<p>Pizzagirl: Sorry you found my post redundant. I’m sorry. I guess I was just trying to outline the parameters I use in making a decision. I guess it did go over ground already reviewed. I wasn’t referring to the specific answers per se but how I would categorize variables.</p>
<p>No problem! It’s just that I think RTR is asking some very specific questions about this specific set of schools and situation, not trying to generalize “how would one go about answering the question of private u versus less-expensive state flagship.”</p>
<p>RTR-
You mentioned that your s had strong EC’s. If some of them were community service based, I would strongly encourage him to apply for a community service scholarship at Tulane. If his SATs were really strong, its worth a shot to apply for the DHS as well. He may well be selected for one of these scholarships and your decision will be much easier!! The Community service scholarships range from about $5-15K/yr, and the DHS is full tuition, as I am sure you know. Will your s be a NMF? That is an automatic $2k scholarship at Tulane. Good luck!!</p>
<p>mythmom: you made me chuckle…UMichOOS at $45,000COA over Emory at $50,000COA…I don’t think this was an economic decision similar to the one the OP is referring to…</p>
<p>It was five years ago when the differences between the two were wider. The young woman saved her parents $10K a year, and since it was all full-freight, she did think it was significant.</p>
<p>She agonized, and in the end, that was her decision because of money.</p>
<p>My family had an entirely different set of perameters to look at.</p>
<p>I agree with Pizzagirl that Tulane has a reputation and popularity that goes way beyond USNWR’s inane criteria (PA in particular). In Tulane’s case, just like with competitive LACs, knowledgeable students and parents could care less what USNWR says and go with their own criteria and ratings.</p>
<p>We may be in a similiar situation at the end of the process. We have decided that if the difference was $10,000 or less that we would seriously consider both schools. If more then we will pass on the higher priced school. We’ll see if it’ll be as easy as it sounds!!</p>
<p>If the student is undecided, I would have concerns about paying full freight for Tulane. After Katriana, Tulane eliminated many majors and reduced offerings in others (my daughter was a freshman at Tulane at the time), so I wouldbe concerned that he would become interested in a subject he couldn’t study at Tulane.</p>
<p>Now, if he wanted pre-med, architecture, business or Latin American studies, Tulane should be a serious contender.</p>
<p>Also, like MOWC I never met anybody at Tulane that didn’t have some kind of scholarship.</p>
<p>My daughter turned down University of Florida for Tulane. UF would have practically been free: in-state tuition, Florida Pre-paid and Bright Futures Scholarship. Tulane offered a lot of merit money, so the differential you are referring to is comparable. Here’s what we are paying for: comfort with size of student body and campus size; culture not dominated by sports, class size (her intro econ class has 50 students, at UF the intro classes have between 500-700 students), community service emphasis and the energy of city life. She needed a smaller more personal school in order to excel, even if it cost more money. By the way, the USNWR rankings are similar for the 2 schools, so we are not paying for rank.</p>
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<p>Is Tulane business really that special? That is the major he is considering at this point, but again, one never knows…</p>
<p>RTR, an important intangible is how badly your student wants the particular school. If it is their “dream” school, then helping them follow their dream is pretty satisfying for the parent. We are full pay. We addressed the cost issue with our kids by having them be responsible for 10% of the costs (tuition, room, board, books). The difference between $1,000/year versus $5,000/year is a lot to an 18-year old but not insurmountable. We felt that parameter helped them own the cost factor directly. If they decided on a more expensive school, they wouldn’t feel guilty about costing mom and dad a lot of money because they were sharing in the pain. </p>
<p>In practice, our kids are frugal types and they both happily picked low cost choices. But, it was 100% their decision. At one point our older son was considering UC Santa Barbara because of the soccer and the beach. He ended up at our in-state flagship. Even though the vibe of UCSB probably would have been a better social fit for him than the heavy greek scene at his college, he knew he was making that compromise based on cost and was willing to live with it. </p>
<p>The younger one wanted big football and didn’t particularly like the only in-state choice that woud give him that (and would have been a reach stat-wise anyway). He was undecided on major and initially considered some of the same big publics your son is looking at, each with a different major in order to secure in-state tuition through the academic common market. He figured if he were undecided, he might as well pick anything and just see how it goes. While we/he would see a jump in costs if he changed his major to one not accepted by the ACM, we wouldn’t be any worse off than if he had picked a non-ACM major to start with. So far (freshman) he adores both his school and his major.</p>
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<p>I don’t think it’s better than The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business [The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration](<a href=“http://www.cba.ua.edu/”>http://www.cba.ua.edu/</a>)</p>
<p>I don’t know what area of Business Admin your son might be interested in, but Alabama has many strong business programs, including MIS, Accounting, Finance, International Business, Statistics, Operations Mgmt, Healthcare Mgmt, Marketing, and others. </p>
<p>I think Alabama could be a better choice for your son. It has a super business school, strong academics, a gorgeous campus, a super nice rec center, many campus dining venues, the desired “rah rah,” awesome “Super Suites” residence halls with PRIVATE bedrooms within a 4 bedroom suite that has a living room, a kitchenette, and 2 bathrooms (scroll down for all pics) [Housing</a> & Residential Communities - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/ridgecrestsouth.cfm]Housing”>http://housing.ua.edu/ridgecrestsouth.cfm) (honestly, when kids tour the campus and see the residence halls, many say, “that’s it, I’m going to Alabama.” LOL</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the Virtual Tour <a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;
<p>The OOS total Cost of Attendance (COA) for UA is also lower than most OOS publics - about $31k per year [Estimated</a> Semester Budget](<a href=“http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html]Estimated”>http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html) That COA includes those “Super Suites”. A student could reduce their COA by choosing less expensive campus housing, if desired.</p>
<p>** An out-of-state student who attends UA recently posted on CC that… “UA is recruiting the best and brightest students nationwide. For many students, it is the money that first interests us in Alabama, we visit, and then we get hooked.” **</p>
<p>BTW…UA also offers OOS merit scholarships for those who qualify and who apply to the school and apply for scholarships by Dec 1. [Out-of-State</a> Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html]Out-of-State”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html)</p>
<p>I would suspect the student body at Alabama would be very different from the student bodies to be found at Tulane, UMD, UConn and UDel. I’m not talking about academically, but socially. You’re comparing schools with a very northeast feel and northeast sensibility to a southern school. That would be one thing to take into account and see how my kid felt about those things.</p>
<p>^^^^
Since I’ve been on both Tulane’s campus and UA’s campus many times, I wouldn’t agree with that assessment. Because UA draws heavily from the children of transplants of high tech employees, it has a much more cosmopolitan “feel” than a typical southern campus. Many UA students may be “in-state,” but they’re not natives.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>OK, I’ll defer to your assessment but I have to be honest, if I were a Jewish kid from the northeast (and I have no idea if RTR is Jewish or not), I’d have a hesitation about U of Ala that I wouldn’t have about Tulane or the other schools listed. Maybe I’m completely off base.</p>
<p>I’m no Tulane expert and haven’t followed this thread closely, but I did attend a recent (impressive) recruiting session and was given literature with these numbers on geographic diversity of enrollment for 2009 freshman class:</p>
<p>Northeast – 33%
Midwest – 16%
Louisana – 14%
West – 11%
Southeast – 9%
Texas – 7%
Florida – 5%
Midsouth – 4%
Intl – 1%</p>
<p>mom2collegekids-
I know you have 2 at UofA. Are you a recruiter?? LOL. And I must say, I am wowed by your 2,365 posts in just over a month on CC. Took me several years to hit that post count!!</p>
<p>I too have been on both Bama and Tulane campuses many, many times and feel they are very different campuses and environments in very different locales. My daughter was one who was heavily recruited by U of Alabama due to NM status but did not like aspects of the campus and did not like Tuscaloosa. One concern I had as a parent is that many of the practicum sites in her major for internships were located in Birmingham so she would have an hour commute each way to take advantage of those opportunities. I also know two boys who chose UA and came back to in state schools after one year.</p>
<p>It’s all personal preference but I love the Tulane campus and area and I agree that the business school there is quite strong. Among my colleagues, Tulane carries more prestige than UA.</p>
<p>Anyway, the OP’s predicament is with respect to Tulane vs UMD, UConn, UDel and Penn State, so perhaps U of Alabama just isn’t relevant. She knows her parameters already.</p>
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<p>No, I’m not. I just have some “down time” as I spend time with someone who’s battling stage 3 cancer.</p>
<p>And, I think Tulane is a fine campus, I have a niece there. (Heck, with nearly 50 nieces and nephews, I have a relative nearly everywhere… LOL )</p>