<p>Hey, I am looking to major in accounting/finance. I am looking at the new Bloomberg list and Tulane dropped from 49 to 72 in undergraduate business. I am very concerned!! Do you think this matters? It still has 100% Job Placement. Would I be better at GW or UMiami? I have to decide soon please let me know what you guys think!! </p>
<p>I think if you base any decision on rankings you are doing yourself a tremendous disservice. Tulane is absolutely excellent in both accounting and finance. The Dean of the business school was a big deal professor of accounting at Illinois and remains an academic leader in the field, and is pushing Tulane’s international presence in this area a lot. I don’t mean getting in international students, although that is true as well, but making sure international connections and opportunities are stronger than ever at Tulane. Finance has also always been one of Tulane’s strengths and there is no reason that would have changed.</p>
<p>Is there any indication as to why Tulane dropped on this particular list? Do they provide details as to how they came up with this number both years? Sometimes these people change formulas arbitrarily. Perhaps you could see if there was one factor in particular that changed and evaluate how real that is. I do know that Tulane business school, for the MBA program, found out that an employee that left had been cheating on the GMAT scores that were reported to places like USNWR and presumably Bloomberg. You said this was an undergrad ranking (which I think everyone knows my opinion of those is that they are not worth the paper they are printed on) so I didn’t think of that right away. But perhaps this somehow affected the ranking in this case, either directly or because it damaged Tulane’s business school’s reputation, even though it was only one rogue (former) employee that had nothing to do with teaching or the quality of the program. In fact, that was how Tulane found out was because after he left, the scores being calculated by his replacement were significantly lower, so they went back and recalculated. When they discovered what had happened, Tulane reported themselves to all concerned.</p>
<p>Anyway, not exactly what you asked about but a possible explanation none-the-less. I absolutely would not make a decision based on this issue. If you are sure about accounting/finance as your area of concentration, I can assure you that you cannot go wrong at Tulane.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your quick response!! I greatly appreciate it! I was just at the Top Scholars Weekend in March and I loved Tulane! Just questioning every last aspect of it. Thanks again!</p>
<p>You are welcome. Go with your instincts, they will rarely lead you in the wrong direction. Did you look into some of the really special programs while you were there, like the Burkenroad Reports? You night not have had time. But it sounds like you really enjoyed the weekend. You should post a summary of your time there on that thread devoted to it.</p>
<p>Yeah I sat through that program!! That really grabbed my attention the presentation was soooo good!! Everything about the school was perfect! One other question. Do you know if the 5th year Masters in Accounting is discounted? I have a good scholarship going in and I heard that it is. And by the way, do the Tulane undergrads have preference over the other applicants for the 5th year? Thanks again for everything! </p>
<p>That’s great that you got to learn about that program. I think it is incredibly impressive. The big investment firms use those reports. What a great learning experience.</p>
<p>Yes, I do know about the 5 year Masters programs (Tulane calls them “4+1 programs”) and the 5th year is usually discounted, but I am not 100% sure about the finance and accounting programs. I do know they are offered. Tulane students definitely get preferential treatment, but you do have to still take the GMAT.</p>
<p>My son applied very late (late March) and was put on the wait list, but they were very kind about it. Any input on that. We accepted it as we’ll hear no later than June 1 and that is much earlier than some that he turned down. Thanks for this valuable info on the business program, which he’s targeting. Anything on international business or int’s relations or economics, although I guess with just a wait list…</p>