<p>Hi everyone. I got word from Tulane last week about my admittance and I am happy to say I was accepted with a pretty good scholarship :) My first and second choice schools are UMiami and USCalifornia, but Tulane is 3rd for me. I am doubtful about USC because it is a reach even though my brother goes there and my confidence is a little shaken for UMiami after defferals from UIllinois and Case Western. In short, Tulane is a good backup for me. But I recently heard some things about Tulane that I am a little nervous about if I decide to go there. My brother's friend goes there (Class of '15) and he says no internship opportunities are ever available because big companies don't tend to go to Louisiana esp. since New Orleans' mayor frowns upon big companies. Also, I've heard that the area is pretty unsafe and that Tulane's global name isn't exactly big so finding a job afterwards would be a struggle. I plan to major in biology and minor in forensic science btw. So correct me on any of these rumors I've heard and please give pros and other cons about Tulane. Thanks!</p>
<p>Tulane has always been very strong in biology and related fields such as biomedical engineering, neuroscience, etc. if you are planning to go to medical school you will follow in the footsteps of many doctors who successfully applied to top MD programs as Tulane undergraduates. I personally know or have heard of many. If grad school is your goal, Tulane is a major research institution (one of only 50 or so in the prestigous Association of American Universities) offering many opportunities for undergraduates to hook up with professors on research so that they will both gain valuable career experiences as well as references for grad school and beyond. I don’t know what field your friend’s brother is seeking internships in so I can’t react, but “never, ever come to Louisiana” seems a bit overstated. Many companies are based or have major operations in the south and I would imagine that they would not be so foolhardy as to ignore such a selective institution right in their own backyard. That being said, I would go down and get a feel for the place so you could better gauge whether it is a good fit for you. You don’t want to wind up matriculating at an institution that you do not feel good about, as you risk making yourself and others around you miserable. Self deprecation – or deprecation of your own school – is never fun. In any event, I commend you for coming to CC looking for info. You’re obviously playing a smart, thinking person’s game. Best of luck wherever you wind up!</p>
<p>NJDad68- Thanks for the info! I already decided to make plans to shadow a student at Tulane during spring break if I don’t get into UMiami, which I will know by mid February :)</p>
<p>What kind of internship do you envision looking for?</p>
<p>fallenchemist-
I want to intern in a lab, specifically a forensic science lab or anything to do with DNA. I would like to research a lot too and go out of the country for research and lab internships.</p>
<p>OK, then I am not sure that Tulane is at any disadvantage compared to most other schools. When people talk about companies coming to campus for career fairs and internship opportunities, I wonder how often those involve the kinds of positions you are talking about. Maybe I would be surprised, but I rather suspect those kinds of internships come more from you looking for postings on the internet and applying, as well as looking for companies in your area (and being in Westfield, NJ you are close to a fair number) that do this kind of work and reaching out to them. Tulane’s career center can certainly help you with your resume and the process of doing this. As far as going out of the country, I really am not sure how you would go about that for the field you are talking about. I know Tulane does work internationally for environmental and ecological studies, and perhaps there is DNA work involved there, although not forensically I suppose.</p>
<p>There is no question it is different for business students looking for work in finance, accounting, marketing, etc. Companies do recruit for those jobs, and internship opportunities come along with those sometimes too. But for us science geeks, we usually have to do the digging up of these opportunities ourselves. Perhaps I am wrong, maybe at Miami and USC there are scientific companies that actually recruit there for these internships, but I rather doubt it. Certainly local companies might send flyers to be posted on the bulletin boards, but were you planning to stay in Miami or LA for the summers anyway? I would think you would be looking for something in NJ. In which case I am skeptical that those schools would present any advantage over Tulane.</p>
<p>It is of course true that New Orleans doesn’t have the corporate base portfolio that those cities offer. I have no idea about the remarks concerning the mayor, that seems unlikely to me. New Orleans has just never attracted corporate headquarters the way cities not all that far away like Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta have. But Tulane has strong alumni connections to the Northeast, and using those and other tools, along with your own initiative, you should be able to find something interesting to do in the summers. There are certainly tons of research opportunities at Tulane itself for work during the school year and in the summers, some of which is international as I mentioned.</p>
<p>I focused on internships, because for jobs afterwards I wouldn’t imagine you will have an issue because you would have been in New Orleans rather than Miami or LA. Like I said, the kind of job you would be looking for can be found through routine internet searches and so you would be at no disadvantage. I have not usually seen these kinds of jobs recruited for except at scientific conferences, and New Orleans is a popular spot to hold those. That would be another way to look for a position, attending a forensic exposition or other conferences dealing with the scientific area you are focusing on. Those could be anywhere. Chicago, Atlanta, LA, Seattle, Philly…This and all of the above is far more dependent on your initiative than it is where you went to school. At least that has been my experience.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist…Thank you so much for your important. It was very informative. I do think that I would have a different experience from my bro’s friend because I am in a different major. I would love to go to Miami, but Tulane is just as great and I was just worried about the job opportunities. After researching a little more, I think there is a great possibility I will go there.</p>
<p>Both excellent schools, not like you can really go wrong with either. Miami is about twice the size of Tulane for each entering class, IIRC. Let us know what you decide, either way.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist that’s not true! Miami is only about 2000-25000 kids bigger than Tulane! But for the job opportunities, Tulane is very well known and respected for their biology programs and whatnot.</p>
<p>Stacyrobo - You are correct, I see where my error came from. I saw that Miami claimed about 10,500 full time undergrads. I knew Tulane had entering classes of about 1600, so I figured after you account for a 90-91% retention rate that Tulane would have, multiplying by 4, about 6,000 undergrads. I totally neglected to take into account students that take 5 or 6 years to graduate. Very sloppy of me. Miami is about 20% bigger than Tulane.</p>
<p>Okay so I found one com about UMiami and it is the situation with crocodiles. Anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>ROFLMAO. Well, of course they are in the water near campus, but as far as I know there have been no undergrads lost to crocodiles. That’s funny.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist haha yea I was laughing about it at first until I read something that in coral gables a croc snatches a dog. How often is it to find one on campus??</p>
<p>I guess I am not sure which of the bodies of water where they live are actually on campus. I can’t remember from my visits there that clearly. Probably better to ask this on the Miami forum if you haven’t already. But I have always heard that crocs and gators are afraid of people, especially when they are out of the water. So I wouldn’t think they would venture onto the main part of campus.</p>