Got into my Top choice! but....

I was so relieved and excited when I found out that I had been accepted to UR. However, right when I was about to fully commit, I was also admitted into Tulane (which is also an amazing school).

So I would like to know a few things– will choosing UR over Tulane be worth it? Do you think I will really regret dropping Tulane? And most importantly, are professors easily accessible during office hours/outside of the classrooms at UR?

I don’t know anything about Tulane. I do know that most UR profs are very accessible. One big difference will be the weather!

It might depend on what you intend to study. (If it’s optics, for example, U of R hands down.) U of R professors are very accessible. New Orleans has more going on, though Rochester is a phenomenal music town due to Eastman. Rochester weather can be quite pleasant (except for Jan & Feb).

Tulane was also high on D’s list, although because she applied ED to UR, she did not actually end up applying. Tulane seemed to have a different “personality” than UR—more social and preppy—and D felt UR was a better fit from that angle.

For what she wants to study (infectious disease and public health), both schools have lots to offer. As a mom, I would have been happy with my daughter going to either one.

My biggest regret with Rochester as a grad school, which was also a regret with my undergrad choice, was the surrounding city. Both were pretty small and didn’t have a ton to do. That has gotten even more true with the contraction of Kodak and Xerox.

On the other hand, N’Awlins (which I have visited for a week) is a pretty unique place which I think would wear on me after a while.