<p>I've been accepted to both schools and got into Tulane Honors College with a 20k per year scholarship. I want to do premed and I wanted to hear what people thought about Tulane Honors vs. BC</p>
<p>Baseball - a couple of questions:</p>
<p>Any money from BC at all?</p>
<p>Where are you from?</p>
<p>Knowing these things will help people give a better response.</p>
<p>no money at all from bc, and im from nj</p>
<p>OK thanks. So here is what I think, FWIIW. Let’s start with the obvious. Since the costs at the 2 schools are nearly identical, you are saving $80K over 4 years, nothing to sneeze at. Don’t know how much of a factor money is for you and your family, but I would assume by the fact that you included it that it is a factor of some importance. The more important it is, the more of a plus it is for Tulane.</p>
<p>Statistically the schools are similar. Tulane’s SAT/ACT averages are slightly higher except for math, and this year that gap is almost certain to widen, with math drawing even. This will be Tulane’s strongest incoming class ever. The schools are of similar size, although BC’s freshman class was over 1/3 bigger than Tulane’s last year, and freshman class sizes tend to be larger at BC, especially compared to the honors sections of some classes at Tulane. You cannot always schedule the honors sections unfortunately, but to the extent you maximize them you get smaller classes with the brightest peers.</p>
<p>So as you can see from the above, forget USNWR rankings, especially when looking at Tulane. I mean I truly think they are BS anyway, and I have looked into their methodology in some detail. It has some gaping flaws. Nonetheless, in Tulane’s case in particular it got knocked down due to post Katrina factors, especially as regards retention. Well, duh there were retention issues after that, and USNWR weights that a lot because they feel it reflects how satisfied kids are with the school. But that doesn’t jive at all with Tulane ranking #10 in the Princeton Review of students happiest to be at the school they are at. Like any school there are some for which Tulane turned out to be a bad fit, but no more so than any similar school.</p>
<p>The reason I asked about where you were from is that I just had this same discussion with someone else, but they lived 7 miles from BC. So there was an additional factor of local prestige vs. going away from home for school, along with other factors of course, including similar $$ considerations. That student chose Tulane. You don’t have quite that factor, but certainly New Orleans is more different from NJ than Boston. But I wouldn’t argue that much as a factor, both are great college towns.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am impressed with the potential to really enjoy the Honors program at Tulane. I should mention at this point I have a D starting at Tulane in the fall that is also Honors, so I have looked into this a lot. For truly full disclosure, I am a Tulane alum also, but there was no honors program then remotely like what it is now. It is so much better today than it was.</p>
<p>So in the end, as always, it is balancing your feelings as to where you fit better (I assume you visited both?) against economics, and if the school that fits you better happens to cost you less also, well hallelujah. If you have any other thoughts or think I have left anything out, let me know and I will respond. Obviously this was pro-Tulane, which I am sure you expected on the Tulane thread. But I would strongly say that if BC fits you better for some reason and you can accept the extra payout, then by all means that is what you should do. Best of Luck!</p>
<p>I am a big proponent of Tulane (feel free to review my past posts) but these two schools are very very different. I have an S in second year of Tulane, and a D who received Deans Honor at Tulane and Presidential Scholar at BC for this year. So cost is not a factor, there will be no tuition bill at either school. She selected BC. The BC premed acceptance rate is on the order of 75% and BC churns out some of the highest numbers for Rhodes scholars, etc. I think BC probably ranks higher on the prestige scale but that is quite subjective, and both have strong alumni networks. I think New Orleans is an amazing city but it is not a college town. That being said, the honors experience at each school is very very different. The two years of Great Literature that is required of BC Honors students means you need to be an excellent writer with the ability to churn out an essay every week. The Honors college at Tulane means that each semester you choose one Honors class that is a small class size and is more intensive. So the Honors designations take you to different places at each of these schools. Both schools are amazing, and frankly if cost were an issue the scales would tip in favor of Tulane and I would have no regrets about it.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your responses. Roamingcooks what made your d pick bc over tulane?</p>
<p>Thanks roamingcooks, that is as excellent a perspective as there can be I think. I tried to make it clear I could only talk about Tulane to that level of detail, you provided it for BC which, btw, i found very interesting myself. I think the only very minor thing I would correct is that one might infer from your statement that an Honors Student only takes one honors class a semester. If I remember right, they are required to take one a semester, but can take more. But hey, baseball can research that himself, will do him good, lol. I was also assuming that baseball was not in the Honors program at BC since he didn’t put that in the set-up of the comparison, but I could be wrong. If I am right, that could be another factor, yes?</p>
<p>Oh, and btw Baseball, another minor point unless you really get into these things (like moi). Tulane’s is an Honors Program, not an Honors College. The distinction is that Honors Colleges are true individual sections of the university that have their own Dean, faculty, rules, etc. Those do exist at many state schools especially, such as Penn State (Schuyer), Arizona State (Barrett) and Mississippi (Barksdale), to name the top 3. Most, if not all highly selective universities have Honors Programs, since all the students are already of Honors College quality pretty much, and they are offering perks (although very nice perks!) to the best of the best.</p>
<p>Yeah honors program, my mistake. And it seems like it is just something that looks good when applying to grad schools?</p>
<p>No, I would say there is a reality to it that is fairly substantive. If you take it seriously, you get some smaller classes, some cool seminars that are only for Honors students, connections to the brightest kids at Tulane which can only help, and the opportunity to graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude, which is a really major accomplishment that not only is something you will be proud of your whole life, but yes, looks really great for grad/med/law schools. Part of that is the Honors thesis, which I personally am still proud of because it resulted in two publications in the most prestigious chemistry journals. I don’t want to overblow it, some students don’t get much out of it. But it does give you the opportunity to turn a good education/experience into a great one, or at the least is the lagniappe of a Tulane experience. OK, if you are really going to become a Tulanian you have to learn lagniappe. It is Cajun meaning that “something extra”. Can you tell I love Tulane?</p>
<p>I just want to add for balance that you have two great choices. You will get a great education at either if you apply yourself. Every university experience requires personal discipline, of course. They are similar schools in terms of quality (IMHO) and very different in terms of style, as roamingcooks so eloquently pointed out. I would think one of the two is more your style, hopefully you got to visit each and can make some assessment regarding that. And then there is the money…Again, best of luck and let us know what you decide and how you decided, if you would.</p>
<p>I will let you know as soon as a decide. Will be soon haha, May 1st is right around the corner.</p>
<p>D picked BC because the P-scholars are only 15 students per year and they have some options that are pretty amazing, like all expense paid overseas travel each summer. Plus it’s nice to forge your own path instead of follow the footsteps of a sibling. For Tulane, scheduling more than one honors class per semester is a bit of a challenge, since there are limited honors sections and they have to be mapped against your core curriculum and other interests. There are few (I want to say no students) who take more than one honors class each semester. But it is typically the nicest, “best”, most engaged profs who teach these classes. BTW, if you are homors, choose Butler. It is quieter, a little more serious, a nicer dorm, and you can always leave your room to find the party going on.</p>
<p>That sounds like a great program at BC, roaming. Only 15 per year though, wow. Quite an honor. But like I said, baseball didn’t say he was in that program, so not sure it applies to him. Totally agree with you about Butler, that is what my D put as first choice. It was an all girls dorm when I was there, so I know it pretty well, LOL.</p>
<p>BC has a better reputation and being from the NE you will find a stronger alumni connection to BC if you plan to work in the NE when you finish, although this may not matter in the medical field.</p>