<p>Hi, I was just wondering if there was anyone who turned down an ivy league or another top 20 school for Tulane, because of a big scholarship (like the Dean's Honor) or any other reason. Or, is there anyone out there who would consider doing it, and why? Just curious :) Thanks.</p>
<p>I will probably end up doing that because my parents are pretty much opposed to paying EFC. Even if I don't get the DHS, the other scholarship covers more than need aid at other schools probably will.</p>
<p>I would definitely consider it.</p>
<p>If aid doesn't stack up at Brown or Stanford I will definitely turn them down for Tulane. For me, Tulane has many programs to offer that I am really interested in, a unique culture, and great opportunities for service. It offers things different from the ivys, as well as a great education! So I think it will just come down to aid &some more soul searching for me!</p>
<p>Haha if I get in to the schools I just applied to I would definitely turn down better schools for Tulane to save money. But my parents are too caught up in the USNWR Rankings, and they think Tulane's not a good school...I do however...</p>
<p>azn that is my exact situation...i realllyyyyyy like tulane, but my parents are being wikid uptight about turning done some of the "higher ranked" schools. id like to think its my decision.. but they are writing the check lol</p>
<p>I turned down Emory, which is a top 20 school, for Tulane. If anyone's parents are hating on Tulane due to their current low ranking you should explain to them that it is Hurricane Katrina induced. The admissions have really taken off the last two years and Tulane is on par with schools in the top 25-35 range as far as difficulty of admissions goes. The university should be shooting up in the rankings the next two years.</p>
<p>Two of the main things about USNWR rankings that shot Tulane down was the admission's rate and the HS GPA/Test Scores used in calculations.</p>
<p>Tulane is tiny and the yield rate and freshmen retention rate are a bit low to break the top 30, but it'll go up in the next few years and definitely before 2013.</p>
<p>That said, if you get into an Ivy, it might be a good investment to go, even if it's not free.</p>
<p>My son really liked Tulane and was really considering it seriously. It had everything he was looking for. He got into Vandy ED and is going there but if that did not come through, I do not think he would be that bad off and it was offered at a great price. We will now be paying alot more for college. if we had nothing left in our college savings he would be going there. We are fron Boston area by the way. Tulane is doing a great job promoting themselves.</p>
<p>I would just like to offer my opinion as a current Tulane student; I really love the school. It's wonderful if you're a science major and has opportunities to participate in research. Also, they require community service which has so many different opportunities to help improve the city of New Orleans. Probably the most important to me is that they have an excellent career center and every student who graduated last year had a job upon graduation.</p>
<p>I'd definitely consider turning down a school that is more prestigious overall, because Tulane is at the top of my prospective field of study, Latin American Studies. I want to study/work in Central American archaeology. Tulane has the largest collection of Mayan artifects in the world, outside of Central America. Also, New Orleans is warm, close to home, and the most badass city in the country.</p>
<p>Any pre-professional kids (premed, prelaw) would be strategically smart to turn down the Ivies for a school like Tulane.</p>
<p>For me, I would take the Ivy League, but that's just because Yale is my dream school. I think there are probably more people than you think who would opt for Tulane over an Ivy League school, simply due to financial reasons. Ivy League schools are often not quick to offer merit- based scholarships and some do not do it at all.</p>
<p>none of the Ivy schools offer merit aid^</p>
<p>but their financial aid programs can generally make up for it.</p>
<p>If I get into Brown and can afford it I'll go there. After Brown is most likely Tulane. I couldn't afford to apply to Emory or Vanderbilt so Brown is the only real reach on my list, although Emory and Vanderbilt were more of matches than reaches.</p>
<p>I'm already at Tulane, but thought I would put my two cents in. The ivies are fairly different from each other. There really aren't too many similarities between, say, Dartmouth and Columbia. I haven't visited all of them, and I only have friends/family at Yale/Columbia/Brown. If I had to choose between Dartmouth and Tulane, I would probably pick Tulane. However, I would pick the rest over Tulane (especially Columbia/Brown).
Here's what I like about being in 'NOLA':
There is a lot that needs to be done in New Orleans and Louisiana. I work as a political strategist for a PAC that promotes equal rights for a marginalized group of people. Though there is still work to be done in NY and RI, there are plenty of people addressing those issues there, so I feel like I have more of an impact here. Also, I've been working at a research institute that deals with inter-american policy--something that would be much more competitive to get at the ivies.</p>
<p>Another point on rankings:
You all have to remember that Tulane's legacy is still strong. Tulane has traditionally been regarded as one of the top schools in the nation, at one point in time equal to stanford (though that was 50 years ago). A lot of these employers remember how Tulane was ranked/regarded when they were in school, and still consider it to be a top tier school. Emory is very much a newcommer to the Souther 'Ivy', and is still positioning itself as a comparable school to the older institutions. For instance, Tulane alumni (along with Georgetown, Stanford, Brown, Notre Dame, Colgate) can become members of the Cornell Club--we would not be a part of this if Tulane wasn't highly regarded. Tulane's administration is doing a good job as far as positioning Tulane back into the top ranks. In 1997 the goal was to be in the top 25 by 2007. Obviously this didn't happen, partly due to Katrina--partly because we only came up with 730 million since then--while our competitors have raised twice that (at the low end). The fact that no fortune 500 companies are headquartered in New Orleans hurts us when it comes to grants & donations.</p>
<p>I've spent some time at all Ivy League schools, and I know at least one person who's graduated from each. Some Ivys I like better than others, but they all provide very good educational opportunities. But when it came time to select a college, my daughter refused to consider Ivy's and eventually chose Tulane. The most interesting thing was that once "most prestigious" was removed as a criteria, the search focussed on what school would be the best match for her interests. YMMV.</p>