<p>Is there anyone else struggling to choose between these two schools? I am from New Jersey and have visited Tulane for honors weekend and just came back from a Cal overnight stay program. To be honest, I felt much more comfortable at Cal than I did at Tulane...the students were more my "type" of people, there seemed to be so more going on, and it was much more diverse. Plus it's in California! I surprised myself, because I always thought that I wanted to go to a smaller school without huge lectures. Plus, I have volunteered in NOLA for the past two summers, absolutely love it, and love the community service opportunities in the area...but Tulane just didn't feel like the place where I belong. I could always go to NOLA during the summers.</p>
<p>Yet I'm not in the situation where I can decide on my gut feelings or what I really want, necessarily. I am upper-middle class with a complicated money situation (parents divorced, mom unemployed, dad makes a lot of money but is still only willing to pay for 1/2 my college). Financially, Tulane is probably a better choice. I was offered 25k plus 11k in loans from Tulane (but is the total coast really 57k?! crazy), while from Cal I got 9k in gift and 4,700 in loans, and 4k in work study (total cost around 54,000? crazy as well).</p>
<p>Ultimately, I have to have a conversation with my dad about Cal, why I want to go there over Tulane, and why it would be a good investment. I'm just interested to know if anyone else is in the same position...despite all that I love about Cal, it might be stupid (considering budget cuts, high expenses, and huge class sizes) for me to turn down such a good offer from Tulane. I'm so desperately in love with Cal that I'm looking into how difficult it is to declare residency!</p>