Calling all Jones (Rice) Applicants! Fall 2013

Yeah its just a ranking, only one aspect of looking at schools. I was wondering the same thing

Oh, no! Your life is totally going to suck now if you go to a school ranked out of the top 25. Don't go if you're that concerned.

haha!

Why would you even withdraw an application & cancel your interview? Even if accepted to your #1??

Its all about spreading your seed, man!

Hey, I am working through the same analysis right now (until I hear from Tepper...). I think that both programs are incredibly strong and you will be successful no matter where you go. I feel the main considerations you need to keep in mind are what are your career goals , geographic preference, fit and brand recognition. If you are dead set on living and working in Houston, then you may be better off going to Rice. Staying in the city will provide you good networking opportunities. Consider that ~91% of Rice graduates find employment in the south, whereas Vandy places 39% of its graduates in the South and the rest throughout the country. Rice places 40% of its graduates in Oil and Gas (I would assume that this value is more like 60% if you include other industries you may work for but within Oil and Gas - OG Consulting). Vandy places 26% of its grads into consulting (Rice 19%). As I look through their employment report, there is a lot of overlap with the consulting companies that pick up grads, but Vandy has a greater population of different consulting companies on its list. Vanderbilt has a very good human capital and finance programs. Rice has good finance and management consulting programs. Just what I gather from my own research.

If you plan to stay in Houston in the long term, the Rice name may benefit you as it has such profound recognition in the South. If you plan to live in different areas in the future, Vanderbilt may carry greater recognition throughout the country. Although both are incredible institutions, the feedback I have received is that outside of the South the Vanderbilt name may carry a heavier weight. True or not, I am not sure.

I was offered more from Rice than Vandy. I am trying not to allow finances make the decision for me because a few years down the road, the debt will be paid off. I feel you should go where you fell you will be the best fit. If you think you will enjoy the experience more at one school, then you should go there and not have any regrets about it. In all reality, if you are wanting to work in consulting in Houston but are swaying towards taking advantage of your scholarship offer, don't worry because you can find your way back to Houston. If you set out with those specific intentions, you will make it happen. I really enjoyed my visits to both Rice and Vandy, the facilities at Rice are incredibly nice!

Not sure if this helps... Just follow your heart. I have moved a lot for my job and my friends and partner have always been there for me so don't worry too much about that.

No kidding, I don't understand how schools can fluctuate that much from year to year. I think that it is bogus and the tie thing is absolute nonsense. I wouldn't make a decision on USN rankings.... next year Rice may be 20 or 40... (yeah, I know there are metrics behind it all)

I was just joking.. planning on attending Rice and likely would have done so either way. Let's leave the trolling for the youtube commenters.

Yeah, looking back I would probably handle it differently (though it was hard to anticipate such a drastic change in rankings). With acceptance to Rice (one of my top choices) with interviews at UT and USC, I no longer saw it as a realistic option. Because I was informed of my interview time at the last second, it was going to cost upwards of $1,000 for the 2 day trip, and I decided to save on the travel expenses and apply the money toward my deposit to Rice. Should have switched over to a Skype interview just to keep the door open. I'd still definitely prefer Rice to U of W hands down.

That's enough of a reason! Congrats for acceptance to a great school. I was denied, so I'm going to UT-Houston.

Congrats. I went to Texas for undergrad and I've heard nothing but great things about their MBA programs. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the courses I took within the business school

Hi you are so nice
thank you for such long response!! it helpes a lot!

deep down my heart i do not want finance to be a problem, so I know Rice is a good choice
I would like to live and work in Houston in th long run COZ my boyfriend might be working there with 80% possibility(so i am worrying the what if part)
I dont know much about Vandy...I visited rice and yes facilities are great and campus is beautiful. The advantages you mentioned might be ture when it comes to domestic students
but for international students thing are really different.

I am most concerned about the placement now:
forget the getting together with boyfriend thing , which school is exactly placing more opportunities for international students
how many international students are really working in consulting and O&G(I heared O&G giants dont sponsor H1B) industry...
will it be rather difficult if I study in Owen and go back to Houston for job
how is the placement and employment within 3 mons of international students like(the career report is meaningless when one wants to knoa what happened to tudents coming from the same country....)

I am doing research but the data is hard to get..

Pick Vanderbilt, the school has 'Peter Veruki' who's based out of Houston. With him, Owen's placement in Houston may be even better than Rice's. And, the Commodore alumni association in Houston is third largest. Finally, I'd worry a lot Jones recent fluctuations in the rankings...

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/van ... gy-sector/

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/van ... ecognized/

That is one of the silliest comments I have seen on this board. No way that Vandy would outplace Rice in Houston. I have only met one IB associate in Houston from Vanderbilt. Even he said no one should choose Vandy over either Texas or Rice for working in O&G IB. All of the places listed in the attached article regularly hire Rice MBA, while that is not the case for Vandy. Quit trolling boards. By the way Vandy dropped just the same as Rice in the latest US News rankings.

Amen! Definite troll... the articles made me laugh.

I know an O&G IB guy from SMU, and he'd say the same thing about the Texas/Rice placement verses other schools.

One of my favorite things at Rice is the Mob, you know the Marching Owl Band. Not many universities have that kind of tradition and school spirit where its okay to have a sense of humor. Sure, Jones is a professional school, but are yall really serious business all the time?

Hey guys, it has seemed dead in here the past few weeks. I guess the R3 notification deadline is coming up April 5 so that's when the activity will increase.

I have an interview set for this Friday. Looking through the thread and such, it seems like it is pretty standard interview with a fit emphasis since a second year student gives it. Anyone have any other tips they care to share about the interview or the whole Rice Jones admissions process?

Sorry, I saw this a while back but didn't get around to answering. I guess this work-hard-play-hard lifestyle doesn't leave much time for posting on internet forums.

Anyway... The Rice MBA Social Life
(this is by no means comprehensive)

Well, starting out your cohort will be your 60 best friends and enemies. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have stories and inside jokes. Each cohort will gain its own reputation. Every so often, you see the “others,” but you’ll still be meeting people for the first time in January.

Full Timers have Lunch Colloquium, a catered lunch every Monday. It will feel like a treat, until it feels like a chore when you realize you are supposed to sit through dozens of announcements that are always emailed out anyway. MBAE and MBAPs have a version with either catered breakfasts or dinners (weekend or evening programs). Also, on Wednesday nights around 9pm or so after class, there is a semi-official MBAP group that meets for a late happy hour in Rice Village.

Between the student commons, the Rice coffee shop, the gym, various campus cafes, you will not be short on seeing your fellow classmates. Kind of like high school, only smaller. And that gets even tiny-er if you live in the grad apartments, for then it may be hard to entertain evening guests discretely.

Rice Village becomes the default spot for any off-campus socializing, especially considering the proximity to the graduate housing, so it's of utmost importance and duty of native Houstonians to introduce their fellow classmates to the REST of the City beyond Kirby and Main.

The 5k track around the campus is where you'll run into, often literally, your fellow classmates. But more inexplicably, I have yet to go to Torchi's Tacos once this year and NOT run into at least one Rice MBA. To be fair, they are damn good tacos.

Even with all this, fall semester will have a significant amount of WORK, so despite all this time with your classmates, a more relaxed environment is necessary...
Now I'm sure everyone who went through recruiting has heard of partio. What is less-advertised is the post-partio, often ending up in Rice Village, somewhere on Bissonent, and occasionally Washington. Sometimes post-partio is extended to Friday night or throughout the weekend. Also unadvertised is the pre-partio, which starts promptly after the last Thursday class at 3:45pm in a procession to one of the two on-campus bars (Willy's or Valhalla) depending on if people want to walk the extra 5 mins to save $1.50.

Don’t forget to go beyond McNair hall for there are other very interesting gems at Rice University if you look for it. The Baker Institute right next to McNair has Clintons, Bushes , and various Presidents coming in and out all the time. Rice undergrads are an interesting bunch, and maybe you'll find things you never even heard of, things you are kind of stunned even exist. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_Decadence).

TREKS! The treks (most are in the spring) are a good way to get to have fun with your fellow MBAs with a mix of FT and P, first and second years. International Trips are like more expensive treks, but are heavily skewed toward “fun” activities (from what I’ve heard). Also, DIVERSITY CONFERENCES!!! Trust me, the people who got their summer internships first, got them at a diversity conference. Not mention, a great way to network with people in different MBA programs. NBMBAA, NAAMBA, MBAWI, NSHMBA, ROMBA... all held early in the fall semester so NOW is not too early to be researching this. Also note, you do not *need* to be a member of a particular group to go to the conference, but you should be supportive of their cause and probably a member of the particular club. And don't be that person whining about the cost of travel, this is what you came to school for.

Also don’t be ‘that’ person who is too cheap to sign up for clubs (more than just the professional ones!)… Clubs often have members-only emails and events like happy hours and lunch-and-learns. Good way to connect across programs and class years as well.

More stuff to look forward to -
Halloween, End of semester Partios, International Partio, Gala (MBA prom), Follies, etc…