<p>cheers, just copied and saved your New Orleans description for my junior s.</p>
<p>cheers - heidi reminded me to thank you. I emailed it to S, who is off to Tulane next year, telling him it would enrich his experience.</p>
<p>Of course, that means he has to actually read it :rolleyes: .</p>
<p>Curiouser--there's no doubt in my mind, Tulane is the way to go.</p>
<pre><code>Geography is one of those majors that could turn out to be nothing like what he thinks it would be. It is heavily influenced by the school; at JHU it's in the engineering school (environmental engineering). At more LA oriented schools it could be an "add-on" to Poly Sci or folded into international relations, or economics. It is truly one of those interdisciplinary subjects that is completely integrative in nature.
That said, I confess my prejudice that majors such as this are generally not very good at the undergraduate level. Also in this group are city planning, bioengineering, etc. IMO these subjects are all about merging information, theory, reasoning styles and methods from conflicting disciplines, and it cannot be done well at the undergraduate level because at that age & experience, one simply does not know enough about the world. What winds up happening (and please, I am not criticizing any particular undergrad geography program) is that the undergraduate major gets smatterings of this and that, without the deeper knowledge to draw on.
</code></pre>
<p>Here's what I suggest: Look at the required courses for the undergrad major at school B (UGa? I missed that). You will no doubt see some general introductory courses, and all the rest will be coming from one perspective or another--environment, economics, climate, politics, history--something. Tulane will offer comparable courses if you look through the catalogue; take some in each basic discipline, decide what he likes best and major in that. Electives can be chosen to fit into the geography theme; that way he will be prepared for "real life," and for grad school if he likes (much better prepared than an undergrad geog major). </p>
<p>If this doesn't make sense to S, feel free to email me privately. I remember when I was in a somewhat similar situation. Best wishes.</p>
<p>I'm more concerned with what the academic cultures are at schools rather than the avg. SATs, curricula, etc. Your son will be more influenced by the normative influence of his peer group than by his professors or coursework - distressing perhaps, but true.</p>
<p>That said, it's my humble opinion that the prevalent culture at U.Ga. is not one that's particularly supportive of the intellectual life. Are there intelligent students? Of course. Fine faculty? Yes, though it'll be hard to get much of their attention with the class sizes. But when your son is out of class, the focus of his peers' attention is most likely going to be on the Athens alternative rock scene, parties, beer, and "Dem Dawgs." Personally, I enjoy all four, but it's not much of a diet for intellectual growth and personal development.</p>
<p>Are things different at Tulane? Well, it's a pretty prominent party location as well, but it's more personal, more selective, and it's far more difficult to be anonymous there. Anonymity in the college experience is in general, a bad thing. It allows post-adolescent / pre-adults to follow one anothers' leads without accountability. You could make good choices or bad choices at either place, but I'd choose Tulane. My kids all have the tuition-free option at U.Ga. too and they've decided not to pursue it.</p>
<p>. . . also, I'll bet you dinner in the French Quarter right now that your son's undergraduate degree will be in a field other than Geography. The odds of sticking with one liberal arts field before you've explored them all are very small.</p>
<p>Thanks wyogal--you made a great point about the interdisciplinary nature of geography. We have said all along to both our kids that grad school would likely be in their future, so it's not an inconsequential thing to consider how it plays into the decision.
We actually did review the coursework at Tulane....sure enough, you are right. I showed my S that many of the same "geography" type classes were in different departments. I suspect he may be leaning toward Tulane right now. I don't know if I can pm/email you or not, but I will if I can. I would love to hear about your perspective.</p>
<p>gadad--your post was particularly helpful, especially since you are familiar with UGA. Your points about the environment there are PRECISELY what he has misgivings about. As much I too would love to visit UGA and get swept up in Dawg fever, I believe in my heart that a smaller school with broader cultural exposure would provide a much richer experience over all. I agree that most of the learning in college indeed comes from beyond the classroom.</p>
<p>I have shown S all the posts here. I know I have found them useful. He is a man of few words (at least when I wish he wasn't), but I sense he's finding them of great value at this juncture in his decision making.
I love this board......................</p>
<p>To all:
Thank yous to everyone here...the posts here were insightful and helpful.
S decided yesterday and he chose Tulane. We are really enjoying the moment...what a relief to have the decision behind us. I'm hoping he never looks back. And I do believe he made the right choice for him--which is what really matters. </p>
<p>So let the celebration begin. I'm so looking forward to worrying about the little things.....XL sheets or not, etc!</p>
<p>curiouser,</p>
<p>My daughter is down to 2 schools. One is Tulane and the other is our state university. I appreciate all of the comments here, and will share them with her as you did with your son.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>curiouser: Good news (and a great decision)!! All the best to your son.</p>
<p>BTW, curiouser, don't buy the XL twin sheet set until you know which dorm he'll be in. We bought some when JCP had the good ones on sale last year and now ours will be in Butler, where the beds are regular length. (I guess he'll have to unscrew his head before he goes to bed!)</p>
<p>Curioser - good luck to your son. If you are interested, there have been some good threads on restaurants in NO, or PM me and I'll give you an idea of restaurants and places to stay on a visit - that is if you aren't in the area, wasn't UGA in state?</p>
<p>Congrats on the decision being made. Mine is also struggling with making a decision. She was down to GWU, Tulane and Univ of Denver and has now eliminated GW. So we are down to 2 and the days are passing quickly.
What made him decide on Tulane?</p>
<p>curiouser, I had a S that also turned down tuition-free, plus extra $ at UGA. The $ part I do regret, but he has had a wonderful 4 years at his present school. It was definitely a better choice for him and I know he is very happy with the decision.</p>
<p>mom60--</p>
<p>My middle son is interested in visiting University of Denver next fall to check it out. What can you tell me about it?</p>
<p>Is it beginning to look like we need to think about an "unveiling" at Parent Weekend and/or move-in day at Tulane? It seems like a lot of us will be there. We will need some sort of secret cc code id on our "Hello my name is.." tags.</p>
<p>Parents also note: I already had some hotel choices not available for Parent Weekend; no trouble yet for move-in/Orientation. We have the Hampton Inn set for move-in (nice because there's free parking and we will have a car, for once); they're already booked for Parent Weekend.</p>
<p>It was Tulane last night but by this morning she wasn't sure.</p>
<p>mom60,</p>
<p>Tulane is one of the 2 final choices for my daughter also. The other is the U of Illinois. Unfortunately she changes her mind every few minutes.</p>