<p>I rarely come here, but when I do I always wonder what the deal is with the people on this site. In the real world most people consider Tulane to be one of the best universities in the south, at least the people that I've met. People always seem to be impressed when they learn that I'm about to graduate from Tulane. So what is it? Does Tulane's reputation exceed the actual level of its academics/ranking(seems like most people view Tulane as being more prestigious than the 44th university in the country) and the kids here are just realists? Or are the kids here simply elitists undervaluing a really good school?</p>
<p>Top Southern??????????????????</p>
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I can feel the flames already
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<p>i dont know much about the schools in the south, but it seems as if a lot of the focus on this site is on the Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>A lot of it has to do with the fact that whereas Tulane carefully evaluates each candidate and admit based on merit, Ivy admissions are more "crapshoot." SO there's more mystique in figuring out how they determine which students are accepted. I'm thinking that that's why so much attention on this site has been deflected in the direction of the ivy leauge schools as opposed to equally prestigious southern schools, like Tulane.</p>
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**equally prestigious southern schools, like Tulane.
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**</p>
<p>How much does it really matter when the determining criterion is prestige? (A screwy way to evaluate an education, anyway.) What really matters is what is best for each person who has a choice to make, and Tulane is pretty terrific for a lot of people.</p>
<p>Hey, Hazmat.</p>
<p>would be watching. Hey to you too!!! Hope all is well.</p>
<p>A lot of people on CC are obsessed with LACs. The rest are obsessed with the top 15 schools in the USNWR rankings. If they ever had a misprint and put the University of Kazachistan in their it would suddenly be infinitely better than the next school on the list. By and large these boards get a lot of posters who probably never had a date to the prom and spent way too much time calculating their gpas and editing their personal statements.</p>
<p>The bottom line is Tulane is too far down in the rankings to elicit any interest from the majority of the posters on CC. It doesn't have much to do with the quality of the school or the students. Also bear in mind that most the posters on CC are from the Northeast or west coast and take a generally dim view of anything south of the Potomac or Est of the San Andreas fault.</p>
<p>Hey you must be my alter ego? hehehe Flame those of us w/o a social ife? ***? I mean I lived my whole life to get into prestige. What do you think I missed at the prom?</p>
<p>It's got a bad rap at my school just because of how aggressively it recruits some students here. My roommate got about 20 e-mails from them, about five of which were after she told them she wasn't interested. e-mails urging you to apply after the official application deadline come off as being rather desperate, which pretty much ruins any prestigious image they might have had.</p>
<p>I'll bet it was just those who didn't attend Prom and spend all their time calculating GPA right? Tell me that is right???? Please........</p>
<p>from what I have found is that most kids on this website are from the northeast and west. So most kids talk about ivy's and school like nyu uchicago and bc. But I agree Tulane is one of the best schools in the south and maybe in the country.</p>
<p>its prestigious but there are people who havent even heard of it...but when you look at the rankings and test scores, percent admitted, etc its a solid school...</p>
<p>It IS funny... Absolutely no one at my son's HS had ever heard of Tulane. But then he came from western NC, and no one at Tulane had ever heard of anywhere near where he came from, either.</p>
<p>BTW, a huge percentage of Tulane's student body is FROM the northeast, FWIW.</p>
<p>Hey, Hazmat--I'll bet you're lying and you were really the Prom King!!!!</p>
<p>I'm from the Northeast, and had always heard it had a good reputation academically.</p>
<p>And this is one Yankee who actually loves the south. People are so much more polite and laid back in the south and southwest. I think winters make us grumpy up here.</p>
<p>it's because most people on this site are extremely uptight and worried about college, while tulane and the students that ultimately go there are on the most part extremely laid back. that's why tulane's board doesn't have the quality or quantity of representation as seen on other board of schools like GWU, that are reality ranked lower. northeastern has a lot of traffic and commentary on its site and people seem really worried about getting in there, but its ranked at the bottom of the usnews list. it's not because of the school itself, but because of the type of student it attracts, etc.</p>
<p>Actually, given how friendly and welcoming everyone at Tulane has been so far - and the amount of merit aid they have offered my own S, I'm happy its not as popular or fretted over.</p>
<p>Better to be at a school that you enjoy that is a good value, than to be at a school you feel you "must" get into because of the prestige, regardless of whether it's right for you or not.</p>
<p>My S's 3 top choices as of now: Tulane, GWU and SUNY Geneseo - are certainly not schools that anyone of this board tends to fret about, but all are great schools that would be a wonderful fit for him, and all will probably be within the realm financially (if GWU makes him a comparable offer financially, and they seem to be generous with merit and grant aid). The other school that would be his top choice were he in-state - UC Berkeley - certainly is obsessed about on this board, but then again, it's a great bargain for California students and a good school to boot.</p>
<p>He wants to go on to law school. Everyone he has spoken to - lawyers included - say the same thing: Find a good undergrad school that you like that you can afford, get the best grades you can, do well on the LSAT and don't run up a huge undergrad debt, because law school is $$$. </p>
<p>I worked in a very monied school district for a while, and several of the students who were so obessed with the Ivies and "name" universities were some of the most self-centered, high strung and unpleasant students I had to deal with. Not all of them, but enough to make me notice.</p>
<p>Rankings are WAY overused especially on this board. Think of them as ranges, just like board scores. There really isn't much difference on paper between the number 15th and number 25th ranked schools. Just find the right fit and the most affordable choice for the individual.</p>
<p>Monstar is right. Tulane is undervalued on this site. I think it's because most posters on CC are from the east or midwest and don't get out much. Call it a lack of sophistication regarding their place in the world. If your whole reality includes only the area where you went to high school then you will obsess over the same "regional status symbols" common to those living there.
I first heard about Tulane as a student at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. And let me tell you, it was all about Tulane down there. It was considered to be as important as Harvard. It was la creme de la creme for political science, law and everything else.
Somehow, my son got word that the whole world doesn't really revolve around
Ann Arbor, and points east. He applied on his own and I was terribly pleased to hear he was accepted.!!!!</p>
<p>unfortunately, prestige does have a lot to do with choosing colleges. i had never heard of Tulane prior to this year... maybe b/c i've lived in Jersey my entire high school career and i only applied b/c they waived the application fee. As it turns out, I was promised admission to Dartmouth College when decisions come out, and even though Tulane and Dartmouth probably do not differ much in terms of the quality of education, I'd definitely choose Dartmouth, just b/c of its reputation. </p>
<p>I know that it's probably really shallow to think that :(</p>
<p>We have a home in Texas that we rent out. We plan on moving there from NY State for good this summer.</p>
<p>In Texas, Tulane is well known and considered an excellent school. Around NY, there is some name recognition, but it is not well known at all. However, now that my S's friends (whose own choices include Cornell, Syracuse and the SUNY system) have heard more about Tulane from him, they are saying, "Dude you gotta go there so we can visit you!"</p>
<p>My good impression of Tulane was only reinforced yesterday during their admitted reception in Westchester. Many parents of current and alum Tulane students spoke of how much they have come to love and value the school. The Honors program my S has been accepted into seems first rate. There were several parents there putting their 2nd and 3rd kids into Tulane, and they spoke very highly of it.</p>
<p>I'm sure it's not for everyone, but for those who can appreciate Southern living and an interesting, non-cookie cutter institution, it's a great fit.</p>