Of your options, and cost not being a factor, I would choose Tulane. Louisiana is really different from anything else your child would experience culturally and the weather is definately better than penn state or pitt.

My DD was accepted to Tulane, Penn State, Pitt and is waiting to hear from Bucknell. Which would you choose?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane is a "name" school that seems to attract a lot of B+ kids from NY/NJ. They have been pretty aggressive in their marketing and appear to be generous with merit aid, even for those without high stats. I'd be wary about sending a kid to school in LA, though. The state is in terrible financial shape, which could portend less than optimal opportunities for local employment, entertainment (outside the FQ, I mean), etc.

Have you been to New Orleans? French Quarter is host to a tiny fraction of the entertainment there. Also, not sure why you would be concerned about local employment options as most Tulane grads leave the area. It places well in NY, for example.

+1 the vast majority of my class did NOT stay in NOLA. Mostly people headed to the coasts or Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:Tulane is a "name" school that seems to attract a lot of B+ kids from NY/NJ. They have been pretty aggressive in their marketing and appear to be generous with merit aid, even for those without high stats. I'd be wary about sending a kid to school in LA, though. The state is in terrible financial shape, which could portend less than optimal opportunities for local employment, entertainment (outside the FQ, I mean), etc.

Have you been to New Orleans? French Quarter is host to a tiny fraction of the entertainment there. Also, not sure why you would be concerned about local employment options as most Tulane grads leave the area. It places well in NY, for example.

Anonymous wrote:Party school for rich japs. Never heard anyone smart targeting Tulane.

Party school for rich japs. Never heard anyone smart targeting Tulane.

The only kids I know who have gone to Tulane in the last 4-5 years were nmsf or otherwise had great academic credential.

Anonymous wrote: Does anyone have any insight/comments about the "party school" reputation? Outdated?

Every school is a party school if that is what you are looking for and every school has pockets of kids who don't want to party.

Does anyone have any insight/comments about the "party school" reputation? Outdated?

Anonymous wrote:DC was admitted to Tulane this year with nice merit aid. DC had less than perfect grades (but higher than a 3.0!) and a very high SAT. The pros are that it is a quality academic institution in a great location. Also, it is one of the highest ranked national universities that provides generous merit aid. DC considered applying to Wake Forest, for instance, but only 3% of students receive merit aid there so Tulane was a better deal.

As other said, Tulane puts an emphasis on community service and has a great campus. Because of the New Orleans location, it also has students from absolutely everywhere, instead of being more regional, and that made it interesting. For DC the negatives are that it doesn't seem to have great ties into the business world and the analytical majors (math, economics, engineering) seem weaker than the humanities.

DC could try to network with andrew friedman (president of the dodgers, ex wall streeter turned baseball quant jock). friedman is in his mid-late 30's now and is pretty friendly. tulane alum.

Have DC write a physical letter to andrew, and use a tulane envelope - andrew will most probably respond and perhaps could give some insight/help.

Anonymous wrote:My kids say Tulane is a jappy party school.

Your kids sound like sweethearts.

I know a great student recently accepted and interested in community service, the EMT training available and the possibility of early acceptance to med school.

Anonymous wrote: B-C students have never been typical of Tulane. It's had a solid reputation (as did Sophie Newcomb when there were two separate schools for men and women) for a very long time.

So disagree only 2 kids we know that go there are both super average students- both B/C students

Tulane is a "name" school that seems to attract a lot of B+ kids from NY/NJ. They have been pretty aggressive in their marketing and appear to be generous with merit aid, even for those without high stats. I'd be wary about sending a kid to school in LA, though. The state is in terrible financial shape, which could portend less than optimal opportunities for local employment, entertainment (outside the FQ, I mean), etc.

DC was admitted to Tulane this year with nice merit aid. DC had less than perfect grades (but higher than a 3.0!) and a very high SAT. The pros are that it is a quality academic institution in a great location. Also, it is one of the highest ranked national universities that provides generous merit aid. DC considered applying to Wake Forest, for instance, but only 3% of students receive merit aid there so Tulane was a better deal.

As other said, Tulane puts an emphasis on community service and has a great campus. Because of the New Orleans location, it also has students from absolutely everywhere, instead of being more regional, and that made it interesting. For DC the negatives are that it doesn't seem to have great ties into the business world and the analytical majors (math, economics, engineering) seem weaker than the humanities.

Friend's kid went there (graduated last summer, I think). Friend (who has a PhD from a top 20 school) has been really happy with Tulane. Good academics, lots of community engagement, internship led to job and inspired kid to be more ambitious re grad school plans.