<p>I had previously posted on the parents board for advice for her, but since it looks like she is leaning towards Tulane, I thought I'd look for more thoughts from people more familiar with it.</p>
<p>Part of her problem is that she isn't sure what she wants to major in. Before heading off to be an exchange student this year, she wanted to go to Georgia Tech and major in Math. She still wants to go to GT, but surprisingly to us it would cost us nearly twice as much as Tulane. She is having a hard time letting go of GT. The problems that she sees with Tulane is that it's smaller than what she really wanted, she's not sure how easy it will be to get a job when she graduates from there, sororities don't have houses that they live in, football isn't as big there as she thinks she wants, and since she isn't totally sure what she wants to major in anymore, she wishes they had more choices. We all know that some of those things are more important than others, but when you are a 17 year old who has been going through a life-changing experience and is trying to make such a big decision without ever getting to visit the Tulane campus, they are all important. The positives for her are that it's in NO, is service oriented, and is well-respected.</p>
<p>She has told me it's where she is going to go, but she won't actually commit. I know part of it is giving up her dream of GT, but she's always known that money might be a factor there. And to be honest, she really had no interest in Tulane back in the fall but was an automatic admit since we are in-state, and then they gave her a bunch of merit and need-based aid making it affordable. She read a lot about Tulane though and decided she might like to go there. I was surprised when she asked me a few weeks ago to go visit it for her but I think that's another way that exchange has affected her - she's more open to other things and might even want to go to college a little closer to home. </p>
<p>If anyone can think of things I can tell her about Tulane to make her more comfortable with it, I sure would appreciate it. And if you know much about GT, comparing them might be helpful too. I'm so ready for this to be done with.</p>
<p>The only thing that confuses me a little is that she wishes Tulane had more choices for majors. Like what? Since it doesn’t sound like she is even considering engineering, where of course GT has a lot more depth, I am not sure what she thinks she might like that Tulane doesn’t offer. So maybe you could clarify that a bit more.</p>
<p>FYI, I was at GT for 3 years in a teaching role. So while I don’t have direct experience from the student perspective, I do know the school. I was Tulane undergrad. They are really different schools. The far higher proportion of STEM majors at GT gives the school a whole different vibe, and the campus is not as “classic” as Tulane’s. I really enjoyed living in Atlanta, but it isn’t nearly as much of a college city as NOLA.</p>
<p>Tulane is building a new football stadium on campus that will be open fall of her 2nd year. While these things are always hard to predict, I think the team is going to be much better and the enthusiasm for football will increase a lot. I’m no expert, but the recruiting class this year looks very good. By the time they are in their 2nd year, I think Tulane could be fielding a bowl eligible team.</p>
<p>Back to academics, Tulane is a great school to explore majors and to double major. The way the school is structured makes it much easier than a lot of others. Tulane also has a pretty strong national network of alums for job prospects, and the new head of Alumni Relations is taking steps to strengthen this even more, which should help her a lot by the time she graduates.</p>
<p>Both very fine schools, but really different. If she is more into the serious tech-oriented atmosphere where it is common to study every weekend, then Tech would be the better choice. If she is looking for a broader, more exploratory experience, then I would say Tulane. Hard to give more specific advice to someone you don’t really know anything about.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that with this year abroad, none of us, including herself, really know who she is or what she wants to do at this point. She has changed, her interests have changed, she looks at things differently. This is part of the reason why I think Tulane could be a good choice for her - as you said, it would be good for a broader, exploratory experience. The choice of majors might be an issue though because I could see her enjoying engineering or computer science if given the chance to explore them but options are more limited there. Besides getting a double major with Spanish, I don’t see her going the way of a B.A. in anything else.</p>
<p>There’s so much to like about Tulane but it’s so hard for her to take the plunge without getting to visit. I just have to keep giving her information without telling her what to do. hahaha It’s hard.</p>
<p>Tulane has hired a number of new comp sci profs and is upgrading the program. While right now it will still be a coordinate major, which means it is interdisciplinary with an established major rather than stand-alone for now, there are plenty of opportunities, and they are with more of an application bent. [Tulane</a> University - Department of Computer Science](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/sse/cs/]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/sse/cs/) And of course for engineering there is Biomedical and Chemical, so if those are of interest she would be in good shape. Also, have her read this if she hasn’t already: [Tulane</a> University - Department of Physics and Engineering Physics - Undergraduate Engineering Physics Program](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/sse/pep/academics/undergraduate/engineering-physics-program/]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/sse/pep/academics/undergraduate/engineering-physics-program/) Might be a “best of both worlds” scenario of her interest in math and engineering.</p>
<p>So while I agree that breadth of Tulane’s program in CS and some engineering areas is not like GT’s, it would give her plenty to chew on as an undergrad. In these areas she would likely be thinking about grad school anyway, since having an advanced degree leads to the best jobs in these fields. Tulane would definitely prepare her well for any grad school.</p>
<p>In short, if she were 100% sure about engineering or CS, I would probably say GT would be the choice unless the atmosphere there just didn’t suit her. But if she wants to at least consider other options, Tulane might be the better bet. Oh, and Latin American Studies is one of Tulane’s strongest areas, so her Spanish could serve her very well.</p>
<p>One issue that you mentioned was cost. Tulane would cost about half, if I recall correctly. Assuming this is true, and further assuming your kid is not in Engineering, this decision seems rather straightforward to me. My kid, like yours, got merit money, and I must confess this helped our decision to pick Tulane!</p>
<p>That’s true, newtrierdad. I rather assumed since they were still considering GT that money was not a critical consideration, but there is no doubt that saving that kind of money is really nice. I have heard of some parents offering their kid deals, like banking half the savings every year into an account for them. That way if they pick post-grad school they have some money to draw on, and if they don’t and they get a job, they have a nice nest egg to help them get started, like a car or furnishing an apartment.</p>
<p>Money is an issue, the only reason GT is being considered at all is because we both loved it so much. At the same time, the only reason she started to seriously consider Tulane is because of the merit and need money they gave her. What keeps going through my head is what my parents always told me - get into a good college that you want to go to and we will find a way to pay for it and a part of me feels like that’s what I should do for her when she clearly loves GT so much. But my D knows that realistically GT costs more than it’s worth compared to her other options but while her head is telling her one thing, her heart is telling her something else. I’m mostly trying to find ways to make her feel good about Tulane so her head and heart can agree. I think we are getting closer to that point - I keep directing her to specific things on the Tulane website that I think will make her feel better about it. By next weekend, she’s going to commit to somewhere!</p>
<p>Cyclone: I totally understand your feeling like you should do the same for your daughter that your parents offered to do for you. But times have changed. My undergrad institution currently has a COA pretty much the same as Tulane’s COA, but when I was in college, the cost was closer to 6,000/year, not 62,000/year. It is just not the same thing even if you discount it back to to the late 1970’s. It sounds like your daughter has a good head on her shoulders. She will make the right decision. You just have to stop feeling guilty about it. When she has that money to burn on grad school, she will be ecstatic - and so will you!</p>
<p>It really is too bad she couldn’t have visited Tulane yesterday. Tulane hosted Crawfest, an amazing event with 12 bands, tons of food, and it was low 70’s and sunny all day. She would have made her decision for Tulane on the spot!</p>
<p>You know, it also occurs to me that she will stand out more at Tulane as well. While there are certainly a number of math and engineering majors in every class, as a percentage it will certainly be less than at GT, where it is probably half or more. Just a thought that might or might not appeal to her.</p>
<p>Is an appeal of GT’s financial award possible? Otherwise it seems neither of these schools is the right choice. Do her other acceptances include a football/sorority school that’s more affordable than GT?</p>
<p>I think I may have mentioned some of this in a response to your previous thread, so apologies for any redundancy. DS spent a summer at Ga Tech (lived with a friend in the friend’s frat on campus). He said afterward that he was very glad he had chosen Tulane and not gone to Tech, as he much preferred the life, the atmosphere and his peers at Tech. OK-- he didn’t care about the tech football, which is big, no doubt about it, and certainly it was a non-issue in the summer. These are both very good, but very different schools. The $11K/yr price difference (plus the cost of travel home for holidays) is not pocket change. </p>
<p>Certainly being a female at Tech has its benefits, no question. Each school has its pros and cons, so the difficult decision is understandable.</p>
<p>Thanks to a careful reading poster with good eyes, it was pointed out to me that I made a typo above. My son preferred his peers at Tulane over his friends at Tech. Apologies for any confusion.</p>