Hello,
I’m extremely torn between George Washington and Tulane. For some background, I’m from NY and plan on studying PoliSci, however, there is a possibility I end up changing majors.
GW is cheaper in my instance, $10,000 cheaper.
However, I hear really, absolutely terrible comments about GW’s student body, comments saying that they tend to be very snobby. Also, I’d like to avoid fraternities at most costs. For what it’s worth, I want to have a good time on the weekends and plan on partying.
Tulane, on the other hand, I’ve heard only great things about. Although I know NOLA does not hold up to D.C.'s internship possibilities, I know I would fall in love with it.
Can anyone compare the job employment reputations of the two? Much appreciated. Honesty is welcomed.
@mullaneyj6
Well, you know I am biased but here goes anyway. It sounds like your heart and your gut is telling you to go to Tulane. As long as that $10,000 difference is not a hardship on your family, I would listen to that. I can’t really comment on the “snobby” part for GW. The graduates I know from that school are anything but, and some of them are fairly recent, about 8 years ago. But I can tell you Tulane students, in general, are considered to be among the most welcoming and friendliest of any school. Frats are certainly a presence at Tulane, but they definitely do not dominate social life.
As far as internship possibilities, being in the local area is not necessarily an advantage or disadvantage towards getting one. I know students from many schools far from DC that end up interning for Congressional people or in other government positions. My daughter is a Tulane grad and she interned 2 summers at the Department of State, one in DC and this summer she will be in Taipei, Taiwan. Also there is always the possibility of internships in Louisiana. Local politics can be even more interesting and give you more of an opportunity to get really involved. But also remember that to the extent your “being local” theory might be true, you are also facing far more competition from local or nearly local schools that are also well known for govt. related majors, like Gtown, American, Johns Hopkins, and no doubt a handful of others.
Other personal preferences come into play here also. GW is a very urban, mostly concrete campus while Tulane has that classic, movie look campus (and in fact several movies have been filmed there). There is the difference between NOLA and DC, as you mention, which is considerable. Tulane is also a much more high profile research school, although I am not sure how much that will matter to you if you stay in Poli Sci.
So yes, it can be a tough decision. But other than the internship issue, which I think you might be mistaken about anyway, you don’t seem to have a lot of warmth for GW.
My son is a poli sci major at Tulane 
He is planning on doing a DC semester in his junior year to fill that desire to spend time in DC. The one are Tulane excels at is Public Service Internships. There are many opportunities to intern in local government and service agencies.