<p>I would like to get feedback on relative feedback of studying engineering (Electrical or bioengineering) at Rice, NW, Penn or UT(Hons), considering that one wants to stay in a techinal career and wants to pursue graduate studies. What would be the relative merits of Rice considering that in rankings, it is a little behind UT in electrical engineering. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>UT is a great school. But a lot of that prestige is earned through its graduate programs. It also has 50,000 people</p>
<p>Rice by comparison has a great UG Engineering program, 3000 undergraduates and small classes. </p>
<p>If Rice is financially feasible, take it.</p>
<p>Penn bioengineering is the best</p>
<p>Besides the top few schools, rankings really don’t mean much. There will be a large difference between 1 and 15, but 15 to 30 really shouldn’t be that different. So I’d somewhat abandon the rankings (especially if they are relatively close) when it comes down to choosing schools. Compared to UT, Rice is stronger in the other fields, and will have a stronger student body. In terms of graduate schools, I hear Rice engineers are very succesful, and interviewers for jobs love the Rice name. But if you only want to do engineering, the other fields shouldn’t matter.</p>
<p>My preferences for schools (factoring in weather, overall academics, engineering curriculum + prestige and disregarding cost) would be Rice, Northwestern, Penn, UT. But your preferences seem to be somewhat different than mine. </p>
<p>You should post this in the engineering board, you will probably get more knowledgable answers there.</p>
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<p>False. Engineering is actually one of Penn’s weaker fields. Of the Ivies, Princeton engineering I think is the strongest, then Cornell and Columbia. Penn is not very good for engineering, nor is it famous for engineering (Wharton, anyone?).</p>
<p>Based on rankings alone, UT is the best. I don’t think Rice/Penn/NW make the top 10 for the majority of the fields of engineering.</p>
<p>I really hate all the talk of rankings, and really don’t think the differences are significant between the top 50 or so. I do believe that you will have more wonderful opportunities at Rice than at UT, because UT has huge departments and many fewer professors per student. Rice has incredible resources and many profs doing research - and they like to use undergrads to help with it and they form closer relationships with their students. My son was admitted to UT honors engineering and was delighted to turn it down. (He didn’t like the rabbit warren engineering facilities, and felt like the place was a huge engineering mill.) Go to the school that is the best place for you socially and economically and that you are most enthusiastic about. Any of the ones listed will provide you with a good engineering education.</p>
<p>Well, I had an absolutely wonderful education at UT - got my BS and MS in structural engineering there. It was not an engineering mill in the least. All the professors were very accessible, and there is a HUGE amount of research going on there. One thing to check (and I really don’t know how they compare) - how many National Academy of Engineering members are on the faculty? I just received a newsletter from the Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Department. On the back there is a photo of EIGHT of them who are in this department alone. Another 12 NAE members are not shown in the photo, so that’s a total of 20. Some of them are retired now, but the point is that there are a lot of world-famous people to take classes from. When I tell my colleagues who some of my professors were, they can’t believe it! I think there’s a reason this department is ranked FOURTH in the country. OK, off my soapbox!</p>
<p>“Rabbit warren engineering facilities.” Really? I have no idea what you’re referring to.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that you didn’t have a wonderful education at UT, just that there is 1 professor for every 5 students at Rice and 1 professor to every 19 students at UT (per wikipedia - not a completely vetted source, I know). While UT (with 37,389 students) may have more NAE member on faculty in total (you say 20, but I saw 30 active ones on this list -<a href=“Custom 404 page”>Custom 404 page), Rice (with only 3000 undergrads) has 15 NAE member in their engineering school. So Rice has SUBSTANTIALLY more NAE members per student than UT!
As for facilities - we live in Austin; believe me, we have been on campus many, many times. Rice has wonderful resources and facilities (including a new design “kitchen” for students to use to work on their projects), and I believe it has a much better all-around undergraduate experience. YMMV.</p>
<p>senioro991, I took your suggestion and posted it on enginnering forum too.</p>
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<p>Just curious… which other fields is Rice stronger than UT in? UT seems to be ranked #1 in Texas in most academic departments.</p>
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<p>Per the USNWR engineering grad program rankings, UT has a higher percentage of engineering faculty in the NAE. So in terms of depth of faculty, the advantage is UT. But yes, in terms of faculty/student Rice has the advantage.</p>
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False. Penn Bioengineering (specifically) is a top program; ahead of both Rice and UT.</p>
<p>I went to UT as an engineering major, and their undergraduate education is good, especially for grad school. However, at Rice, I’m learning a lot more, and the education is really undergraduate-focused. Although it’s behind UT in most engineering rankings, I would pick Rice over UT.</p>
<p>Penn, however is spectacular for BioE (but not so much EE). However, it gets much better recruiting, and has Wharton (which is spectacular if you decide to change your mind and go into the work force).</p>
<p>Overall, I think Rice is the best, although UT is a very close second.</p>
<p>Hmm, sorry about that. I was talking about Penn engineering in general.</p>
<p>“Penn Bioengineering (specifically) is a top program; ahead of both Rice and UT.”</p>
<p>Penn Bioengineering is ranked #7. Rice is ranked #10. Huge difference (sarcasm).</p>
<p>I’m a Rice BioE, and I am getting a stellar education at a small school with an atmosphere that fits me perfectly.</p>
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<p>…Based on what? Newsweek? Haha. It’s irrelevant, anyhow. Rice concentrates on undergrads, while UT concentrates on graduate students. It would be a stupid comparison to make. If you wanted to get your MBA, I would personally recommend that you go to UT. Since you’re applying for undergrad engineering, I think the choice should be clear. Rice is known for the strength of its engineering and applied science programs (both undergrad and graduate), especially in the medical field. Northwestern wouldn’t be a bad choice, either, but I believe that you’d have a better experience at Rice.</p>