<p>for tulane im in honors and have a 20,000 scholarship. but either school is affordable</p>
<p>for political science...opinions?</p>
<p>any opinions?</p>
<p>…bump
all opinions appreciated =)</p>
<p>so…anyone???</p>
<p>I would personally pick Lehigh-- its a great school academically and my friend loves it. Tulane is pretty good too, but it does not match Lehigh in prestige, and also while New Orleans is a great place to party, there are dangers too. Parties at Lehigh are great</p>
<p>something i actually heard about lehigh is that sorority life is like THE social scene…does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>I somewhat disagree with Collegepadawan’s statement about prestige. It all depends on where you live. In the Northeast, Lehigh has the advantage, although Tulane draws a lot from NY and Mass, as well as the Mid-Atlantic area. But in the rest of the country Lehigh is not nearly so well known. I would venture to say that in the midwest, for example, Tulane might be more well known. In any case, they are very similar in this regard.</p>
<p>Anyway, my real point in posting is that I had a detailed discussion (fight?) with another poster over this, starting on page 2 of this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/903365-help-give-me-some-insight-my-college-choices.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/903365-help-give-me-some-insight-my-college-choices.html</a></p>
<p>Once you cut through some of the sniping, there is good information for you to look at. See if it helps.</p>
<p>thanks for the link! and im from ny if that helps but i do love the warm weather at tulane!</p>
<p>Both are really good… but Tulane, I think, gets more talk on CC…and I know way more about Tulane so I think its more on the radar. What I do know about Lehigh are these things: good engineering, frats, partying, good school overall.</p>
<p>Lehigh is an outstanding academic institution, one of the Patriot League schools along with Army, Navy, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, American U, and Lehigh’s arch rival Lafayette. The Lehigh-Lafayette football rivalry is the lingest running in the NCAA. Lehigh differs from most American colleges in one significant way: it’s 59% male when so many American colleges are around 55% female. That certainly will affect the atmosphere on campus. I guess some prospective students would like that, otheres dislike it, and to some it would make no difference.</p>
<p>Lehigh is better than Tulane. KY Crusader 75 makes a good point about the gender makeup that I was going to mention as well.</p>
<p>SJUHawk wrote:
What, specifically, do you mean? Based on the tone of your comment, and not knowing too much about Lehigh (I have always read of the school in the context of Engineering, never anything else), I looked up some details:</p>
<p>Ranked 35 vs. 50 for Tulane.
Tulane SAT scores higher by a good margin
Tulane Acceptance rate lower by a good margin,
Lehigh Yield higher by a significant margin
Weather: Personal preference but of course very, very different
Size: Lehigh much smaller, again personal preference as to whether this is a good thing
Sports scene: Don’t know
Social Scene: Don’t know but heard Tulane is quite social, maybe too much so. The 59& male/41% female ratio at Lehigh is, I agree, significant.</p>
<p>So, what specifically do you mean about Lehigh being “better”?</p>
<p>Regarding the rankings disparity, Tulane used to be tied with Lehigh and NYU at 34. It’s only since US News changed its metrics that TU has fallen below the others.
[Tulane</a> University - Tulane Climbs in U.S. News Rankings](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/1997/tulane_climbs_in_us_news_rankings.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/1997/tulane_climbs_in_us_news_rankings.cfm)</p>
<p>I have visited both schools with my daughters who will both be freshmen in college this fall. Ironically, my one daughter was comparing Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell and her twin sister was looking at Tulane vs other schools in the south like Vandy, UNC and Clemson. Neither of them have seen both Tulane and Lehigh to compare, but I have, so I will do my best to give you honest feedback. </p>
<p>First off, have you been to both Lehigh and Tulane? If not, you should really try to! Both are absolutely beautiful campuses and prestigious in their own right. I think we can take that out of the equation as fantastic academics at both of these institutions are a given. They do also share reputations for being serious party schools - but like everything, you need to take what you read and hear with a grain of salt. College kids = drinking. That’s just the way it is at any college unless it seriously religious. You just want to make sure there’s other stuff available should you want it. Okay, enough on my tangent… </p>
<p>I do agree with fallenchemist about Lehigh being known more locally. The same can be said about my one twin’s ultimate choice of Lafayette. When we were at Tulane, our tour group and the current student population we met while there were from all over - lots from the Northeast, Michigan, Georgia, California, China, South Africa, Texas, Florida. I don’t know if that’s the same at Lehigh as our tour there was so early in the process, that piece of info was not as important at the time and we didn’t ask those questions way back then. What I do think that Tulane population tells you though is that the school is known internationally and it’s not a regional player. There were very few from Tennessee and Alabama.</p>
<p>My point with seeing these schools in person is that aside from the obvious weather differences, Tulane is very flat while Lehigh is VERY hilly. It’s gorgeous, but none of the campus is flat at all. While it is very lush and green (so is Tulane - which surprised me on a recent visit to NOLA) there are 100’s of cement steps going from one building up to the next. My daughter thought that this aspect (although maybe minor) would be a deterrent to going to class especially when it snows, rains or is icy in the Poconos - or if you’re hung over. I would have to agree. Others may see the glass as half full and say “yeah, but I’ll have great looking calves!” Depends on your personal preference. </p>
<p>Also the immediate area, down at the base of the hill from Lehigh is really not great…felt a little seedy. The town of Bethlehem was an old steel mill and while there are cute looking shops, my D didn’t feel like it would be a safe area for her to walk around - and she didn’t mean alone, even with friends. Tulane on the other hand, has multimillion dollar homes surrounding the campus including Drew Brees’ residence. Peyton and Eli Manning’s parents home is in an absolutely gorgeous park across the street from the campus with a public golf course that blew me away. I was not expecting that at all! The downtown French Quarter area (and the seedy Bourban St) is accessible by streetcar but is about a 30 minute ride. Just about every student said there was enough to do on campus and in the surrounding area that they rarely went downtown because it’s too touristy and expensive.</p>
<p>So aside from academics both being first rate, the feel and terrain of the campus and surrounding areas are VERY different when looking at these two schools. I’m not sure though how important that kind of stuff is to you. Some of these things are higher on some kids lists than others. But, when it comes down to the wire and you’re looking at the minutia, these details might make a difference. This is the kind of nitty gritty my kids were looking at in the end.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>NJ mom pretty much nailed it. But she forgot to mention that Tulane has Loyola-New Orleans right across the street and Loyola has fabulous students and faculty (some of whom are Tulane alumni), and its a gem of a Jesuit school, so if you want to take a class with them or if you met some nice people there (they have a history professor at Loyola who is the preeminent scholar on all things N’Awlins, a native son and very funny man…a really good egg.)</p>
<p>Sorry, I had Vanderbilt on the brain and meant to say there were very few students we met at Tulane from Louisiana. I believe Lehigh, like Lafayette, attracts a pretty good NJ/PA/NY crowd - but heck, so does Tulane. lol Also, regarding Loyola-NOLA, it’s literally so close to the Tulane campus that I mistakenly thought one of the buildings was Tulane. They both face St Charles St.</p>
<p>A few other things I wanted to add…</p>
<p>Tulane has a tremendous amount of school pride and spirit, however does not have a great basketball or football team or student support for either. Tulane also does not have a football stadium on campus. They use the Superdome which would dwarf fans, even if the entire student body came, and it’s my understanding that they don’t. For my D who wanted a southern school, spirit was enormous for her. In the end, what she meant by this was that she just wanted an atmosphere where students really loved their school. That was all the spirit she needed which actually surprised me. Tulane definitely has that and then some. That being said, the Tulane baseball team has been nationally ranked and my understanding is that the students do go to those games, tailgate in the parking lot and are big fans. The stadium is first rate. I don’t know much about Lehigh athletics other than that their Lehigh-Lafayette football game is fierce!</p>
<p>Also, depending on the social scene you’re looking for, I believe the Greek scene is much larger and dominates at Lehigh whereas at Tulane only about 1/3 of the students are Greek. Again, this is a personal preference. I believe both schools have a delayed rush.</p>
<p>Seems like that delayed rush is becoming quite common, at least at the privates. Haven’t checked at state schools. Tulane usually varies from 25-30% Greek. pretty much as you said nj_mom. Finally, there is a strong proposal that I think will happen to build a stadium on campus. Won’t help out anyone considering Tulane now, most likely. But if they are going to keep trying to compete in D1, this is a good move.</p>
<p>thanks everyone =]</p>
<p>i was actually as lehigh today (for my 2nd visit) and they said greek life is also 1/3 but for girls its about 40%</p>
<p>nj_mom-I agree both schools are very different, but I really do like them both! Also, my twin brother is actually going to Tulane which is a negative in my mind as I guess you would understand seeing as you have twins yourself! And when I visited Tulane I actually did meet people from Louisiana. I did a honors overnight and most people I was with were from the south.</p>
<p>caliornication9… I completely understand the twin thing - in fact not only did mine not want to go together but they also wanted to go to a school where no one from their HS would be going either and as luck would have it, it looks like they’re getting their wish. It was very interesting to watch and I probably could be a millionaire if I would have charged everyone a dollar who asked why they don’t want to be together? In the end, they didn’t even apply to any of the same schools. One wanted close to home and small while the other wanted far away, south, and to wear flip flops 24/7. Academically, the too choices they made - Tulane and Lafayette - are pretty comparable. I’m just glad the process is over for me. Good luck to you. BTW, are you and your twin, male and/or female? Mine are both female and ironically my Lafayette D found a roommate who is a twin and is thinking that this common bond might be an important one when being so far away from her twin for the first time. :)</p>
<p>we’re boy/girl twins</p>
<p>We didn’t apply to all the same schools and I’m the one who wanted to go somewhere warm so its really so weird he’s the one at Tulane.</p>
<p>And I don’t wanna go to school with him because like…imagine being the twin your whole life! i just wanna be known without my brother. I know if we were at the same school my friends would all wanna meet him and I don’t know I just wanna get away from him! The fact that he’s obnoxious doesn’t help either lol</p>