<p>My child is struggling between these two schools. He's interested in studying neuroscience and has been granted similar financial packages. </p>
<p>Any help BEYOND the obvious (like weather!) would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>My D is a Neuroscience major at UR and her experience so far has exceeded my (and her) expectations. UR has on faculty some the founders of the field of neuroscience. They literally wrote the neuroscience textbook used at many universities.</p>
<p>There is crossover with the medical faculty from Strong Hospital/Univ of Rochester Medical School. D has a prof of psychiatry and neurology teaching her neuropsychology course this spring. </p>
<p>UR also hosts regular seminars on topics in neuroscience with big name invited speakers. Last week UR hosted one of the leading researchers in neuro-prosthetics. Students are exposed to cutting edge stuff happening the field. </p>
<p>There are also abundant opportunities for students to engage in neuro research at UR.</p>
<p>My D began working in cognitive neuro lab ([CAOs</a> Laboratory](<a href=“http://caoslab.bcs.rochester.edu/]CAOs”>http://caoslab.bcs.rochester.edu/)) at the beginning of her sophomore year. She is using fMRIs to help study how children develop math cognition. So D is not only administering fMRIs on human subjects, she is learning to interpret them them and do data analysis of the results. Her PI’s research on math cognition was featured in the November 2009 issue of Discover and has been drawing a great deal of national and international attention. </p>
<p>Other neuroscience students are doing “wet” science–examining dendrites and brain microanatomy.</p>
<p>D–still a sophomore–has now progressed onto an independent project of her own (under her PI’s supervision) that will result in an honors thesis at the least and possibly a publication. </p>
<p>Students are strongly encouraged to do research and to branch out into their own projects. There is funding available through the school for student projects. (This is important. Not all schools actively fund student research. Most often, a student will work a small portion of a larger project using the PI’s funding.)</p>
<p>UR has also just gotten approval (and funding) to develop its own primate cognition lab. The monkeys will be arriving this summer and the lab should be functioning by fall semester. </p>
<p>UR students also have to opportunity to volunteer at Strong Hospital across the street from River Campus. D has been getting practical, hands-on experience in the neuro rehab program working with stroke and brain injury patients. She even sits on weekly case review with the treating physicians and therapists.</p>
<p>UR offers two different neuroscience tracks. </p>
<p>There is the Bio track ([Undergraduate</a> Neuroscience Program](<a href=“http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/neuro/index.html]Undergraduate”>Neuroscience : Undergraduate Programs : Brain and Cognitive Sciences : University of Rochester)) and the BCS track ([About</a> Brain & Cognitive Sciences](<a href=“http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/about/index.html]About”>Overview : About Us : Brain and Cognitive Sciences : University of Rochester)). </p>
<p>Brain & Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary program that combines biology, computer science, and a smattering of philosophy.</p>
<p>UR gets over 2x the research funding Tulane receives. Something like $400M to $160M. That shows the scale.</p>
<p>Rochester is designated as a R1 (major research) university by the Carnegie Foundation.</p>
<p>Tulane is not.</p>
<p>If your son is research-oriented–this means a great deal.</p>
<p>Actually, as best I can tell, both Tulane and UR are Carnegie Foundation RU/VH (Very High Research Activity) universities. I don’t believe the R1 classification exists anymore and has been replaced.
Perhaps I’m wrong on this.
[Carnegie</a> Classifications | Standard Listings](<a href=“Carnegie Foundation Classifications”>Carnegie Foundation Classifications)</p>
<p>It appears that the system changed in 2000 though some schools still regard themselves as R1, R2. R1=RU/VH today and Tulane is among those schools as is Rochester. Just a clarification.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, Neuroscience was an extremely popular major when I attended Tulane. My guess is that it’s the same case today. I recommend contacting someone directly within the Neuroscience department about research opportunites at both schools. I’m in finance so I’m only familiar with Rochester on the Finance and Econ side (both of which it’s very strong in) so I’m unfamiliar with their neuroscience program. </p>
<p>Faculty looking for research assistance:
<a href=“http://neuro.tulane.edu/undergraduate/documents/RESEARCH_FACULTYNovember2009.pdf[/url]”>http://neuro.tulane.edu/undergraduate/documents/RESEARCH_FACULTYNovember2009.pdf</a></p>
<p>Neuroscience Association:
[Tulane</a> University Neuroscience Program - Undergraduate: Tulane University Neuroscience Association (TUNA)](<a href=“http://neuro.tulane.edu/undergraduate/tuna.php]Tulane”>http://neuro.tulane.edu/undergraduate/tuna.php)</p>
<p>Best of luck to your child in school!</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, Tulane lost a great deal of its laboratory equipment, including research animals, during Katrina. I don’t know if it’s been replaced or if they’re still in the process of rebuilding.</p>
<p>As far as I know, the laboratories were largely undamaged. Certain departments on the uptown campus might have had some damage but I think most faired pretty well. The eastern portion of the campus was what was most damaged/flooded. That mostly included certain dorms and the athletic facilities. Those have been replaced and/or improved. </p>
<p>Laboratory animals are housed at a separate unit however that’s a great question. Without electricity and staff, not to mention clean water, I’m not sure how they survived. I know for the medical school, some staff stayed behind to care for animals. That may have been the case with the other lab animals as well. I’m not sure how many animals were lost. As an aside, the New Orleans zoo only lost a beaver,otter or some other similar animal (I don’t remember.) </p>
<p>Tulane-wise, the equipment as well as animals are back to pre-katrina levels and are actually now in better condition than pre-storm. So the equipment that was damaged will be all new. </p>
<p>One of the reasons that the university’s president has gotten so many awards recently is the way the school bounced back on its own so quickly while other schools struggled more. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of President Cowen before the storm but he has truly done a fantastic job with the recovery as well as moving past recovery and into growth beyond pre storm levels. He’s even mandated Tulane help the city including a service requirement for all undergraduate students as well as community health clinics (though this was done through the medical school faculty more so than through the President’s office.) </p>
<p>The best way to assess the damage done to Tulane (and New Orleans for that matter) is to visit the campus. You should always visit a campus anyways, particularly for undergrad where you’ll be there for 4 years, to see how you feel there. </p>
<p>I ran by Tulane the other day and it actually looks much nicer than when I had gone there 10 years ago. Somehow everyone looks so much younger than I remember though. lol.</p>
<p>The damage Chevda heard about was at the med school. The uptown campus survived pretty well, and as Benetode so correctly states, things are actually better than pre-Katrina except for some damaged archival documents that were lost.</p>
<p>The med school is also back on solid footing, although some research that was compromised by the storm cannot be replaced. But that has been put behind everyone and they have moved on to new research.</p>
<p>I’m very glad to hear that my information was partially incorrect, and that the school has recovered. As a Northerner, all I know is what I’d heard on the news.</p>