Congratulations on being admitted to 2 great schools. As others have said, the cost is definitely a consideration. If cost isn’t the determining factor, go to Rice. Many Rice students are able to establish in state residency for the purpose of applying to Texas medical schools. Texas medical schools are relatively cheap. Rice students have a very high acceptance rate to medical school. The Houston medical center is literally across the street from campus. Rice is housing medical center COVID workers right now because it is so close by. You can choose any major and change majors at Rice until the spring of sophomore year (except for the architecture and music majors.) Class sizes are small except for basic intro classes. Many students double major. Rice is committed to on campus life in the fall. Rice has the residential college system as opposed to Greek life. In the past there have been large public parties at each of the colleges, dances, and campus wide events such as Beer Bike. In the wake of COVID, who knows what will be permitted at Rice or any other campus this fall. The focus at Rice is on the undergrad experience, and there are ample research opportunities for undergrads. https://www.ricethresher.org/article/2020/05/leebron-announces-plan-for-fall-semester
Texas residency for medical school purposes is not necessarily easy to get for those who did not graduate high school in Texas.
https://www.tmdsas.com/PLAN/medical/before-you-apply/residency.html
Also, $400k should be assumed because successful pre-meds usually get only one admission out of dozens of applications, so there is typically no ability to choose a less expensive medical school.
No one can assume acceptance to any school, $400K or otherwise, for the very reason of high selectivity factor you just mentioned. There’s no reason to base the choice of undergraduate institution on the hope and uncertainty of med school admission, and certainly not to plan on the most expensive option when any option is just a dream.
Looking once again at the uncertainties of med school admission, focusing just on that treats Rice vs UCB as though they’re equivalent options. They just aren’t. They’re completely different undergraduate experiences. The most important question is which option will give the OP the best chance to get into any med school. IMO that’s Rice because of the small classes, superior access to professors, and superior research opportunities. Focusing on the cost of med School is putting the cart before the horse.
Unless you spend so much on the horse that you will have difficulty paying off the loan for the cart.
Good one! LOL
"There’s no reason to base the choice of undergraduate institution on the hope and uncertainty of med school admission, and certainly not to plan on the most expensive option when any option is just a dream.
The most important question is which option will give the OP the best chance to get into any med school."
This is a contradiction - you shouldn’t base a choice on the uncertainty of med school admission and then say the most important question is which school gives the best chance for med school.
“The largest hospital complex in the world is right nearby. It’s a different experience from Berkeley. More like the Ivies. I think it’s worth the money if you have it.”
For all the greatness you talk about Rice, it’s yield is not even close to the ivies, even with ED, it’s 41%. lower than Berkeley’s at 45%. Since Rice has 40% of it’s classed filled with ED, the actual RD yield is about 30%.
“Flexibility in changing majors and a wide variety of offerings”
This would clearly favor Berkeley, especially if OP decides on a non-STEM major, where Berkeley has a decided edge in addition to engineering and CS. The only reason to go with Rice which I agree with is that the premed is less competitive. Texas med center is great as well, but Berkeley students can use Oakland hospitals and UCSF.
I’m not so sure about that. Is it easy to change to an impacted major at Berkeley? There may be many more majors offered, but are the popular ones accessible?
I think at Rice you need to fill out a form, and be able to make an intelligent statement to an advisor about why you want to switch, not add many semesters to your length of stay, and presto-changeo.
Depends on the major. Engineering majors and business would be competitive admission. The more popular L&S majors usually have pre-set GPA thresholds in prerequisite courses (e.g. CS 3.3, economics 3.0, psychology 3.0, etc.) for declaring the major. The list of high demand L&S majors is at https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/schedule-planning/choosing-major/high-demand-majors ; see department web sites for specific criteria to declare the major.