweat buying a car. Also, don’t make any assumptions about GPA odds. That is ALL on you, and what courses you select and how you do in them. But I would worry about a GPA-restrictive scholarship. That’s a real danger factor.
If you had hated Rice, or if there were some really significant gap in what you could do there, different story, but you didn’t and you haven’t identified such a gap. This seems to be all about the allure of (perceived/misguided) bragging rights, and we’re trying to help you steer clear of that.
The think to keep in mind, too, is that bragging rights are transient.
Some of us here remember a time when Penn was ranked roughly where Cornell is now by USNews (and had a higher admit rate than Cornell). So would you be happy attending Cornell? Why or why not?
It wouldn’t take a big change, either. The huge drop in urban crime over the past 2 decades has fueled the rise of urban unis like Penn/Columbia/Chicago/USC/NYU in the rankings.
But if we have a crime wave or urban riots again like we saw in the '60’s, suddenly, rural schools like Cornell and Dartmouth will start looking more appealing and you’ll start seeing the urban school drop in the rankings.
It is so, so easy to get caught up in the emotions from the last few months, particularly when your parents are getting swept up in the same euphoria. And you will never know for sure how your life might have been different if you attended that “other school” (whether the “other school” ends up being Penn, Rice or Emory).
But understand that the schools are businesses and they consider ROI (return on investment) when making decisions, whether the decision involves investments or deciding which students to admit. It is possible that your parents have so much money that they value a school’s reputation and “name brand” over everything else. If they are insistent on you attending Penn and they are telling you not to worry about the money, I can’t tell you to go elsewhere.
But I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment of the other posters who responded earlier today saying that (1) Rice is a phenomenal choice and that (2) RIce + $120,000 > than Penn. Both schools are great and most ranking services suggest that the difference is negligible. You can and will most likely will have an amazing experience at either place. Congratulations on your great choices.
@ambitionsquared I would go to Penn for two specific reasons –
1)If you think you’ll ever want to work abroad, Penn is a significantly more recognized name than Rice. You’d never have to explain to a foreign national that you went to a school that’s just as good as an Ivy. They will know that you went to an Ivy.
2)Penn is 4 times the size of Rice, which means that it’s alumni network is that much stronger. This is very important for professional connections for the rest of your career. Also, should you ever find yourself working abroad, I can guarantee you that you are more likely to find a local Penn alumni association than a Rice alum association.
Think long term. $60K spread over a lifetime for someone with your earnings potential is a drop in the bucket.
Congratulations on your results!!
@bestmom888: The difference in price is more than $60K. Quite a bit more, I believe.
Agree that Penn has the more international rep. Not sure how much that matters. Even when going abroad, relatively few Americans enter industries that don’t have a significant number of Americans and those industries would generally be the ones that know of all the elite American schools. Still, if you want to pay up for that, it’s your money, not mine.
@PurpleTitan Hmm…“relatively few Americans enter industries that don’t have significant number of Americans and those industries would generally be the ones that know of all the elite American schools.”
Let’s say that OP ends up working for JP Morgan – lots of Americans – say in Shanghai. His job is to find investors for a new fund. One of his top prospect is a 70yo local man who’s never been to college but managed to make billions selling whatnot. I can guarantee you that this man has heard of the Ivies, and may even have heard of Penn. And he thinks OP is pulling his leg when OP tells him OP’s degree is from a school called “Rice”. And yes, the billionaire is 100% more likely to invest with an Ivy man than with someone who claims that there is a school in America called “Rice” that is on par with an Ivy.
Apologies I didn’t read the whole thread so I am sure you are right about the difference being more than $60K. Also am not sure what OP intends to study. But many people with wildly different majors end up working for investment banks, consulting firms, and other major American companies. But yes, it’s OP’s money, not mine. Easy for me to say.
@bestmom888: You can always come up with scenarios to justify whatever you want, but let’s just say that it’s pretty unlikely for an American (even a Chinese-American) to end up in PWM in mainland China these days given the available Chinese national talent pool.