Are the Economics/Business Programs Good at Tulane?

<p>I'm looking at schools to possibly transfer to, and I'm interested in Tulane. I hear they offer a lot of aid and I like the fact that they don't have out of state tuition. I also love the draw of living in New Orleans. However, does anyone know how they fare in their Economics and Business programs. I have found some information on the internet but I'd love to get some feedback on these programs from people who actually attended Tulane or have connections there. Also how are they in terms of networking, and helping students get jobs after achieving their degrees? Thanks in advance guys.</p>

<p>@kvado16‌ - Several different points here. To go right to your main one, I know that the business programs are very good, and I have heard from students many times that the economics program has a lot of options and the profs are also quite good. I know historically Econ was always a strong department at Tulane, but I don’t keep up with it like I do some other areas of the school. So I can only go by word-of-mouth there.</p>

<p>But from following the business school, I can tell you that Tulane is very strong in undergrad education and programs. The strongest areas seem to be Finance, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, and the business side of the Energy sector. As far as networking and job services, Tulane has made a lot of improvements in those areas in the last couple of years, improving the use of social media, reaching out to alums a lot more, and for example having annual trips to New York, Chicago, and Houston for job fairs. Of course they also have the more traditional assistance in resume writing, interview prep, etc.</p>

<p>So will you be a junior by the time you transfer? As far as aid, be aware that while there are some merit scholarships available for transfer students, it isn’t as generous as it is for incoming freshmen. That is typical at most schools. Need based aid should be the same as any other student at Tulane. And even though as a private school Tulane doesn’t have in-state vs. out-of-state tuition, the cost of attending Tulane is at least equal to, and usually more than most state schools’ OOS tuition. So maybe you had a different thought in mind when you wrote that, but if you thought it was cheaper than OOS tuition at Michigan or Texas or wherever, that would be incorrect.</p>

<p>Finally, you are right that NOLA is awesome!!</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

<p>Econ major here. </p>

<p>I have been happy so far with the economics department at Tulane. I switched over the beginning of this year from poli sci and haven’t regretted it once. The econ department has a wide diversity of course offerings and most of the professors are wonderful . The size of the faculty isn’t huge, so a lot of times you’ll have the same professor for one or more courses, which I really like because it allows you to get to know the professor more. I find that the econ deparment seems to be slightly more humanities oriented rather than business oriented, which is my biggest complaint. I really wish econ majors (school of liberal arts) were allowed to take certain business school classes (accounting, finance, legal studies). </p>

<p>I just finished my sophomore year, so I haven’t spent too much time looking into job prospects but the department actively sends us emails highlighting internship opportunities and possible job opportunities as well. Some of them are for jobs with local companies/NO city government while others are more nationally/internationally oriented. </p>

<p>@jaco930 - wow, that is great info. I wish more current students got on here regularly.</p>

<p>What you are saying really jives with everything I have heard, even the negative about business courses. It isn’t, of course, that you technically aren’t allowed to take business courses, right? It is just that there are so many business majors that get preference the classes are always full. Because to be fair, Econ really isn’t a business oriented major, it is a theoretical study of the forces that shape economies and human behavior within those frameworks, and so is indeed a humanities field. But of course businesses employ economists all the time, and the tie in is obvious. Correct me if I am wrong, but it also sounds like for some people it might be better to be a business major in that it allows the flexibility to take Econ courses, maybe even minor in Econ, while the converse isn’t true at this time.</p>

<p>If I may reminisce for a moment, I only took Micro and Macro Econ at Tulane. My prof for both was a guy named (I think) Keller who was considered an expert on the economics of Latin America and especially Brazil. He would tell us all the time that Brazil was the closest country, along with Russia, that has the abundance of natural resources to be as successful as the USA, if they could only get their politics straight. It took about 30 years, but every prediction he made has pretty much come to pass. He wasn’t a young man then though, so I don’t know, and don’t suspect, he was around to see it. But he was amazing as both an academic and a teacher. Very lively lecturer.</p>

<p>Anyway, thanks for posting and best of luck your last two years, Are you going abroad? Also, even though they didn’t ask, it might be interesting for the OP if you mentioned where you are from and how you like not just Tulane, which obviously you do, but NOLA as well.</p>

<p>@fallenchemist Hey thanks for the comment! I would be transferring as a sophomore hopefully, unless I change my mind and decide to wait another year and stay in CC. I saw Tulane’s tuition and it did look really expensive but on their website it said that they usually covered up to 40% of the actual tuition through merit scholarships. I dont know for sure, but can you as a student confirm that? Btw, what are the parties like over there? I imagine they’d be fun as heck! Especially during Mardi Gras!!</p>

<p>@jaco930 Wow thanks for the info! I heard they also offer study abroad programs to places like LSE! Which is also a big draw for me! A semester at LSE would look great on any resume. Have you thought about doing any such programs? Also, are there any cool clubs for Econ students or otherwise? (such as frats, or some cool organizations).</p>

<p>@kvado16 - So you are just starting at CC this fall and already looking ahead to your transfer, I surmise. That makes sense. Personally, if you can afford it, I would transfer as soon as possible, but I know a lot can factor into that decision.</p>

<p>Just to be clear, and I know this will be a little disappointing, when Tulane talks about that kind of merit aid they are talking about incoming freshmen only. For transfer students, the merit aid is less, I think a $10K per year limit. Here is the link regarding transfer students from community colleges. <a href=“http://tulane.edu/financialaid/grants/ptk.cfm”>http://tulane.edu/financialaid/grants/ptk.cfm&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Now that doesn’t mean that is all the non-loan based aid you might get. As part of your need-based FA, there can be grants involved that you don’t have to pay back. It all depends on you and your family’s particular situation.</p>

<p>The parties are great, but then they are pretty great at almost all 4 year schools. Mardi Gras is quite special though.</p>

<p>Intruding on your question to jaco930, Tulane does indeed have study abroad at LSE. I have known a few students that did that and they loved it. Don’t know about the clubs/frats for Econ students.</p>

<p>fallenchemist, I think you’re right, you can fill out some type of course request form with the B school to take one of their classes.But as you said, the classes fill up quickly so there really isn’t much room for non B school students. And yes, b school students are allowed to take non b school classes so a lot will end up minoring in econ or a foreign language. There were a surprising amount of B school students in my 3000 level econ class this semester.
However, the only business related minor available to non b school students is through the summer program, which costs extra. So in that sense the B school definitely has a few advantages over the school of liberal arts. </p>

<p>kvado16, the only econ specific club I’ve heard of ODE (greek letters). I really don’t know anything else about it, nor do I know anyone who is a member. I know some econ students who rush/join AKPsi, which is the business fraternity. People seem really dedicated to it. Their pledgeship is involved, and they put on events/parties and have a lot of meetings. So I think most econ students who feel the need to join some academic-related club usually go for AKPsi. </p>

<p>The wonderful thing (in my opinion) about being in the school of liberal arts is the study abroad opportunities. I know econ students going to a wide variety of places in Europe as well as Brazil, S.Africa, Morocco and other places. I’ll be abroad this upcoming semester too
small edit: I did briefly look at the LSE program, but you must do it for the entire year, and I only wanted a semester abroad. I’ve heard it’s by far the most challenging study abroad program Tulane offers (and probably as a result one of the most rewarding), and I believe econ majors needs a 3.5 cumulative GPA to qualify </p>

<p>@fallenchemist No, I already completed 1 year of CC. I have 28 credits so far. I want to transfer ASAP and Tulane seems likely to accept me, or so I hope lol.</p>

<p>@fallenchemist @jaco930 Do you all generally know any scholarships that can help me afford Tulane? Any such scholarships that you hear a lot of students, possibly transfer students may have? Fallenchemist, even 10k off doesn’t seem so bad if it’s in combination with other scholarships. If I stayed in-state and went to the University of South Carolina, I would have to pay 40gs a year (Room and board included).</p>

<p>@kvado16 - Can you still apply to transfer this late for this fall? Or are you thinking spring? I am a bit confused.</p>

<p>I don’t personally know of other scholarships, but perhaps the financial aid office can help there as well, even with outside scholarships. Again, probably too late for fall though. Also there are several threads on College Confidential that deal with outside scholarships. There might even be one for transfer students specifically. No idea for sure though. I never looked.</p>

<p>@fallenchemist Sorry for the confusion. I called them a couple days ago, and they said I can still transfer in time for the fall semester. Their deadline is in like late July I think they told me. </p>

<p>@jaco930 Few more questions bro, what separated Tulane’s Econ program in your mind from all the other schools you were looking at? What are some of it’s advantages if you will. Also what made you choose Tulane?</p>

<p>@kvado16 - Oh, OK. I had no idea they let it run so late. Must be a few open spots. Good luck!!</p>

<p>@fallenchemist I hope so! Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>@kvado16, I actually had no idea I would become an econ major when I was looking at schools, so I didn’t really look too in depth at other schools econ programs. But I think Tulane’s econ program has some unique features. The BA in econ is only 10 courses (plus all the general requirements the school of liberal arts makes you go through), so there’s a good amount of room to explore other areas. I’ve found all the professors to be knowledgeable and helpful. The chair of the department, James Alm, is not only a great guy in general but also is the best professor I’ve had so far at Tulane. The department also has some interesting 3000/4000 level electives, such as economics of education, health reform, labor and poverty (all separate classes). Again, I didn’t look to in depth at other school’s econ departments so I don’t know if any of the previous things are unique solely to Tulane, but they’re what stood out in my mind.
If you go to this link (<a href=“Tulane University Schedule of Classes”>Tulane University Schedule of Classes) and highlight economics under subject area you can see what classes are offered this upcoming semester as well as the previous few semesters. </p>

<p>There were a few things that separated Tulane in general from the other schools I was looking at. I liked New Orleans, of course. I can’t think of any other city in the US that is as fun and as different as NO. I really liked the neighborhood Tulane is in. It’s a cool mixture of college town and old south. Academic wise, the main reason I chose Tulane was the ability to explore subject areas that weren’t common at other schools. One that stood out to me was the ability to major/minor in Portuguese language, which I hadn’t seen at some of the other schools I looked at. People wise, I liked how different everyone was. After two years here I know several people from every region of the country. Greek life is pretty big, and there’s a lot of go-greek-or-die personalities, but it’s there if you want it and super easy to avoid if you don’t. </p>