<p>Hello All,
I am an applicant from Minneapolis, MN. I have been accepted to both Tulane University in New Orleans, LA and The Macaulay Honors College-City College in NYC. No one in MN has even heard of the CUNY system much less the Macaulay Honors College lol. The only reason I know anything about it is due to the fact that I have a family friend who was a Prof. at City College. I am, therefore, completely confused. I got a good scholarship at Tulane and free tuition with Macaulay. I was wondering which school has a better reputation both with graduate schools and in general? Which school will offer me the best chances to attend some sort of a professional school? </p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>Everyone in higher education knows about Macaulay. Don’t worry about that. Both of these institutions can get you into a good grad or professional school.</p>
<p>Do the math. Is one of these places going to be less expensive for you? If you go to Macaulay, how much will it cost you to live in New York City? That might be more expensive than attending Tulane after your scholarship. </p>
<p>What about the program(s) in your possible major(s)? Read through the course catalogue on each website, and think about whether you prefer one program or one set of university general ed. requirements better than the other. If you have any AP or IB exam scores, will one of these award you better credit or placement for those scores?</p>
<p>Look at the statistics on the makeup of the student body. Will you be the only student from Minnesota or the whole upper mid-west at one of these? If so, how do you feel about that?</p>
<p>If you can, try to visit the two so that you can get an idea about their physical environments. You may prefer one city over the other, or one campus over the other.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>If the costs are the same, definitely go with Tulane. It is a well respected University. So many people have yet to hear of Macaulay and CUNY’s City College has the reputation of being a glorified community college.</p>
<p>“CUNY’s City College has the reputation of being a glorified community college.” </p>
<p>123befriend, where do you get this notion? Yes, it may be relatively easy to gain admission to the various City campuses, but that certainly doesn’t mean it is easy to graduate! Macaulay is a well-respected honors program. For the OP’s goals it could be a very good option.</p>
<p>happymom - You are right in fact, but I have to agree that the perception of CUNY by a huge number of people is what 123befriend says. The name alone makes it sound like a community college, even though it is very different. Shoot, there are a lot of people that think that about NYU, and some that don’t realize these two are different. But you are also correct that most people in academia know better, so for grad school/professional school it really won’t matter and once the OP has the higher degree, where he went undergrad won’t matter so much, except to him.</p>
<p>Having said that, I still think your post #2 is spot on. The environments of these two schools could not be more different. Depending on the cost difference (estimating the additional expense of living in NYC) and how much that means to his family, he needs to decide, assuming he likes Tulane better, that he likes it $10,000 a year better or whatever the number is. That is a value judgement only he can make based on his personal values and financial situation, there is no equation or science that will help here.</p>