So time is running out and my daughter is having a difficult time deciding between these two schools. She is planning to study biology on a pre-med or pre-physical therapy track. We have visited both.
IU Pros: In-state with scholarship, so basically will only pay room/board. Accepted into Hutton Honors. Great school spirit. Big Ten sports. Quintessential college town. Closer to home.
IU Cons: Lower overall ranking vs. Tulane. Not as prestigious. A bit of a bubble for suburban Indy crowd; Feels like she worked so much harder than others accepted. Sorority rush is brutal.
Tulane Pros: $27,000 scholarship (50% tuition). More prestige. Higher rank. Smaller class sizes. New Orleans. Kids with higher stats similar to her. More chill sorority rush.
Tulane Cons: $27k more annually $104k over 4 years (although we can afford it). Less school spirit. No big time sporting events. She was concerned during visit that she wouldn’t fit in – 1/2 nerdy a capella/quidditch crowd and 1/2 rich snobby crowd.
My son is committed to Tulane and after his second visit there he felt the Tulane kids were in his words “Normal Kids Just Like Him.” He is neither of those crowds you mention… he is a 4 year high school varsity athlete that wants a smaller school where he gets to know his professors versus having classes taught by T/A’s. He sat in on 3 classes and got to speak to students and professors he met.
I’m sure your daughter will find her crowd if she chooses Tulane. Good luck with her decision.
With the possibility of med school on the horizon, the money savings of IU would tip the scales for me. Don’t discount IU’s prestige; I live in suburban Boston and personally know several top students who are at IU and love it (and people seem pretty impressed). Plural of anecdote is not data, but figured I’d share that.
@hoosierdaddy18 We have the same quandary as you only it’s Tulane vs. Miami U. I think that it’s fair to compare the schools based on objective facts like their academic ranking or their football ranking if those are important to you, but to subjectively label the student body of Tulane as being 1/2 nerdy and 1/2 rich sounds like you are just trying to rationalize saving yourself the $104k. I think the biggest thing you need to decide is if you want your daughter to attend a large public university or a mid sized private school. The attributes associated with those classifications are the big difference in what your daughter will experience and what you will pay.
I can sympathize, as my son was down to those identical two schools, Tulane and Indiana—he recently made the decision to attend Tulane.
We analyzed similar considerations regarding both schools. The college sports atmosphere was very important to my son. He grew up a Big Ten fan (I’m from Illinois), so he appreciates the contrast. With that said, he believes football tailgating and the games itself are going to be great. And for basketball, the conference is very strong and Tulane’s program seems to have promise (mike dunleavy just finished his 2nd year).
I’ve lived half my life in Illinois and the other half in the Deep South. Culturally, the regions are way more similar than different. We feel the environment at both Tulane and the city of New Orleans have been very welcoming to us. For what it’s worth, I think we are your typical down-to-earth family with southern and midwestern values. And alums (or parents of alums) we’ve talked to, haven’t felt the students were cliquey or anything of that nature from their experiences.
Good luck with your daughter’s decision. Interesting contrast between her two college finalists (we always marveled at our son liking two schools’ seemingly so different from the other).
I’d rather give my kid the ~ $100K at the end of 4 years, to be used for grad school, down payment on a house, wedding, etc.
If Tulane were a particularly good fit for some reason, I might consider it (still leaning against). But to me IU seems perfectly suited for what she wants to do. Bloomington is far enough from Indy that you won’t pop up every day to see her LOL. It’s also a big enough campus that she can meet other people besides the high school crowd. Sorority rush can be tough there but I wouldn’t let that be the deciding factor.
Anecdotally I have heard that IU has become popular in the northeast (and consequently southeastern Florida which is many people from the NY/NJ area).
My daughter has loved Tulane. She is now a senior and has made close friends from around the country and world. Her experience at Tulane has been quite different from the experience of her classmates who chose to attend large public schools. She has had small classes where the professors know who she is. She has enjoyed Nola which is a very special place that is incorporated into the life of a Tulane student. She has had many opportunities to give back to the community.
Ideally your daughter should spend time on each campus and see which one feels best to her. There is no wrong decision.
I would go Tulane (though I’m biased as a student). Firstly, she will probably switch out of premed and Tulane is way more flexible in terms of switching schools. Also class size at IU for the intro classes will be horrible and make it harder to learn.