<p>DS agonizing over this decision...any feedback would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Unfortunately you haven’t given us any background to base comments on, so it is impossible to be specific. But it still should be, if not an easy decision, at least one that has parameters involved that are quite divergent. I will assume he has visited both schools. It appears from your posts of 3 years ago that you have a son already at Tulane? Must be finishing his junior year now.</p>
<p>So you have a large state school vs. a medium sized private, a school set in a good sized unique city vs. one in a typical Midwest college town, one that is famous for being strong in a major sport vs. one that is generally less than competitive, and at Indiana he has been accepted into a specific school while at Tulane he can freely choose between any major he wants. Should he sour on business as a major, how easy is it to get into something else? How much time might he lose? Of course there are other differences such as weather, geographic diversity, etc as well.</p>
<p>Clearly they are both academically excellent, so that is not the issue. IMO, what he should focus on is where he thinks he will enjoy himself the most. By enjoy, I don’t mean partying or dating or things like that, since that will also be equally available at either school. What I mean is if he were to go somewhere quiet, close his eyes, and bring up a picture of where he sees himself being happiest in general, given what he knows about the two schools, which one comes to mind? Does he see a scene of himself at Tulane and in New Orleans, or does IU and Bloomington come to the front? I know that he has limited information, but somewhere deep down his instincts must be trying to tell him something. That is probably the route he should take.</p>
<p>Given your posts regarding your other son, I am also assuming finances are not an issue here. But if there is something more specific he is wrestling with, come on back and I am sure it can be addressed. If it is really just that general, as it well could be, then I have found that the suggested approach of going somewhere peaceful, clearing your mind, and summoning up an image of where one sees oneself in the fall works pretty well. The one that pops up first is where his instincts are leading him. Of course as is often said, academically there is not a bad choice of these two.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, I do have a junior at Tulane now. Believe it or not, my son has NOT visited Indiana…long story but suffice it to say that he wasn’t originally considering it. He is now relying on talks with friends and computer tours…he of course is familiar with Tulane. While his father and the college counselor have been recommending Tulane- we are convinced that he will do better in a smaller school- we are allowing him to make the choice. He is agonizing over this- not the most decisive on the best day and this is a tough one. I am sure he will be happy at either- they both have their pros and cons- and i’m sure he will do well at both- he is a very good student and accepted into Honors at both. I just don’t know how to help him make this choice!</p>
<p>Honestly, you can’t help him make up his mind, beyond suggesting he try to not stress over it and just use his instincts. There are just too many factors involved that are very personal, unique to him. He will be fine, just give him the space to think it through. It is unfortunate he couldn’t visit IU. He is really working with limited information.</p>
<p>Yes, he is working with limited information… It is unfortunate that we never made it there…again, due to circumstances that I won’t go in to. He did however speak with another boy who graduated from our HS and is now a Kelley sophomore, and he took the virtual tours. That is unfortunately what he will have to work with to decide. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my post.</p>
<p>momstripleplay, you could call both schools and ask for more time, it never hurts to ask. My older son had two friends who waited until July to decide.<br>
My second son finally decided last night on a school in the midwest (whew) and one of my concerns has been how he is going to handle the winters. That is not a problem for S1 who is at Tulane.
Good luck with the decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion, but he actually did make a decision…Kelley it will be. I think he wanted something new, and after 3 years of visiting his brother at Tulane decided to strike out elsewhere…as a business major, it is hard to dispute Kelley’s rankings, and there was the added allure of the sports…
Fortunately, I really did think that he could ultimately be happy at either school.
Good luck to your son at his midwest choice!</p>
<p>Congrats to him. I wondered if the sibling thing was an issue at all, because as you say some want to do something with their own stamp on it. We all wish him a great experience at IU.</p>
<p>My daughter has been accepted to these two very fine schools. She believes she would like to study business. She was accepted to Tulane and the Kelley School of business and is having difficulty making a decision as to where to go to school. My husband seems to think there is no decision, once she was accepted into the Kelley School of Business. The reality of the situation however, is that Tulane has been her dream school and she cannot let go of that dream. I would appreciate any input or suggestions that you can offer! </p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>Not to sound snide, but your husband isn’t the one that will be attending. Is there a big financial difference between the two? If not, then she should go where she thinks she will fit best. Tulane’s business school is really excellent. Other than cost, I am not sure why he would think Kelley is such an obvious choice.</p>
<p>One think that would help to marshal some arguments would be if she knows in what area of business she would like to focus. Finance? Accounting? Marketing? If she knows.</p>
<p>Beyond that, though, it really is about the overall experience at a school, not just the reputation of one department. Why is Tulane her dream school? If those are solid reasons that IU cannot possibly fulfill, then there is the real answer.</p>
<p>My daughter had the same choice. Accepted into Kelley Direct admit with 11K OOS and also into Tulane with 25K merit so cost is probably similar. Kelley seems to be a higher ranked business school overall but FC’s point about focus within the business school is a key consideration. </p>
<p>Other than the personal choice location/size/ culture items, what really steered my daughter to eliminate IU was the possibility that she might not end up as a Business Major. There seems to be a huge disparity at IU in the quality/reputation of programs other than Business and Music. Tulane has more strong choices in our opinion. </p>
<p>To emphasize formertarheel’s point, the possibility of changing majors is not the only reason that attending the school that presents the best overall environment for the student is the primary consideration after affordability, but it is a huge one. In fact, that is a great way to frame this. “If I decide that business is not the major for me, will I be happier that I am at Tulane or at Indiana”? It isn’t so much that the person is assuming they will change majors, but just gets the mind thinking about the bigger picture. Both business schools will provide an excellent undergraduate education. Therefore focusing on major too much is a big mistake, IMO. Does anyone really think there is that much difference in the business education at IU and Tulane? Tulane has some fantastic programs such as Burkenroad reports, an energy trading desk, the opportunity to invest part of the school’s endowment, and others. I am sure Kelly has some special features as well.</p>
<p>But you have to take into account that over half the classes you take will not be business classes, that there is so much more to college than academics, and that there will be friends and memories that will last a lifetime, the student should absolutely decide where they want to be based on a much bigger picture than the major they are likely to have.</p>