<p>BioMedEng42, I COMPLETELY sympathize with you. So much so, that it’s almost scary. For you see, I’m torn between Tulane (my first choice) and A&M (my second). I want to major in Biomedical Engineering and I feel like Tulane would have more to offer… I guess it all depends on the amount I’d have to pay for either college, but A&M is so much more of a comforting environment to me since it’s so close to home. But when I really think about it, I feel as if Tulane would better suit my interests…</p>
<p>I don’t think you could find two more different environments that TAM and Tulane. Putting aside the fact that TAM is closer to your home, I would think that the smaller size and overall atmosphere at Tulane would actually make it easier to adjust to college life. But not being very familiar with TAM I really cannot say.</p>
<p>I know this will sound like I am trying to find reasons for Tulane (well, I am pro-Tulane after all) but it is a fact that in 98% of the cases even students living close to home start going home less and less after a short time, and usually by sophomore year if not even by second semester they are staying at school the same as if they lived hundreds of miles away. I know it is hard to imagine that now, but this is as true as breathing. I have seen it hundreds and hundreds of times. You get all involved in classes, campus activities, dating…it doesn’t take long before your life revolves around your school as home.</p>
<p>So as someone else pointed out somewhere on this forum, choose based on all the other factors. Besides, transferring into Tulane after freshman year is very hard. Also, the merit scholarship cannot be awarded to a transfer. I may be wrong, but I suspect transferring into TAM is probably more likely, if it came to that. But it wouldn’t. Tulane’s retention rate is about 92% these days, and is moving towards 95% pretty quickly I think. And that is with most students being from over 500 miles away. And of the ones that do transfer or drop out, only a small fraction of them do it because they are homesick. Usually it has more to do with finances, partying too much, or some other reason.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist, I defintely need to visit tulane to see how it compared to TAMU.</p>
<p>Nicolesaysrawr - Thats me EXACTLY except i would say that tulane and tamu are tied. the tamu atmosphere was absoultely fantastic and i felt so comfortable there. i love everyone thats graduated from there and was 100% set. then, i get an actual acceptance letter from tulane, which i wasnt expecting, with scholarship! my parents dont want to pay that much but definitely value a private education versus public. and tamu gives next to nothing for scholarships for ordinary people like me. i love new orleans though, ive been many many times. is there something specific that makes you think tulane has the better biomed program? i felt like it was a&m for some reason, but i dont have any facts to back that up. and i would like to stay in texas as well, most because of the public school cost thing, but i know i could live in new orleans for four years easily as well.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist, I feel that you’re right. It’s not like I see myself coming home all the time anyway. It’s just that my parents have this mindset that I won’t be able to be happy being on my own. And I guess that if being at Tulane really does eat at me my first year, I could just try transferring into TAMU. Although I haven’t had a chance to visit yet, I really do love everything that Tulane is and stands for…and that’s something that I can’t really say about A&M. 
I understand your Tulane bias. It really is a lovely school!</p>
<p>BiomedEng42, I’m not going to lie to you. My whole “Tulane has more to offer me” statement wasn’t just Biomed-related. I think that the university as a whole fits me more. The intelligent students, the fun atmosphere, the philanthropic vision, the study abroad programs, the culture…everything about the school just screams “come here!” 
As for the biomed program, I have read that TAMU is currently ahead of Tulane in terms of BME ([US</a> Biomedical / Bio-Engineering Ranking 2011](<a href=“http://universityreport.net/us-biomedical-bio-engineering-ranking-2011]US”>http://universityreport.net/us-biomedical-bio-engineering-ranking-2011)), but I still have this unending love for Tulane regardless. :D</p>
<p>Rankings are garbage anyway. Trust me, I would say that even if Tulane were ranked #1. In fact, it was ranked #2 for Latin American studies and I will say that is meaningless. Anyone with scientific or similar training can point to dozens of flaws with the whole ranking farce. What I can say with certainty is that both TAMU and Tulane have excellent BME programs.</p>
<p>As far as your statement “It’s just that my parents have this mindset that I won’t be able to be happy being on my own”, that is actually one of the main reasons to go away to school. The degree to which most students change and mature by being on their own is simply remarkable. One of my best friends stayed in our home city to go to school, and actually lived at home. Financial considerations mostly. Honestly, within a semester, and certainly within a year we were so different. To me it seemed like he was still in high school. Maybe that sounds terrible, I don’t know, but that is the way it was. Being on your own really changes you, usually for the better. We all have to grow up sometime, or at least we should. College is the ideal time to do it, and I personally think it is best accomplished being away from home. Just MHO.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (740 M, 800 CR, 730 W)
[</em>] SAT II: 800 Math I, 760 Biology (M), 740 Math II
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School uses a system where 4.0 is A and 4.33 is A+, and I have a 4.07
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5), US Gov’t (5), Calc, Chemistry, Physics, Spanish
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Spanish, World Lit, Psychology
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Soccer (4 yrs), Basketball (4 yrs), Lacrosse (2 yrs), Interact Club (2 yrs) - Secretary, NHS (2 yrs), Science Club (2 yrs)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Babysitting, tutoring
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: various projects ~200 hrs
[<em>] Summer Activities: Intern for local land conservation trust, volunteering, soccer
[</em>] Essays: good!
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: I’m sure they were great
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Probably good
[<em>] Interview:
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[<em>] Intended Major: Molecular Biology
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): RI
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Income Bracket: middle
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none!
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: grades, SATS
[</em>] Weaknesses: ECs
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: This is my first one!
[/ul]</p>
<p>Question: is it too late to apply and get merit-based awards? My stepson would have qualified for one I think, given his stats, but he has not applied yet. Without the merit-based $, we can’t send him there and don’t qualify for any FA. Too late?</p>
<p>Not at all. Merit is available to all applicants, not just EA and SCEA. The only exception is the very top award, the DHS (full tuition), which requires an additional application anyway. But he would be eligible for merit scholarships ranging from $7,500-$27,000 per year. Plus he could apply for the Community Service Scholarship $5,000-$15,000 per year and again, additional application needed) if he is strong in that area as well.</p>
<p>I would have him get his stuff in ASAP though. Like all schools, the pool of merit scholarship money is finite. They might get tighter with the money as January 15 (the RD application deadline) approaches.</p>
<p>^^Thanks so much for the quick reply! Tulane is a great school (2 extended family members attended and loved it) and I’d like for it to at least be an option for him.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those who have been accepted!</p>
<p>I would add that Tulane takes a student’s intent to attend very seriously, so he will need to make a strong case as to why Tulane is a real choice for him, and not just a “safety” or whatever. Not applying early makes that even more important. Having family members that can tell him about it helps, but researching the school and seeing it in person is even better of course.</p>
<p>I agree with the rankings thing, its all about money. and i feel absolutely no need to stay close to home at all. i am not an emotional person really. leaving for college is not intimidating in the slightest, so the distance thing isnt a factor for me. i think im leaning towards tamu right now… i dont want to pay private tuition. im not going to med school. sometimes i feel like a private education is just not worth the cost. but i am still going to go to a special program there in march where i attend class for a day. who knows, i may love it! but i dont think the extra fourteen thousand year would be worth it now that ive thought about it more. </p>
<p>nicolesaysrawr - have you been to nola? </p>
<p>fallenchemist - i totally see that roommate situation in a few of my friends that are probably going to utd or unt. i cant wait to leave home. my parents cant wait. that would NEVER be me even if i stay in texas people tell me all the time that i dont fit in at high school because im too old. but thats okay, i find them immature sometimes (:</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): didn’t send
[</em>] ACT: 34
[<em>] SAT II: Math II: 730 Lit: 670
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school doesn’t do UW, but W it’s a 4.45
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/262
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on APUSH and English Lang
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, Honors Physics, Honors Biotech, World Lit, Advanced Writing, Honors International Relations
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 4th in the state on the National Italian Exam (15th in the country or something like that)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): A bunch, very varied. Look at my old chances thread for a list.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Two jobs
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: >100 hours
[<em>] Summer Activities: none
[</em>] Essays: solid! I honestly don’t even remember which one I sent to Tulane. I think it was the one about my love for cooking and relation to engineering.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: So great. Personal, wonderful.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Awesome, my counselor loves me.
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[</em>] Interview: N/A
[/ul] Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[</em>] Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Rhode Island
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: Large, competitive public (one of the best in the state)
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: >150k
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Uh, female engineer if that counts. Other than that, nothing.[/li][/ul] Reflection
Strengths: ACT score, rank, recs, essay</p>
<p>What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: My passion, basically. How I love to do a lot of different things.</p>
<p>Weaknesses: Lack of APs/not the hardest possible schedule, subject tests, lack of national awards</p>
<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ACT score, essay</p>
<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: So far, nowhere!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I have not. 
I was supposed to visit this Summer, but my dad bailed because he couldn’t stand the idea of me visiting a school that he didn’t approve of. But I’ll make sure that I visit either Thanksgiving or Winter Break, even if I have to drive to NOLA on my own. There’s no way I’m going to a school that I haven’t seen first-hand…</p>
<p>Nicole-Please visit Tulane when school is in session. If you go when they are on break, you will see a bunch of buildings and not really get a feel for the place.</p>
<p>My D was accepted today one week after app complete. 30 ACT her school does not report GPA but it is a low A- . Rigorous curriculum in math/sci interested in ChemE. From the northeast. Waiting for the envelope to see what $ might be offered.</p>
<p>Forgot to say the GPA is UW and she has a good deal of service through girl scouts including gold award</p>
<p>Just got my acceptance 
don’t know about scholarships yet, cause it was just online. My GPA is 3.65 weighted but 3.8 weighted without my freshman year. 2150 SAT 33 ACT</p>
<p>Vitrac, unfortunately I don’t think that this will be possible. My school only grants two excused college days to four-year universities in Texas. There’s no way for me to visit other than on a certain break. I think that if I am accepted, that will give my parents and/or me the drive to definitely visit the school.</p>
<p>just say you’re ‘sick’ i feel like that rule is ridiculous. at least like three days you know? plano also only allows two.</p>
<p>Biomed - Sounds like you are thinking this through quite rationally. TAMU would be a good choice of course, especially if it is significantly less money. Just keep an open mind since you really can’t know what the money situation will be until you see the FA packages in March. By then you will have spent time in both places as well, so you will have as complete a picture as one can usually get.</p>
<p>I also agree that Nicole should just have a “sick day” on a Friday. Leave for NOLA Thursday right after school, spend Friday at Tulane, maybe Saturday in NOLA seeing what life is like around campus on a weekend day, then head back. I am loathe to so openly suggest lying about why one is absent, but I also agree that sometimes the rules are so egregiously stupid that it can be justified. This is one of the most important decisions one makes in their life, also one that involves tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. One should not have to make it blindly when there is absolutely no good reason to have to.</p>
<p>People don’t even spend $20,000 on a car without a test drive. This is far more money and there is more at stake (non-monetarily) than a car, yet they make it that hard to have time to visit schools while they are in session? Because Vitrac is right, visiting only during a break or on a weekend when you cannot sit in on a class or two and see the real dynamics of a typical day is not as valuable.</p>