Tulane Honors or UCLA? Please give advice!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm almost positive that my college choices are down to Tulane with the Honors program and a $25,000/year scholarship or UCLA. Please help me with my decision. I'll end up deciding for myself, but anything that people can tell me to help is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>-I'm not 100% sure what I want to study yet, but I was admitted to UCLA for the Pre-Business Economics major and I would possibly study business at Tulane.
-I work hard at academics but I also really like to have fun, so I would prefer a school with a good party scene
-I think that out of state tuition for UCLA is around $35,000/year while tuition for Tulane is about $21,000/year with the $25,000/year merit scholarship that I have. However, money is not a problem in my family
-I have deep ties to the city of New Orleans and have visited many times, because my parents are both from there and I have many relatives still living there. I absolutely love the city. I have visited Los Angeles and I like that city as well, although of course I don't know it nearly as much as I know New Orleans.
-I plan on studying abroad for sure at one point, maybe in my junior year
-I am almost fluent in Spanish, so I want to take the highest courses possible in Spanish. Also, I would like to learn another language. I don't know how flexible Tulane and UCLA are, but I want to be able to take language courses along with being able to complete the requirements for my major.</p>

<p>Sorry this is long, but please help me. I know I'm going to end up deciding for myself, but any thoughts that y'all have will be beneficial to me.</p>

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<p>Well, this is kind of an interesting one, although in some ways in shouldn’t be too hard for you, once you decide which kind of atmosphere you really prefer. Since money not an issue, we won’t dwell on the scholarship and price difference.</p>

<p>Most obviously is the size difference. At UCLA you will have more really large classes, more classes taught by grad students, and of course the whole campus and student body is just much larger. At the same time, that size (and being in a much larger city like LA) means there are more choices for on and off campus events. Of course, Tulane and New Orleans has plenty going on as well, since a lot of your time will be already determined by your class schedule, studying, and hanging with friends/dating. The fact that you have family support in New Orleans can be a plus or a minus, depending on your own wants/needs and the relationship you have with these relatives. Anyway, with UCLA you get big school/big city, and with Tulane you get medium sized school and city.</p>

<p>Of course the weather in LA is more temperate and you have the ocean/beach, while in New Orleans you have a still mostly warm climate but a lot more rain. There are a lot of interesting things to explore in Louisiana and New Orleans (although you already know that) if you take the opportunity. I know you know these things but just laying it all out.</p>

<p>As far as studying abroad, either school will be great for it, but certainly Tulane has a good program. Ties to Latin America are very strong, Tulane has one of the most highly regarded Latin American Studies programs in the nation. So if, for example, you wanted to tie your business studies and Latin American Studies together, that might be an excellent program for you. And as far as an additional language, I think Tulane actually requires that you at least try another one. In any case, furthering your Spanish and doing another language should be no problem for you. My D is doing something similar, she was fairly fluent in French, is majoring in China Studies/Mandarin Chinese at Tulane while taking advanced French courses to make sure she maintains that as well. She is also in Beijing since August, coming home in early July. She happens to be there courtesy of the Chinese government, but otherwise Tulane does have a program she could have used to go there as well. So in many ways a similar situation to yours. Bottom line, Tulane is one of the most flexible schools there is when it comes to things like being a double major, getting into the classes you need, etc. On the flip side, it won’t have the number of offerings a huge school like UCLA does, but then again it is often hard to get into the classes you want at UCLA.</p>

<p>Both schools (and nearly all colleges/universities) have good party scenes, but no doubt about it, Tulane and UCLA are excellent in that regard. You can party more or not as much, as you see fit.</p>

<p>Both are really excellent schools with very nice campuses and a lot to offer. Pointing out the obvious, all the California system schools are undergoing deep budget issues, and it is causing a lot of angst or worse on campus. I have heard that it can often be hard to get all the classes you need to finish your major on time at UCLA, while at Tulane I have never heard of this being an issue.</p>

<p>While I don’t think Honors at Tulane in and of itself should be a deciding factor, if you are so inclined look into the Newcomb Scholars program. If that interests you and you were fortunate enough to be selected, that might be a consideration for you. I am assuming you are a young woman, given the screen name.</p>

<p>In the end, you should probably weigh the non-academic issues involved. Do you think you would be more comfortable in a freshman class of 1,500 or one of 5,800? Really big city that is more modern or smaller city that is a bit of a throwback? Smaller, more compact campus or a very large, sprawling campus (both lovely, btw)? More of a combination of an east coast and southern feeling but a definite national mix of students, or a heavily dominant California presence? Almost 90% of UCLA students are Californians, not counting foreign students. So on and so forth.</p>

<p>Obviously I am biased towards Tulane and I am sure that shows in the ways I described things. I would hope you have or could visit UCLA (since I assume you already know Tulane fairly well) and you would have a sense of which fits you better. But that is my nickels worth, and you get what you pay for. Best of luck! Let us know what you decide. You really can’t go wrong, most likely. Most importantly, don’t obsess and trust your gut.</p>

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<p>Not to intrude, but I really appreciate the input, fallenchemist, as I am in a similar situation. I was completely set on going to Tulane (honors w/ distinguished scholar award) until, out of the blue, I received an acceptance to USC, into the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. </p>

<p>Now, obviously I am torn. I never expected to be accepted to USC with how competitive admissions were this year, and considering the journalistic opportunities would be presumably a lot stronger for me at USC and in a city like LA, I can feel myself leaning in that direction. USC hasn’t offered me any merit aid (I didn’t apply by the deadline), but university grants will pay for more than 80% of my education, with some small loans and work study covering most of the rest. I also expect to receive local scholarships.</p>

<p>Money is definitely an issue, which is why $100,000 over four years from Tulane is nothing to turn down lightly. I have yet to hear from Tulane about need-based aid (i.e. the rest of the cost), but I’m expecting good news based on my family’s finances. Furthermore, while I’ve never been to New Orleans, I have visited the south multiple times and have always felt inexplicably connected to it. I’m so intrigued by the culture, vibrancy and uniqueness of New Orleans and the south.</p>

<p>Obviously, USC and Tulane have many vast differences (size, location, geographical/ethnic diversity, etc.) but I’m a pretty flexible, adaptable person. I love to travel, meet new people, and experience new things. I can see myself being happy at either school. The main things I’m looking for in a college are a strong communications/journalism program, strong language program (like the OP, I am interested in continuing in Spanish), study abroad options, diverse student population, affordability, and high quality of living. I’ve been to LA before, but only briefly, and living in a city that size with the traffic, pollution, and crime is a worry. Obviously, NOLA is undergoing recovery and also grapples with crime, and being a small-town girl (though with an adventerous spirit) I want to make sure I will be safe wherever I decide to live and learn. </p>

<p>With my family’s finances, and my tight schedule in April, unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to visit both schools. I know realistically that either way I will be sacrificing something, so I’m just going to have to weigh the pros and cons heavily. I keep trying to tell my parents that a lot can be determined by the “feel” of a place, but they insist that photos/videos can substitute for actually visiting either school. This is going to be a tough decision…</p>

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<p>chollegechica- If you’re looking for a strong communications program, choose USC. Personally, I think that being in an actual school of communications rather than a liberal arts school majoring in comm presents you with more opportunities. You will be able to see more aspects of communications rather than just having set courses to take as we do here at Tulane. Communications isn’t a big major here but there are definitely interesting classes and of course, it’s what you make it. For example, there are many internship opportunities in this field around New Orleans, though I’m sure LA has the same type of opportunities. Tulane’s communications department is currently being revamped so hopefully it’ll emerge stronger, but while this is occurring it’s harder to get classes.</p>

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<p>CollegeChica - I agree with elephant that USC has a very strong communications program, in fact one of the strongest in the country. Not too surprising given its location in LA. As a general point, though, it should be noted that almost 2/3 of undergraduates change their major at least once. Therefore I personally usually advise that students pick a school based on which really appeals to them overall, rather than because one is supposedly better for a certain major. I think this is also a good rule of thumb (as long as the schools under consideration all offer the major you want to explore) because often, at the undergrad level, there really isn’t that much difference between one school’s offering and another’s.</p>

<p>In your case I noticed that you posted that you might also consider an environmental sciences major. Tulane has a really good program for that, and there is still a lot going on in Southern Louisiana for that because of post-Katrina, the Gulf oil spills and other highly sensitive environmental questions for that and the bayous, etc. So in your case being able to double major or change majors might be a big factor, and it is much easier to double major at Tulane than at USC because of the way the schools are structured. BTW, I was trying to find out where you are from, but no luck. Just saw that you are from a small town.</p>

<p>There are exceptions to using intended major as a primary consideration, but take into account that for a typical undergrad degree you will have about 40 courses in total, and about 10 of those will be in your major. That leaves 75% of your courses in areas outside your major, the point being that most of your time and experience academically will be spent in other departments and areas of study. Add to that the time spent outside of academics and the already mentioned possibility of changing majors, and you can see why I suggest not focusing on your intended major as the key decision point.</p>

<p>There is also the point that while a city like LA will have more communications opportunities, there is also much more competition for those openings, be they internships or jobs, and you might not be spending your summers in LA anyway.</p>

<p>So I am not really trying to dissuade you from USC; it is an extremely fine school with many great aspects to it, of course. Besides thinking about what I have already mentioned, and the points raised in the UCLA comparison, the finances will no doubt play a big role. Remember that your Tulane scholarship is guaranteed for all 4 years, as long as you make the grades and don’t break any major rules. Need based FA, on the other hand, is re-evaluated every year and can be changed, at either school. Now most likely if your financial situation doesn’t change much, neither will the aid. But there is no promise with need based FA that they cannot try to change the proportion of grants to loans, so just keep that in mind.</p>

<p>Finally, I understand that since money is tight your parents are rationalizing that photos/videos can substitute for a personal visit. I don’t mean this in a critical way at all, because I get why they say that. But unfortunately they are just not correct on that point, but sometimes there is just nothing you can do about it anyway. However, if you are the kind of person that feels you can adapt to different environments readily, you should be fine. The people that are most successful in college are those that are organized and fairly disciplined in balancing school and social life, and get involved in groups/clubs that interest them right away so they make a variety of friends quickly, especially if they are on the quiet and/or shy side. Otherwise any school can feel like a very lonely place.</p>

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<p>Emilysh, both UCLA and Tulane are excellent schools. I enjoyed going to UCLA but I will say that the class sizes are huge. I took an upper level calculus class once, in an auditorium so large, I could hardly see the professor.
I did make some wonderful friends there, but LA as a city is not as friendly as NOLA.</p>

<p>There is also the issue of transportation. You will need a car to get very far from campus in LA, and driving on the freeway there is not for the faint of heart. You can get around on your bike, but the intersections around UCLA are congested and not really bike-rider friendly.
Good luck with your decision</p>

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<p>Though contributing little to the current discussion, the topics discussed reminded me of a statistic I heard last week on NPR. There was a claim that there are more people who graduate with journalism degrees each year than the total number of employed journalists in the USA. Sounds like a rather competitive environment to me. :)</p>

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<p>Off topic, but speaking of NPR articles, read this one:
<a href=“https://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149804404/n-y-preschool-starts-dna-testing-for-admission[/url]”>https://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149804404/n-y-preschool-starts-dna-testing-for-admission&lt;/a&gt;
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April Fools.</p>

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<p>Great April Fools idea. Just plausible enough to be believable, especially since they based it in NYC.</p>

<p>idad - I can definitely believe that getting a job as a “traditional” journalist is one of the hardest things these days. Even the broader “communications” job has to be tough. On the other hand, to the degree it teaches students to write clearly and concisely (we can only hope), it can provide value skill sets to many companies.</p>

<p>gowill - thanks for confirming the class size situation at UCLA. I can only imagine that it won’t be getting any better any time soon, with the budget constraints and other issues.</p>

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<p>fallenchemist: As always, your input is greatly appreciated. Your bring up many valid points, most of which I’ve already considered, which is exactly what makes this decision such a conflicted one. I suppose I’ll have to wait for Tulane to come back with the rest of the financial aid, and, if both schools are similarly affordable, I will have to somehow convince my parents into letting me visit (I’m even offering to cover much of the fees myself.) My family once planned to move across the country for several years without having visited our new home first. We ended up staying for less than a year before returning to our former home. I’m just very afraid of that happening again. After all, if I don’t like a college, I suppose I could transfer after two years, but still, that’s two years of my life that I won’t get back again, and will have to pay for at that. </p>

<p>BTW, I’m from Oregon, if that makes any difference. Travel to and from L.A. would be a lot cheaper, but I actually think my mom is leaning more toward my going to Tulane and living in New Orleans at this point (after all, NOLA is much more comparable in size to our “metropolis”, Portland, than to L.A.)</p>

<p>idad: as an avid NPR listener, I heard that statistic as well (I was just discussing it with my mother last night, in fact!) and found it extremely alarming. That said, journalism is one of the few things I can see myself doing for a living and being passionate about, which is why I want to make sure I get the best education possible in it, though I would like to double major/minor in some combination of political or environmental science and Spanish, as a sort of “fall back.” I feel that this would be the best use of my time and money.</p>

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<p>CollegeChica12: Good for you. I am a firm believer in following one’s heart. I have a kid who is a philosophy major!</p>

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<p>I agree completely with idad. Trying to predict what will be a “good” major 4 years or so out is just not possible any longer, not to mention what we already discussed about possibly changing your major. But even with that caveat, it has been my experience that those with some specialized knowledge within a broad field (such as a scientist in the business world or an environmental specialist within the communications arena) often has better opportunities. Keep us informed on your process.</p>

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<p>fallenchemist, Thank you very much for the input. Like collegechica, I was set on going to Tulane with the scholarship and honors offer until I suddenly received an acceptance to UCLA. It was unexpected, because UCLA is also very hard to get into. I’m doing some research today on where people most often end up with an undergraduate degree from Freeman at Tulane and a Biz-Econ degree at UCLA. This is going to be a very hard decision. Ugh. The good thing is that although I’ll probably keep bothering myself about it all throughout the summer after I’ve made my decision, I very likely will not regret going to either place once I get there in August. This is gonna be torturous until May 1st!</p>

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<p>Also, gowill, thanks for your input about the class sizes and transportation. I’ll consider those things. There are so many things I feel like I need to consider! Like fallenchemist said, it shouldn’t be too hard considering how different the two schools are. The problem is that each has a lot of pros and not a lot of cons, so I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m Peyton Manning deciding which NFL team I want to play for.</p>

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<p>I am in the honors program at Tulane with a $22k scholarship. Tulane is known for its business school and its Latin American Studies program—one of the best in the country. The honors course selection is a little limited but always gets the best professors from the department. I took an honors French class and am now well acquainted with the chair of the department. Honestly Tulane may not be as rigorous as UCLA (I’m a freshman so I don’t speak with great authority on this) but as an honors student here the opportunities are quite abundant.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input juiceberry! It’s very helpful to hear about how abundant the opportunities are, especially since you say that Tulane is best known for its business school and Latin American Studies program, and I would likely want to study both of those. I was wondering about the rigor of UCLA vs. the rigor of Tulane, but I don’t really know how to determine that. You did point out that you became well acquainted with the chair of the department after taking an honors French class, and that’s one positive Tulane has, I think. Since it’s smaller than UCLA by far, it seems much easier to get to know faculty, which could be helpful. Still a very hard decision though. I’m going to Bruin Day next weekend and then I’m going to Tulane for an admitted student weekend later in the month. It seems like visiting both schools should make it easier, but I actually fear it may make it harder because I might get even more attached to both schools. Eventually I’ll just have to make up my mind and never look back.</p>

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<p>I think you are correct, Emily. In the best case, one will really stand out for you compared to the other and the decision becomes easy, or at least easier. I think if you can decide what factors are most important to you before you go visit either school, and then make appointments to talk to people that can address those needs, that would help. Don’t be shy about making appointments with profs ahead of time that can talk about interests you have, or at least sitting in on their classes. That should give you a feel for what it would be like at either school, at least academically.</p>

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<p>The honors program here is a complete ruse. The perks of being in the honors program are useless: you have to maintain a 3.6 (not difficult), you are required to take 4 honors courses (which are somehow populated with the same idiots you’ll meet outside of the program), and you’ll receive a plethora of invitations to attend empty seminars on the supposed links between Chemistry and Jewish Art, and some other bull. Oh, and there is no preference for class registration, which you would think should be a fundamental advantage for the University’s “top students.”</p>

<p>The merit money is great (believe me, that was my impetus to enrolling), but you will not get a similar college experience to what you will have at UCLA – notably, any traditional campus feel whatsoever. Tulane can be enjoyable, if you have little concern for what the degree is actually worth, but I don’t believe one can have a fantastic academic experience here. Just my two cents. </p>

<p>By the way, I chose Tulane over UCLA, Vandy (admitted post-waitlist), and several other, more prestigious schools. I regret that decision daily.</p>

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<p>Sorry you are so unhappy at Tulane, shermani. I don’t think calling everyone else idiots is particularly useful, though. And as far as the honors program goes, I recall frequently posting that it is mostly for staying on track to graduate summa cum laude or magna cum laude, and that people not in the honors program were allowed to take those courses if there was space. I also mentioned that another goal of the program is to help students get prestigious scholarships and fellowships like Rhodes, Goldwaters, etc. They have an advisor responsible for this, and my D has been interacting with him. I realize that would not have been of concern for you yet.</p>

<p>I guess I can only point out the Tulane’s retention rate has gone up the last few years and is around 91%. Obviously people leave for lots of reasons, sometimes even when they are very happy with the school.</p>

<p>Best of luck wherever you end up.</p>

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<p>Oh, fallenchemist, I miss your fanboy candor. I actually remember having a conversation with you this time last year, except then as a nervous, unassuming senior in high school. </p>

<p>I don’t want to come off as dismissive or overly pejorative to Tulane, though. Certainly I regret my choice of Tulane over other institutions, but I am not “so unhappy,” nor do I believe that all other students are idiots, as you mistakenly presumed from my comment. In fact, I am applying to transfer, but I have no doubt that I will enjoy Tulane for the next 3 years if it doesn’t pan out. I indeed believe a good portion of the students here are less than qualified, as I know that preprofessionally there are institutions that better serve my fields of interest, as I know that, despite the impressive distribution of kids here, the already established cliques of Westchester County students detract from other students’ enjoyment. However, Tulane likewise has had its moments where I’ve dismissed the motion of transferring altogether. </p>

<p>Nevertheless, I stick with my comments on the honors program. The perks you mentioned exist, but they are sort of diminutive in the scope of what an honors program should provide for its students. (I would prefer not to debate the merits of each facet of the program, if that’s okay, as that is not pertinent to the main points I am trying to make.) I view the honors program by and large to be a litmus test for the competency of the typical Tulane Undergraduate–barring engineering, of course; outside of it, most students are fairly intelligent, but pretty unengaged, lazy, and marketing majors (had to). </p>

<p>But in all seriousness, I mean it when I say that collectively my great and horrendous experiences here have made the experience mediocre overall. Students in the Creative PreMed, Poly Econ, and Latin American Studies programs will likely have a different opinion on the utility of a Tulane degree, but I can only speak to my concerns.</p>