Rice vs. UT Austin vs. UNC vs. the 1987 Detroit Pistons

College Search & Lists
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<p>Hi. </p>

<p>You guys seem to know a lot about colleges and what they offer, so I figured this might be right up your alley. Right now I’m trying to decide where to go to school next year and I’m a little stumped.</p>

<p>Well I’m doing this program with UT Austin called the CAP program where you go to a UT satellite school for a year and then earn the “right” to transfer to UT next year if you maintain a certain GPA. The program is kind of BS and the majority of kids participating in it decide to just stay at the satellite school, but I digress. </p>

<p>Despite the fact that I am guaranteed a spot at UT, I’m not guaranteed to get a spot in the College of Communication (Only Liberal Arts or Science). I decided to apply to a few schools on a whim as a transfer student just so I could keep my options open, and I accidentally got in to them. </p>

<p>As of now I have gotten into UNC, Rice and Syracuse. I ultimately decided to cross Syracuse off because while I thought their communications school was VERY impressive, I didn’t feel that the school could offer me much else. I’m still waiting on Emerson and BU, but at this point, I don’t think I’d attend even if I got in unless they offered me something ridiculous. They’re both very expensive. </p>

<p>UNC is a very good and well rounded school. The campus is amazing and it has a great life to it. The only thing I’m wary of is the fact that I don’t necessarily believe that UNC will provide me with an education that is vastly superior to one that I can receive at UT.</p>

<p>Both my parents are UT alums and if I go there, my tuition is already paid for because of a college fund that they got for me when I was younger. I’ve been a Longhorns fan since, well, I don’t think I’ve ever not been a Longhorns fan. I was thinking of trying to get into the Plan II honors program there, but from what I understand it’s extremely hard to get into. I’m going to visit the campus next week and talk to the Plan II people to see if I should bother submitting an application. As of now, I have no guarantee of housing at UT, no guarantee that I’ll get the major I want and probably no guarantee that I’ll get sports tickets. In short, UT has ****ed on me.</p>

<p>Rice is a pretty awesome school from what I understand. I think I could be happy there. They don’t offer any majors in communications, but if I went to Rice I’d probably just end up preparing for grad school because I hear they have pretty good placement. I don’t know much about the student body at Rice. Is it lively? Is there stuff to do on the weekends or is everyone just studying? I just have a few question marks surrounding the school. Also, although my family doesn’t qualify for financial aid, Rice is pretty expensive.</p>

<p>So yeah, if you’ve read all this, I commend you. </p>

<p>What would you do if you were in my situation? What’s your impression of the schools? When it comes down to it, I’m not overly concerned with prestige. I want to have a fun college experience.</p>

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<p>i would say rice is by far the best academic offering of all these schools, even if you had been directly admitted to ut austin, and the vast majority of students in your position, when money isn’t a concern, would choose rice</p>

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<p>Rice is the best school and UT is the cheapest.</p>

<p>Money decides which of those 2 you go to.</p>

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<p>I’d go with the 1987 Detroit Pistons. With a roster consisting of Isiah Thomas ,Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn and John Salley, I dont know how you could go wrong.</p>

<p>That being said, UT sounds like your best option simply because of the financial aspect. UNC and Rice are both amazing schools and you honestly cant go wrong with any of the three.</p>

<p>Disregarding everything I said previously, go to BU with me :)</p>

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<p>I would go to Rice. Tuition is about $24,000 a year and the school gives a lot of financial aid. Rice has an amazing reputation in Texas – Texas employers pull out the red carpet for Rice grads. Normally, I would have suggested that you go to University of Texas, but since you didn’t get into the Austin campus (probably because of the 10 % rule), I’d suggest that you go elsewhere. I realize that you’d be guaranteed admission into UT-Austin at a later, but I’d recommend going elsewhere for two reasons:

  1. Freshman year is one of the most important years of your time in college. It’s when you live in the dorms, meet a lot of friends, and just have lots of fun while experimenting with new things. At a UT satellite school, you wouldn’t be reaping of the benefits that are given to students at the main campus. I am pretty sure that most, if not all of the satellite campuses are commuter schools. They lack the school spirit that comes with going to UT-Austin
  2. The second reason why I’d suggest not going to UT is because of a lack of guarantee into their communications program (or any big program for that matter). UT-Austin is an enormous school with a gigantic student body. It is extremely difficult to get into any of the impacted programs.</p>

<p>Rice is a residential campus – therefore almost everybody stays on the weekends. Rice is not like your typical prestigious private school. The students are very laid back (socially) and like to have a good time. I know a guy who goes to Rice and he is having the time of his life there. Rice is split up into 9 (I believe) different residential college, much like the setup of UC Santa Cruz. The students at Rice are very bright and they put in their time at the library, but they also know how to have fun. It’s definitely a work hard, play hard type of school.</p>

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<p>Rice Rice Rice Rice Rice! Sorry, biased daughter of a Rice MArch recepient here, but I really think Rice is a great school. Anyway, regardless of my family’s biased love of Rice, it really is a very prestigious school that will prepare you very well for the future, that has a lovely campus (too hot for me, but that’s my issue), that is monetarily generous, and that seems to not take itself too seriously. </p>

<p>UT-Austin is also a great school (coincidentally, my mother got her (first) master’s degree (in communications!) from UT), in a beautiful place and at a great price, but being that you have big anti-perks there (no housing, no major, no sports tix), it seems like a bad choice. Plus, though I know that it is much more expensive than free, you state that your family can afford Rice, a top-notch school, so unless the fit is bad–can you visit before you decide?–I would go to Rice.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input. Rice actually got very good reviews on studentsreview.com. I just came across the site this morning and it seems pretty helpful. I got to visit the campus and it was really nice. It’s a tough situation for me because I’ve been a Longhorn fan my whole life, and I don’t know if I’d forgive myself for passing up my chance to go to UT. Rice seems kind of enticing though. I think that I could learn a lot there.</p>

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<p>Go to UI as a commuter. Then you won’t have to pay a single cent for college.</p>

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<p>wow, apatheticstudent - are you really that emo? I expected better from you…</p>

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<p>I think that after considering all the options closely, the 1987 Pistons are most def your best option. They simply provide a well rounded education that is unavailable elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Wow, that guy actually remembered Adrian Dantley, i’m impressed. Although it was probably Googled. </p>

<p>Rice, Texas, and UNC are all great schools. You can’t go wrong in choosing any of them over one another, and all provide good, yet different experiences. </p>

<p>The advice on this message board will be geared towards favoring either the most prestigious school, or the cheapest alternative. Rarely do posters think of fit in recommending schools to others. </p>

<p>Through your post, you mentioned sports tickets, you mentioned being a Longhorns fan, and you started a thread title with the 1987 Detroit Pistons in it. You are a sports fan and UT athletics is a big part of your life, and probably something you can’t put a good price on. Going to Longhorn football games and basketball games is an experience that you won’t find at other colleges, and gives you memories for years.</p>

<p>It’s clear to me that UT is the biggest fit for you and the school you ultimately want to go to. I would say that UNC is a fit as well, they are essentially a clone of UT except the student body is 1/2 the size and it’s located in a college town rather than a large city. </p>

<p>I don’t see any of this in Rice. Rice is an academically focused school. I remember reading somewhere that said “If you were the kid in high school who actually enjoyed reading the books, apply here” when speaking about Rice. There is little school spirit. The sporting events are lame. You go back to your original post, and you said “I think I could be happy there.” That statement is showing hesitation in the environment, something you should never question when choosing a place you want to spend the next 3 years of your life.</p>

<p>If you do end up at Rice, i’d say I understand, because it would be a pure prestige grab on your part, and I can’t sit here and say without hesitation that i’d go to Texas over Rice. You want to get the degree of the high ranking private school that employers desire. That’s great and all, but the experience of the college is something you’ll remember. If you have the time of your life at Texas, tailgating and going to the UT v. TAMU game, having the pride of being a Longhorn for the rest of your life, and actually enjoy watching your college’s basketball and football teams when you graduate, then that far outweighs the slight prestige advantage you’ll get in going to Rice. </p>

<p>I do think you’re overlooking UNC. It’s Texas, half the size, in a college town, where you have all the guarantees of housing, athletic tickets (UNC Basketball, and now Football with Butch Davis), and admittance to your major. You could probably go to UNC and be completely happy, but I don’t think the same could be said for Rice. If you get housing at UT, and if you get into your major, and you get tickets for athletics events, then UT is the clear winner, as you also have a significant cost advantage.</p>

<p>If I was in your position, I would be finding out all I can about the potential of getting in your major, possibility of housing, availability of athletic tickets to someone in your position, as I think that UT is where your heart is, and it’s the clear winner if you get all these factors in your favor. Make the phone calls, talk to people, find out your chances, and then make a decision. </p>

<p>If you are 100% certain that you will have to live off-campus, that you won’t get into your major, and that you won’t be able to get athletic tickets, then don’t go to UT. But things have a way of working out, and I think passing up on the school you want to be at because either 1) You got into a supposedly more ‘prestigious’ school or 2) You don’t know with 100% certainty that you’re getting athletic tickets/living on campus, would be a mistake. </p>

<p>Remember that the majority of students move off campus after their freshman year anyways, so I don’t see a huge issue in the living situation as long as you have a place to stay in the city, and you can ALWAYS find athletic tickets, so I don’t see that as a huge issue. The only big one is the major - if you can’t study what you want to study, forget about the school. </p>

<p>I’d rank them

  1. UT
  2. UNC
  3. Rice</p>

<p>But then again, i’m not the prestige whore that 93% of the people who post on this website are.</p>

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<p>You got into Rice and UNC but got CAP at UT? Wow. That’s rare around these parts. Go to rice.</p>

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<p>Lifelong Texan. Worked as a page in the House while at UT. Love Earl Campbell. This top 10% thing has the admin so handcuffed everthing is overcrowded. They have to accept you, but not necessarily to your desired major. Forget that! Rice is the best kept secret in the South, maybe in the country. That and Trinity.</p>

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<p>Rice does have sports - Bowl Game last year in FB, Natty Champs in Baseball in '03.</p>

<p>Not that it is UT-Austin, very few are, but Rice isn’t some LAC or something.</p>

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<p>FB coach went to Tulsa - but the MOB is still the best!</p>