Which university should I choose: UC San Diego, or Rice University?
Rice. Tough school nearly as good as schools like Cal-tech. Hard - yes, but it pays off where it really counts in getting into grad school and preparing you for that. I don't think Rice offers those nifty combined Bachelors\Masters you can do in 5 years but if they do (or will arrange something for you) go for that. UCSD is OK but Rice has the rep with employers. I am a computer science math type guy and not an engineering grad, but from what I hear around the traps Rice has the edge on all but the very best such as MIT, Harvey Mudd, Stanford and Cal-tech and even then its so close the difference is probably not wort worrying about. Thanks Bill