My son has been accepted at both schools and is having a very hard time choosing which to attend. He received the Presidential Scholarship (32k) from Tulane and only a small amount of financial aid from Emory. We are in Ga so so he won’t have travel costs to and from Emory, but they are still the more expensive option. He wants to major in biology and perhaps public health. He has done research during high school and is pretty set that he wants to go to grad school, get a doctorate, and have a career in research.
We attended Tulane’s Top Scholars weekend and were very impressed. Emory’s open house was not as useful. He feels that we would get good mentoring at Tulane, but that maybe there are more research opportunities at Emory with the med school and Yerkes being right on campus. Also Emory seems to have a bigger name, but we don’t know how important that is to getting into grad school and is it worth the price. Also Emory seems to be intensely pre-med and maybe Tulane a little more relaxed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thx!
@AnneStep
I don’t know that Emory has a bigger name when it comes to the field of public health. Perhaps it does, after all you have the CDC right there. But Tulane is VERY well known in this area and is one of a handful of schools that offers an undergraduate degree in the area. Certainly as far as grad school, either school will serve him very well. Tulane also has the 4+1 program where he could get his masters with only one extra year of study and research, and the tuition is significantly discounted for that 5th year.
But even sticking to the 4 year route, the savings are certainly worth considering. If you were to take the difference between the two schools and put it into an investment account for each year, he would have quite a nice fund going into grad school. But because in a field such as this it is likely that his doctorate would be covered for tuition and living expenses (that is pretty typical in the sciences for Ph.D. candidates that they waive tuition wherever you go and pay a decent stipend for being a teaching and/or research assistant), those savings could be kept even longer. So those savings would continue to grow and he would have a very nice starter fund for his life after school.
I am sure Emory has excellent opportunities as well, but I can only speak to Tulane in some detail. And one of the things that Tulane emphasizes for an excellent student such as your son is undergraduate research and the thesis. In some recent conversations with the head of the Honors Program at Tulane, he has been emphatic as to how much the focus on undergraduate research, culminating in a written thesis with an oral presentation, has been a key in the success Tulane students have had getting into top grad schools and professional schools. I would strongly encourage your son to apply for the Tulane Scholars program, should he choose Tulane. He would get a professor mentoring him in his major and career ambitions from early on, and get involved in research earlier than most as well. I definitely do not think that there are less research opportunities at Tulane because some of the facilities are at the downtown med school. There are plenty of opportunities on the uptown campus, plus downtown is only about 4 miles away and there are frequent shuttles back and forth.
He has two fantastic choices. I cannot say that Tulane is better than Emory in this area, but I have a very hard time believing it is lacking in this comparison in any way. Then when you add the financial savings and the enormous attention he would receive as a Tulane Scholar, it would seem to shift in Tulane’s favor. And in a purely personal opinion, I think there is tremendous value in attending college more than a short car ride from home. No matter the best of intentions, a young person is much more likely to mature more when they cannot go home on the weekends and have Mom do the laundry. Actually that isn’t such a personal opinion, there have been several threads on CC over the years attesting to this same thing.
Thanks, Fallenchemist! My husband is thinking the same thing about going farther away vs staying closer to home. So far we have been very impressed with Tulane. I’ll let you know what the final decision is. Have enjoyed all your helpful posts about Tulane. It seems they have some very loyal alumni and parents! Thanks!
@AnneStep My S faced the same decision last week! He loves Tulane and NOLA and has made several visits there (his sister just graduated from Tulane last May) but when he was accepted to Emory he decided to visit there just to make sure. He was extremely surprised when he realized he really liked it a lot, and all of a sudden he had a decision to make!
Emory is a great school that has many pluses, but like your S, Tulane had offered a lot more money. S finally decided that overall Tulane was a better fit for him - lots of smart people and challenging coursework, but a generally lower key and more relaxed vibe, which really appeals to him. The fact that it will be about $100K cheaper over four years helped too.
In the end it was totally his choice, and he really based it on where he just felt more comfortable. I told him that I didn’t care which he picked - he was lucky enough to have two excellent choices and he really couldn’t go wrong I think your S will do really well at either school! Good luck with the decision!
Congrats to your son! What does he plan on majoring in at Tulane? Bet it feels good to have the decision made! Hopefully we will be there soon. I guess we have to be by Friday! It’s great that they both are such great choices.
@AnneStep - thank you! My S will be doing a double major at Tulane - Musical Theater and then probably either Psychology or Sociology. He is very excited! Hope your S makes a decision soon too! What does he plan to major in?
We have a decision and it’s Tulane! Very excited. I’ve been on the parents Facebook page and have been overwhelmed by how nice and helpful everyone is. Zebrarunner: My son wants to major in Cell and Molecular Biology and Public Health.
How wonderful! Welcome to the Tulane family.
Congratulations @AnneStep! I am sure you are relieved to have that decision over with! I know I was! I didn’t know there was a parent’s facebook page - I will have to go join!
You made the right decision.
Congratulations!