High Cost of attending Tulane?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>Quick question? How many of you are from Louisianna? Are there "In state" rates for Tulane? Even with a merit scholarship, Tulane seems quite expensive. Maybe there's something really special of Tulane to make it worth it. I didn't mention it to my son, but my son mentioned how much more we would have to come up with to go to Tulane. I didn't want to mention cost in front of my son because I want him to go to the best school he can for what he wants for his future. He was accepted immediately. Even with the merit scholarship, we would have to pay twice as much as our state university.</p>

<p>I understand that colleges and universities need to make money to stay in business, just that Tulane seems a little high. My son busted his butt since the 1st grade. Has managed a 4.0gpa the entire time. IB program, all advanced classes, hundreds of hours of community service. And with all this he's still been able to do varsity sports and other EC, not get into trouble, and maintain a beautiful spirit. Fortunately many other schools are recognizing his efforts. They are providing much more generous offers. 3 have offered 100% full ride scholarships. 2 of the schools are very well known and extremely prestigious schools. </p>

<p>We have correspondence going on with Tulane for possible other scholarships and such. We'll see what they have to offer. I guess if this was Harvard, Yale, Princeston, etc... I could understand the price. Matter of fact, Cornell University is interested and wouldn't cost us as much as Tulane. Oh well, just curious if In-State students at least get a better rate. My son is/was interested in Tulane because of some of their majors, their history, location, and a number of other reasons. It's still on his list, but now the shoe is on the other foot. It's not whether he wants to GO TO TULANE, but whether or not TULANE WANTS HIM. Just trying to figure out if in-state residents get a break on the cost.</p>

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<p>No Tulane is a private school and there is no instate rate-sorry.</p>

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<p>No problem. We're not from LA, so instate wouldn't have mattered. Was just wondering if locals got any better of a deal. But, as we all know, the world revolves around the economy and money. I guess I just couldn't believe that Cornell and Brown Universities would actually be cheaper. (A lot). Well, I guess they have to pay back from Katrina. </p>

<p>Oh well, I'm sure someone else can use the merit scholarship money. My son says he wants to wait to see if Tulane can come through with more scholarships. He really does want to keep the option open. (I think he's tired of snow, wind, and cold). Personally, I love N.O. and LA. Very beautiful part of the country. I think anyone who goes to Tulane will have a very rewarding experience.</p>

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<p>Tulane has always been expensive, long before Katrina. It's Loyola (N.O.) right next door that has hiked up their tuition (from what I've heard... I'm really too lazy to go to their website and check this).</p>

<p>No in-state rate for us Louisianians- but we do get free apps and guaranteed admission if you meet an ACT of 28 or so and and a 3-something gpa.</p>

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<p>Did he apply for the Dean's Honor Scholarship?</p>

<p>Scholarships</a> and Grants</p>

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<p>He has applied and is looking at a number of other scholarships for Tulane. Went through all this 3 years ago when my daughter was a senior in high School. I just started the thread because I couldn't figure out why Tulane just seemed so expensive. Other colleges, including private colleges like Cornell, seem to be a lot cheaper once they accept you with automatic scholarship consideration. If nothing else, they seem a lot more convenient and easier financially. But then again, maybe Tulane has enough applications each year where they don't have to work at trying to get people to apply. That is a common problem with the Ivy's, West coast ivy's (Stanford, USC, etc...), and other big name private schools. A lot of people think they can really get in so they don't apply. From what people have told me who have applied, schools like Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown, USC, MIT, Standford, etc... aren't that hard to get into or to pay for. Oh well, we'll see what they have as a final offer. Like I mentioned in a previous post, he has already been accepted to 3 other colleges/universities. 2 with full rides and the 3rd will probably also be a full ride. We'll find out about their financial offer in another few weeks.</p>

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<p>HARVARD AND YALE NOT THAT HARD TO GET INTO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! their acceptance rate is UNDER 10%</p>

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<p>How does Cornell express interest in your son? Did he receive literature? That's standard for any college and it doesn't mean they're interested if that's what you meant...</p>

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<p>He had his act and sat's sent to them. We also filled out the online common application form. They called and said they received it and was wondering if we were still interested in applying. We discussed scholarships and financial aid. They told me what the average student actually paid when all was said and done. It wasn't that bad.</p>

<p>As far as acceptance to some of these schools go, I have learned a lot about where you are from matters. Seems that most schools have their own form of diversity. Meaning that they like to get applicants from all states, backgrounds, races, etc... I found a number of schools that offer specific scholarships for applicants in states where they don't seem to get a lot of interest from. That might be part of the equation. Being from Wyoming, we have the least populated state in the entire country. As such, we only have a few thousand high school graduates a year. Literally. Our neighbor's son just graduated from Yale this past spring/summer. He wasn't ranked #1 in the class. He got accepted to Yale.</p>

<p>As I mentioned previously, I'm not discounting Tulane as a no go. My son was accepted the 1st week of october, It's a very fine school. BUT, if one of the other scholarships don't come through, then the merit scholarship is pretty much useless. That only covers about half of the costs. It's hard to justify loans and such for the remainder when there are schools offering him full scholarships. Other than the Dean's scholarship, Tulane doesn't allow merit scholarships to be used with other merit based scholarships. ROTC, or many others. Anyway, we'll just wait and see.</p>

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<p>Being from Wyoming does help im sure. Id say schools like Cornell get most applicants from the coasts and want more from states like that. For Yale the thing is that after your numbers are in range they dont matter anymore so that other factors about your application make or break you IMHO</p>

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<p>Christcorp- I was under the impression that Ivy's don't give any merit based scholarships (one of the small reasons I'm not applying ivy because I'm not qualified for financial aid). That's why their cheaper- because it's all financial aid. Tulane will probably offer the same thing, but financial aid offers don't come at the same time as Tulane's merit offers.</p>

<p>And all of the Ivy's are ridiculously harder to get into than Tulane.</p>

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<p>Christcorp--The population of New Orleans has been reduced by at least a third, that includes college professors and other people that help maintain a university open. Some programs have closed altogether, graduating students that were already there but not accepting new ones. It might be a good opportunity to get full scholarship, but I would check that all programs you are interested in are available. This goes for Loyola and Tulane.</p>

<p>From what you say about Yale and your neighbor, the number of applications to Ivy League schools has increased exponentially in the last four years with the corresponding decrease in the acceptance rate (more applications doesn't mean more admissions).</p>

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<p>Actually, places like Princeton and others are offering a lot of grants and such. They may not be called "Merit based scholarships", but it's still money. Here's a excerpt from princeton's site.</p>

<p>"Princeton is the first and only university of its type to offer every aid recipient a financial aid package that replaces loans with grant aid that students do not pay back..... As a result of these changes, Princeton has been able to enroll growing numbers of students from low- and middle-income backgrounds. The change on campus becomes more noticeable each year as we welcome an increasingly diverse student body."</p>

<p>Don't get me wrong. Not everyone is eligible for all the different aid, scholarship, etc... packages. Also, each school is different. I was just mentioning that getting the money wasn't as intrusive. There weren't as many "If you get this, you CAN'T get this" type of conditions. </p>

<p>As far as acceptance goes, that is a barrel shoot. Each individual school has their own form a diversity. MOST schools will usually have more applicants than they have room for. Therefor, each school will offer openings depending on their criteria. 2 identical applicants can apply and one get it and one won't depending on their location, income, race, gender, etc... I would say that an applicant from Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, etc... with a 4.0gpa, 30act, 2200SAT, etc... would have an easier time getting into Yale, Cornell, Harvard, USC, Stanford, etc... than someone with possibly higher numbers from New York or California. If you are a woman or racial minority, your chances go up even more. If you come from an ULTA-POOR economic background, you have a much better chance. The list goes on.</p>

<p>In other words, each applicant is individual. I wouldn't say that ANY SCHOOL is more difficult than any other to get into. You just have to apply. Most people don't apply. All the people saying how hard it is to get into the Ivy leagues, west coast ivy, Hi-Tech (MIT/CALTECH, etc...) PROBABLY NEVER APPLIED, Just like how no one asks the prettiest girl in school to go to the dance because they think EVERYONE else asked her. It doesn't matter if the acceptance rate is 10% or 40%. You could just as easily be in either category.</p>

<p>MANY schools waiver application fees. Especially if done online. There's no reason in the world to not apply to the schools you want. My son has applied to 4 different schools and has shown interest in 2 others. He got accepted to ALL 4 OF THE SCHOOLS and the other 2 he is interested in we have spoken with on the phone and they sound very promising. Both for admittance and financially. People definitely need to do their homework. There's a lot of very fine schools out there that aren't as expensive when all is said and done. I know Tulane is a very fine school. Especially in medicine and such. But unless they come through with some other grants, work programs, scholarships, etc.... then it would be stupid for my son to go their and start off his life with student loans. Especially when there are plenty of schools that won't cost him as much. </p>

<p>For what it's worth, I'm not wealthy nor am I poor. I'm the typical middle class that gets screwed over on the FAFSA and doesn't qualify for a lot of aid. Ain't that a *****. Try hard to work hard, make a living, provide for your family, DON'T tell welfare or other public assistance, don't take reduced lunches at school for the kids, donate to others when possible, and not be a burden on society; and in return get punished. Hell, illegal immigrants get more benefits than the middle class. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there aren't some that truly need assistance. Including educationally. But once high school is over, I believe that each student starts off on the same slate. Maybe not the uber rich, but out of high school, if the kid worked hard they should be rewarded by having the opportunity to go to college. If you make $200,000 or more a year, you don't care about paying for your kid to go to college. If you make under $35,000 you don't care either because you can get free college to just about any school in the country. If you make $50,000 - $100,000 as a family income, you are totally screwed. Something wrong with that picture. </p>

<p>Oh well. My son does have options. That's all I could ever hope by raising him. I didn't want to "GIVE" him things. I wanted him to work for it. I didn't want him to be a burden on society. What I did want was to give him options. He graduated class rank of #1. He has his 4.0gpa unweighted. Has excellent act/sat score. The list goes on. I know that academically/ec/etc.... he could probably get accepted to just about any school in the country. (Just about). He chose the handful that he wanted. They have all said yes so far. Some are even willing to pay almost 100% of everything. Those are some awesome choices. I encourage people to look at their choices. You have a lot more than you think. Don't let others tell you what you CAN'T have or do. Anyway, thanks for all the info here. Tulane is a wonderful university. Hopefully it will remain an option. I'm sure my son would love it. We'll just have to wait and see. At least there's some very fine schools that money is no longer an issue for.</p>

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<p>Christcorp:</p>

<p>Tulane is extremly generous with merit aid, so I would not concur that it is costly to attend relative to other private colleges. Of course, relative to state publics with honors programs, and the "free" AFA, $50k per year appears expensive, even less the initial scholarship. </p>

<p>Also, a cautionary note about Cornell: it has three land-grant colleges where tuition is $13k less for in-state NY residents. Thus, the average out of pocket costs paid by their students needs to be adjusted. Also, the average grant at the Ivies can be skewed upwards by internationals, who are ineligible for federal loans and generally poorer; thus, they may receive larger grants than US citizens.</p>

<p>btw: two years ago, a student from KS received full rides from Johns Hopkins and Duke.</p>

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<p>christcorp,
As bluebayou points out, Tulane has been known to be very generous with merit aid. However, my impression is that Tulane, like many colleges, will use this frequently to attract top students with very strong standardized test scores. I'm sure your son is a good student, but my guess is that his scores weren't considered superb when placed in a national context and thus his merit offer was not as high as what Tulane will sometimes offer. As a result, I suspect that you may get better offers from other colleges. If that includes Cornell or other Ivies, then good luck to him there if he decides that is the better destination. </p>

<p>Football-wise, I'm sure you know, but Tulane's kicker is only a sophomore and he had a decent year.</p>

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<p>Are you comparing the cost of attending a service academy to Tulane? Comparing the AFA to any private school is not reasonable. Discussions with Cornell shouldn't count either. Apply for financial aid. An income of $50,000 to $100,000 will not bar you from receiving considerable financial aid unless, of course, you have substantial assets.</p>

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<p>Agree, icy. The Service Academies are THE most costly institutions of higher education. Graduates pay with their livelihoods and often, their lives. Anyone who thinks they are free rides is delusional.</p>

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<p>I don't include service academies into the cost. That's a horse of a different color. I guess the $20000 merit scholarship is "Generous". I'm just saying that it's probably not generous enough. My son's gpa, ranking, sat/act, etc... are exceptional. That isn't the problem. I was just commenting on Tulane's finances. When we got the acceptance letter and the merit scholarship, the letter included additional sources of college money. Unfortunately, and this is what I'm mainly talking about, they state that if you go for X,Y, or Z aid/scholarships, then you can't have the merit scholarship. With many of the other schools, it didn't matter. I could get 1 from the university and others from the individual college and neither side cared.</p>

<p>Doesn't really matter. I have a couple of other financial options. If they work out, then Tulane is an option. If not, then Tulane isn't an option. Pretty simple when you think about it. My son has a lot of schools who have accepted him. Some full rides. Some not. Tulane is a fine school, but I won't allow my son to accrue $20,000 a year in loans or debt. That isn't an option. Not when so many schools are less expensive and just as good.</p>

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<p>
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but I won't allow my son to accrue $20,000 a year in loans or debt.

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<p>Great advice! No undergrad college is worth that kind of debt.</p>