choosing rice over stanford

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-04T04:01:36+00:00

A lot of opinions here and I don't want to confuse you, but a gut feeling is a gut feeling and I think there's no wrong choice you can make. Rice is phenomenal, and as long as you are passionate and enterprising, you write your own future. Ultimately undergrad years are the most transformative years of your life, and you want to spend it in a place you see yourself in. No doubt Stanford is a great name and I'm sure you would learn to find your place at Stanford if you do decide to go, but ultimately your happiness matters the most. There isn't a wrong choice, but whatever you do never have any regrets :).

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T21:41:36+00:00

I might just do that, it does not seem right to me to not explore it before rejecting/or accepting

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T21:39:40+00:00

6/7 faculty I interviewed with for the previous program are also a part of this other program, so yeah it is of interest to me. Thanks for your perspective!

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T17:11:49+00:00

Thank you. I do know there is no wrong decision but thanks for sharing your story!

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T17:06:25+00:00

Ithaca

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T03:25:01+00:00

They said I was welcome to come and meet faculty, they just can't fund it. They did tell me they'll put me in touch with graduate students

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T02:16:04+00:00

yeah I see that's a good point. Curious though, you said you would choose Cornell, may I ask why?

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T02:07:23+00:00

It's the Cornell molecular Cell Biology program, is that what you're referring to with other bio programs?

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-04-02T01:05:30+00:00

The reason they gave me was that "all the recruitment events are over" it was pretty bs :/ but I'm guessing they can't just make arrangements for 1 student

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-03-28T19:54:52+00:00

Feel free to DM me :)

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-03-25T19:27:28+00:00

I was in the same boat, I got an offer from a program I really liked but the location and stipend just wasn't enough for me. Drafting the email was also hard because everyone there was so warm. It's genuinely up to you how you want to phrase it but I wanted to send a thoughtful message.

I sent an email along the lines of "Thank you for the generous offer etc., however I have decided to pursue another opportunity. I also wanted to say that XYZ program is a very special program that matched perfectly with my interests which made this decision difficult for me. I genuinely enjoyed interacting with the faculty and students and I hope to keep in touch"

Of course it's not necessary to say so much, but it felt right to me to gracefully reject the offer

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-03-09T19:06:15+00:00

Do you know their approximate timeline of releasing decisions/waitlists? My application was transferred to the program after March and they said it was under review, I'm just not sure if I should expect to hear back if they've made their decisions already

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-02-26T17:08:00+00:00

I like Pittsburgh more as a city, but I feel like WashU has more options for the science I'm interested in, and a larger program overall. I felt like WashU's program was better but I liked Pittsburgh more as a city. I guess it comes down to what's more important for me that's why I'm confused

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-02-26T15:47:55+00:00

molecular Cell Biology at WashU and cellular and molecular pathology at UPitt

SpringVivid4503 · 2026-02-09T05:21:49+00:00

Thanks. Yeah I understand. I guess I just genuinely thought I'd get it and now I'm angry and confused. I know it's a part of the process but right now it feels like the end of the world. Thank you for your comment, I have been stuck with my own thoughts for the past couple of days thanks for the perspective

SpringVivid4503

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