Hi everyone,
I am down to just two schools and have a super tough decision to make, hence me coming here to seek advice. Both schools offered me financial aid that makes the end cost almost exactly the same, so a price difference really isn’t in the cards here. I just got back from a weekend visit to Tulane and New Orleans and absolutely loved it. The city is great, and the campus is beautiful. Though, the two things can also be said about Ohio State. I am planning to double major in Communications and Political Science, so if anyone has insights on either programs at Tulane or tOSU, that would be greatly appreciated. Here is a list of pro/cons for both schools as I see it at the moment:
Tulane:
Pros:
-New Orleans seems like a fantastic city that manages to balance always having something to do, without being too crazy or hectic a la New York or somewhere similar.
-There is also an abundance of activities that are on campus put on by Tulane, like Crawfest and stuff like that. It really seems like they go to great lengths to ensure their students have fun.
-Also, the music scene in New Orleans is great, and music is one of my favorite things in the world.
-They are huge on community service, which is a plus as I have always been a big proponent of community service.
-The amount of students attending isn’t too huge, but it isn’t tiny either. 7,000 undergrads seems like a really good number to me.
-They seem to have a great community that is very quirky and has weird little campus traditions that I really enjoy, like the campus cat, Cow Cat(RIP :’()
-I know this shouldn’t be a huge factor, but, the people in the Tulane groupchat seem a little bit less “douchey” and I have met some really interesting people, and in fact, have friend that I already would love to room with. The chat in general constantly has thought provoking and intellectually stimulating conversations, which is really nice.
-Their study abroad program seems more well done than Ohio State’s, which is important because I really want to study abroad at least once.
Cons:
-I am a huge sports fan, and Tulane’s sports aren’t the greatest, especially compared to Ohio State’s
-New Orleans is quite a hike from Maryland, and while it isn’t that big of a deal, living a little bit closer would perhaps be nice.
-Too party oriented? Although that may be really any college haha.
-A lot of people seem really wealthy, and it is a little off-putting being lower middle class.
-Lack of diversity. I come from a county in which being a white male, I am a minority, so going to almost the polar opposite might be a bit of a transition. Same could be said for OSU, though.
Ohio State:
Pros:
-The school spirit is really, really, really palpable. Kids love going there and you can tell.
-Their football team. May seem superficial for me to list this a reason, but I am a huge football fan and would severely be bummed about potentially missing out on going to a school that wins the National Championship during my four years.
-Cbus is no New Orleans, but, it is still an interesting enough city in its own right.
-Really sports oriented, they are huge on intramural sports, which is something that I would really like to be involved in.
-While the hugeness may be awful in some factors, I feel that going to a school with such a big student body perhaps makes it easy to find a niche and for less cliques to happen.
-It is a lot closer to home. It’s still far enough away where I feel like I am spreading my wings, but, it is not as taxing to come home as it would be from Tulane.
Cons:
-I worry that with such a huge student population, I will feel like more of a statistic and wouldn’t receive as much one-on-one attention that I would at Tulane
-Again, I know that I shouldn’t let a groupchat influence me so much, but the a lot of these kids in the group message seem downright awful. Arrogant, inconsiderate, douchey, and really jerky, and I am not the only one to share this sentiment. There are a lot of kids in the groupchat who have said it has almost made them not consider OSU, including a friend of mine who had already committed and OSU had been his dream school since Middle School. Yes, the chat is THAT bad.
-I worry that there isn’t that many events and opportunities going on besides football and partying. While Tulane seems to offer a culturally rich environment, OSU seems to only really offer a jockish environment, which is off-putting.
I would love to hear insight from others, and want to have a decision made ASAP so I can start working on housing and all of that stuff. Thanks guys!