Tulane or New Mexico

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Our son has been accepted at both Tulane and at the University of New Mexico and is now in the decision phase. We are in the process of weighing the pros and cons of each school and would appreciate any input from those with experience and/or opinions concerning these two schools. </p>

<p>For the record, he is interested in studying anthropology and would like to study abroad at some point. Based on his grades and ACT score, he has been offered an Amigo Scholarship at New Mexico (waiving the out-of-state portion of his tuition, plus an annual stipend), which is renewable every year if he keeps his grades up, and has also been accepted to the honors program. He has also been offered a scholarship at Tulane, but was not invited to the honors program. Financially, the overall cost to attend UNM will be about 1/2 of the cost of attending Tulane, after taking scholarships into account. </p>

<p>He is leaning toward Tulane at this point, based on what he feels is the higher prestige of that school over that of UNM. He is also fearful of attending a large state university - it is his perception that he will be taught by TAs rather than professors at UNM. We cannot afford to cover the balance of the cost of Tulane out-of-pocket and are worried that he (and we) will be burdened with student loans after graduation, with grad school on the horizon. But, we don't want to deny him the opportunity to get the best education possible either. </p>

<p>So, any thoughts on these schools would be appreciated! </p>

<p>(*This is a re-post of a previous thread which was started in the wrong forum - I apologize to anyone who has already seen this and think it seems vaguely familiar.....)</p>

2

<p>That’s quite a choice between two very different campus cultures. The big difference in my opinion would be in the student peer group. Here’s what UNM students who responded to Princeton Review’s surveys said about the UNM student body:</p>

<p>“Many are nontraditional, are “roughly 25 years old, approach studies from a very practical perspective, and work a full-time job or close to it to pay for school.” One undergrad observes, “Because of its many nontraditional students, the school can sometimes feel too old or too young. UNM needs to work on integrating all students and finding activities that allow all age groups to interact” (though any such efforts may be hampered by the fact that “most students are commuters, who are solely focused on earning their degree”).”</p>

<p>Obviously, Tulane is going to offer a very different social climate. They also tend to offer excellent financial aid. Is the 2:1 cost ratio actually full cost at Tulane vs. half that cost at UNM, or is the difference less dramatic than that?</p>