<p>^ I concur with this assessment of both the schools that are similar to Tulane, and on Virginia Tech being dissimilar. I went to the Virginia Tech campus on several occasions when I was in graduate school to do some research related to my thesis; and a friend who had attended as an undergraduate referred to the town hosting Virginia Tech as “Bleaksburg” (instead of Blacksburg). Maybe it was because I was there in the early part of the year; but I had to agree with her – lonely, cold, and dreary. Totally different from NOLA!</p>
<p>I think it has been established already that most of us think Virginia Tech is not that similar to Tulane. But Blacksburg has its own charms and most Virginia Tech students love their school and love Blacksburg. It was just rated as being in the top 5 for having the happiest students so most students do not seem to find it “lonely, cold, and dreary.” Cold , yes, at times as are many schools. Blacksburg is actually a small town and connected to Christiansburg. There are all the usual restaurants, shops, etc. that you would find in any college town. It is certainly not in a city like New Orleans, but not everybody is looking for that. And I have been to New Orleans and think it’s a great city.
Princeton Review ranking of colleges with the happiest students: 1. Vanderbilt 2.Claremont McKenna 3.Clemson 4. Tulane 5. Virginia Tech </p>
<p>My understanding is that Washington University in St. Louis is ranked #9 by Princeton Review on the list of happiest students. </p>
<p>However, WUSTL is much harder than Tulane to get into. Higher SAT and ACT scores, etc…</p>
<p>How similar is Umiami to Tulane? I’ve never seen the two associated before.</p>
<p>Applying to Tulane soon, but could definitely use some more schools like it!! Maybe in a lower/same range?
When i visited, I loved the school and the people and the area. But the weather…not so sure about. What are some schools like Tulane that are maybe aren’t in the South? </p>
<p>@alkat3
For some reason Tulane seems to be on the same list as Boston University for a lot of students. Personally, I don’t think there is much similarity, but you might look into BU.</p>
<p>Rhodes College in Memphis is sort of like a small Tulane. Still in the South, however. Great school, nevertheless.</p>
<p>what about clemson? lacking one of the great american cities, of course. brandeis? fordham? Temple? Bryn Mawr? UMiami? </p>
<p>As a Tulane grad, I find some of these responses really puzzling. Syracuse, Brandeis, Fordham? Similar to Tulane in that Jewish students from the Northeast are well-represented, but I can’t think of many similarities beyond that. As a Washington, DC-area resident… Howard? Virginia Tech? SMH, as my daughters would say. Absolutely not. As others have noted, I do think it’s well-established that Tulane has many common applicants with Miami and BU. I don’t see why, but clearly many students do see similarities between the schools. What comes to my mind are schools such as Vanderbilt, WUSTL, Northwestern and perhaps Rice. The big difference is that those schools are clearly more selective and, I imagine, more academically intense. NROTCgrad said that, if one relaxes the size criterion, perhaps Rhodes is like a small Tulane. Building on that, I’d suggest that if you relax the size criterion in the other direction, UCLA (which I also attended) and USC may be similar to a big Tulane.</p>
<p>All that said, the comparison that rings the most true to me by far is Emory.</p>
<p>any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>What about Hofstra University on Long Island?</p>
I think that Case Western Reserve is pretty similar to Tulane University. CWRU has more guys than girls and it has a focus on STEM, but other than that they are similar in size and Cleveland is a pretty nice city in my opinion. CWRU is definitely less of a party school…
What about SMU in Dallas?
There was a comment above about Boston University vs Tulane.
I graduated from BU long ago, and transferred there from Tulane.
So yes they are on radar of similar students, but I felt strongly enough that they differ,
to actually transfer from one to the other.
Having spent only a single year at Tulane, and long ago, I am not an expert,
but I concur with another comments above, New Orleans is absolutely unique.
Location wise, you simply cant find anything similar. Whether that is a good or bad
aspect is a matter of opinion. Personally I hated NOLA and that was my main
reason for leaving. I loved Tulane, hated NOLA. Very high crime rate when I was there,
and just did not love the city at all. Can’t say I’m not a city person, BU was an even
more urban campus, just a much nicer city. Tulane did have great academics,
loved my professors.
Back then I did consider Vanderbilt, peers maybe in being southern
private colleges, but I hear Nashville is a nicer town. Did not know that back then.
I am not sure rankings should mean much, what makes one person happy does not work
for another. It may have been ranked happy, but I was NOT happy at Tulane, was VERY happy
at BU. And people complained BU was tougher grade wise, yet I still liked it better.
You need to consider geography, would you only be happy in a warm climate ?
I thought that was important to me, but later decided differently.
Overall, after spending a year of my life at Tulane, I think it’s pretty unique and couldn’t
really say what else is close. Sorry but did not mean to turn you off to Tulane,
many others did like it there, just didn’t feel right for me. Most of the other schools
discussed are either in bigger cities, more urban, or more rural/suburban, Tulane
is in the middle, in a residential part of a mid sized city. You could argue best of both worlds,
though I didn’t find that desirable. Peers for you are one direction or the other, more urban or less.
Academically easy to find comparable schools, at least on paper.
As others have said, its hard to compare Tulane to schools not in NOLA, as yes, the city is an integral part of the experience, and the city is unique. DS#2 (who graduated form Tulane) also applied to UNC-Ch Hill, Vandy and Emory. He started his application to CMC (Claremont McKenna) but never finished the application. People do cross apply to U Miami ( as in Miami, FL, not talking about Miami U in Ohio). The warm weather is a part of the ambiance of the school. As for comparing it to Rice, I don’t see them as all that similar (DS#1 went to Rice) though being a campus within a city in the south and having D1 sports that could use greater student support is similar.
This thread is 2 years old so I assume the OP is enrolled somewhere. If you are looking to attend a school in a unique city I suggest McGill University on Montreal. An English university in a bilingual city in a French province. For McGill students Montréal is an integral part of the experience. (In terms of weather and crime Montréal and New Orleans are polar opposites.)
OOh good catch, @Empower . Didn’t notice that it was an old, bumped thread.