<p>I got a $20,000 scholarship to Tulane and my mom is applying for a 90% discount on Northwestern tuition because she has been an employee for 27 years. </p>
<p>I absolutely fell in love with the Tulane campus and the city of New Orleans and I have lived in Chicago my entire life. The northwestern campus is 15 minutes away from my house. </p>
<p>What puts Northwestern above Tulane?
How is the overall social life?
WHAT SHOULD I DO?</p>
<p>Bmurphy - this is a tough one. You don’t indicate how your financial situation plays into it. Clearly, going to NW for $4K a year tuition is awesome, but you used the words “applied for” so I guess you don’t know yet. Also, if you went to NW would they expect you to live at home?</p>
<p>NW is clearly one of the top rated institutions in the USA. To give you a dry answer to your question, it is the stats that put NW above Tulane, and those stats include the average SATs of the admitted students among many other factors. It would be foolish to try and spin it any other way than NW has a more selective student population than Tulane, and therefore you will find your peer group to be somewhat more challenging than you will likely find at Tulane.</p>
<p>Having said that, Tulane clearly has an extremely bright peer group as well. My D is going there, even though she was accepted by other higher ranked schools, including some “top 10’s”. Part of the reason is money, I won’t deny. She got full tuition at Tulane via the DHS. But like you she also loves the campus, New Orleans and the opportunities she sees for her future by going there. I could go into more detail but this is about you. So what puts NW above Tulane other than the stats? That is more of an individual decision based on individual circumstances.</p>
<p>Your circumstance is that you live right in the area. Personally, I think it is extremely important to go to school away from home. Sure you can immerse yourself in the campus life at NW, but no matter what you do it just isn’t the same. And obviously New Orleans is extremely different. Do I need to mention the weather factor? No, you are a smart kid that already figured that one out. Sure, a big part of going to university is the academic education, but so is the education you get from truly being on your own. This became unbelievably clear to me after only one year at Tulane. Seeing my friends that had attended school close to home (I grew up in St. Louis), it was more like they were still in high school. It was stunning, really.</p>
<p>Both schools have a great social life I am sure. I know Tulane does, but this is college. Social life usually isn’t a problem unless you are the type of person for which it is a problem anyway.</p>
<p>I would sit down with your parents and discuss this with them as calmly and rationally as possible. Again, if money is the issue and you or your parents would take on considerably more debt by you going to Tulane, then you probably should take the great education at NW and stay in the dorms. If money is not the big issue, then figure out why you really want Tulane, research the departments of majors you are considering (although you shouldn’t pick a school based on your expected major, at least this might give them some comfort that the quality is high), and lay it out for them. Wanting to go to school further than 15 minutes from home is a legitimate factor, especially since there is so much to learn in New Orleans, and so much to contribute there.</p>
<p>Good luck and let us know how it turns out.</p>
<p>welllll, where to begin? first of all i am a junior at tulane and i have a twin sister at northwestern. so i pretty much have the best view of all, seeing that pretty much we have telepathy 24x7x365xall21years! </p>
<p>ill be straight up
northwestern:
<p>Tulane ~<em>~ GO GREEN WAVES! ~</em>~
ONE. The word “distinctive” is often used to describe Tulane. That’s because we are. Much of what makes us different comes from our location in New Orleans - a distinction now more important than ever.
TWO. Socially, its a great time the bars are too many to count on some nights. We dance away the nights drink in hand! 
THREE. Tulane offers many one-of-a-kind learning experiences. From hands-on community engagement through our Center for Public Service to the ability to take graduate-level classes at our renowned Business School, there are many ways to augment and enrich your degree at Tulane.
FOUR. The cable car idea is so cool like where else can you get that—san francisco i guess but whatever.
FIVE. As learners, Tulanians are smart, engaged, and multidisciplinary. We have opportunities to learn in the classroom and out in the real world in ways students elsewhere only dream of. No other university has ever encountered the opportunities now before Tulane: To provide an undergraduate education of unequaled quality while engaging students in re-envisioning and rebuilding one of Americas best-loved cities.
SIX. omg sometimes its too dangerous idk where to turn for help.
SEVEN. KATRINA OMG! THE NEXT ONE IS COMING! AHHH!</p>
<p>So in conclusion, I hoped this made it easier for you when deciding where to go to college. PM if you have any q’s EVER!</p>
<p>BMurph - If you lived in Atlanta or Los Angeles, I’d say Northwestern. But coming from Chicago …</p>
<p>JMHO of course.</p>
<p>If money is no object, I’d recommend Tulane (my S goes there). My D is at NU’s grad school campus downtown Chicago and totally loves it. BUT she had never lived in the north and it’s giving her a chance to experience another part of the country. Not to mention Chicago is a very cool city.</p>
<p>However, if going to Tulane will cause you to carry any undergrad debt, my suggestion is to go to NU for undergrad and to Tulane for grad school. That way you’ll still get to experience New Orleans but it’s hard to ignore the value of a stellar NU education at the price you can get it.</p>
<p>If you don’t see yourself ever going to grad school (or professional school–Tulane has a business MBA, a med school and a law school), then maybe go to Tulane now.</p>
<p>What a tough choice. Please keep us posted!</p>
<p>Tulane is not even in NU’s league. The location and fin aid seems to attract better students than the school (Tulane) deserves on its merits. The faculty are generally second-rate with little national respect. NU is the opposite.</p>
<p>I love guys like barrons. So mature, so erudite, so logical in their arguments. I guess the lack of national respect for Tulane’s faculty is why a number of departments are nationally highly ranked. Makes sense to me.</p>
<p>I posted supporting numbers on the similar thread on the NU section but here they are just for fallenchemist. And BTW what are those highly ranked departments and how does that compare to Northwestern? I look at those fairly often and Tulane is not a name I recall seeing much.
NU faculty win around 35 major awards per year, Tulane–fewer than 10. NU has 40 NAS members, Tulane 3. You get the trend.</p>
<p>The horrible weather and lack of financial aid attracts better students than NU deserves.</p>
<p>Well barrons, not sure what your beef is with Tulane, but clearly you have trouble reading. If you go back to my post #2, you can see I said pretty clearly that NU is a higher ranked school than Tulane. Never painted a different picture, and it would be foolish to try. However, I would point out that different schools have strengths in different areas. That is great that NU has 40 NAS members. I would never argue that Tulane compares to NU in the sciences, just as NU doesn’t compare to a number of other schools. But then, not every student is going to college to be a scientist, are they? And the fact that NU faculty win all these awards is wonderful. Exactly how much do you think that impacts most undergraduates? Not a whole lot, and I know since I am in those fields and know most of these people to whom you refer, at least in chemistry.</p>
<p>If you had any intellect or skills in the areas of Critical Reading (perhaps your SAT here was about 500?), you would see that the issue of which university to attend goes far beyond the stats of a school. Lots of very capable kids get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton and yes, Northwestern and end up hating it. Not because they are bad schools, but because they are bad fits for those students. Of course the same is true for Tulane. But your diatribe about Tulane’s faculty and reputation is so over the top and unwarranted (not to mention untrue), that it is clear you have some personal issue here. Perhaps you flunked out of Tulane? Perhaps they did not accept you in the first place? Whatever it is, you just make yourself look like an immature fool with your superficial rants that are not actually addressing the issue the OP posited. It is your right to do so, just letting you know that is how it comes across. I am sure you don’t care, though.</p>
<p>FYI, as far as highly regarded departments and schools, Tulane has excellent reputations in Latin American Studies, Business, especially their finance program being considered one of the world’s (not just USA’s) 10 best, English, especially creative writing, certain areas of Economics, certain musical specialties, architecture (a department NU is just beginning), women’s studies, Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and others that I am sure I am not familiar with. The fact that you say you look at these “fairly often” is a bit worrisome in and of itself, but I digress. I am not saying Tulane is more highly rated (whatever that even means) or even more highly thought of than NU in all these areas, just that these areas happen to be strengths. The real bottom line is that despite your inane remarks, a student in any major Tulane offers will come out with a solid education and be ready for any graduate school or professional opportunity that comes along, presuming they were good students that put in the effort.</p>
<p>For sure, if it is all about stats, go to NU. If it is all about being an undergraduate at a place that you feel comfortable, intrigued, challenged (and not just in the classroom), and where you feel you will become the person you want to be, then pick the school that will do that for you, because you will get a fine education at either of these universities.</p>
<p>And I have to agree with c3606, at least as far as the weather goes. But I would challenge schools like Northwestern and Duke that give full rides to athletes, but no merit scholarships at all. At least this is what NU told me. If I am wrong please correct me, but they indicated that they only give need-based aid. Exactly what are they in existence for, anyway? Don’t you think they should give at least as much in merit scholarships as they do in athletic scholarships, since they are, after all, a university? Just to be clear, i mean merit for academics, not for playing a game.</p>
<p>I do get the feeling that there are some small number of people that must have gotten drunk every night or something while at Tulane and flunked out, and now feel it is their mission in life to tear it down. That happened to a few while I was there. Not sure that is the reason, but whatever the reason they should get on with their lives.</p>
<p>With no facts to support your position you make a crude attempt to attack another poster. That is really a sign of a limited intellect and immaturity. Yours is like the first retort of many 17 year old children on these boards–“you must be a _____ reject”. My initial post was not even directed at your post but to comment on the general discussion. Nor am I a Tulane reject or dropout. I do have some connections to Northwestern but did not graduate from there (lived in Evanston and took some classes at NU post-graduate and worked with a number of NU grads).</p>
<p>Now if I am looking at paying out in the neighborhood of $200,000 for an undergraduate education I would like to think I was getting exposed to some of the best people in the business. People whose name on a graduate school recommendation will carry serious weight at top schools around the country. I’m sure you can get a decent education at Tulane or just about anywhere if you make the effort. But are you getting what you paid for? If the discussion were between Tulane and the University of Miami, I would say pick the one you like better for any reason–weather, football team or nearby restaurants as the schools are fungible. But between NU and Tulane–no comparison. Unless you can go to Tulane for free.</p>
<p>The issue of merit scholarships at top schools is one that was decided many years ago. Most top schools do not give merit scholarships or at most very few. That goes for all the Ivy schools and other top privates such as Stanford, MIT, NU, Duke and also top LACs. They compete on academic programs to attract the top students. To have to pay top students to attend is considered bad form and the data indicates they get most of the best students without resorting to buying them.</p>
<p>OK BMurphy, Barrons has nailed it. If you attend Northwestern then you’re one of “the best students.” But if you don’t, then you aren’t … 'cause you know, Tulane can’t compete for “the best students.” Oh man, my D’s roommate will be so disappointed – she was just accepted to Emory University Medical School.</p>
<p>Not sure why everyone is attacking barrons here. I realize that this is the Tulane board, but honestly do you guys really feel that Tulane is comparable to NU in academics? As to the poster who claimed that Chicago is boring, I assume that was done tongue in cheek.</p>
<p>barrons - I see, it is only good form to pay athlete’s to perform for the school’s amusement. Excellent reasoning. Harvard and the LAC’s do not give scholarship’s only to athlete’s, NU and Duke do. There is a huge difference. It seems to me that if they can decide that this guy can catch a ball better than another guy so they will offer him a free ride, they can at least make that much of an effort to reward the best of the best in academics also. Total hypocrisy as far as I am concerned, but that is just MHO.</p>
<p>I agree that they still attracted the top students even with those policies, they just must have smiled watching them go into huge debt for years while they enjoyed their endowments worth billions. Unless of course Mommy and Daddy were worth millions. Finally under threat of congressional action they instituted programs designed to make it “affordable” for the middle class.</p>
<p>And I did give facts to support my position, I see none in yours, except for a position that has nothing to do with what the original poster was actually asking. And if you think that saying Tulane faculty are second rate with little national respect is mature debating, then I think you need a little perspective. If either you or rjkofnovi could read, and apparently you can’t because now I have to say this for the third time, no one is saying Tulane is as good as NU in overall academics. I clearly said that to say that would be foolish. But the OP was asking about other considerations as well, which you have totally ignored, as you ignored the money issue siince he said that about half the cost was covered at Tulane, and he wasn’t sure yet what would be covered at NU, not did he indicate that money was or was not a critical factor in the decision.</p>
<p>If you think that 90+% of choosing a university is about the awards the faculty gets, the ranking of the school, and similar issues, then you are right NU is the choice without any debate. But if you think, as many of us do, that it is more like 70% of the issue and there are other issues such as how much you like the overall atmosphere of the school, getting more than 15 minutes from home, and being someplace that you think you will really like your 4 years the best, then it may not be such a slam dunk as you make it out. That was always the point. But feel free to keep denigrating any school that is not in the top 20 or so. I am sure it makes you feel wonderful.</p>
<p>rjkofnovi - See my post above, but no, no one claimed that Tulane was at the level of NU in academics. Just the opposite. But that was never what this thread was about, barrons just turned it into that with an immature slam of Tulane faculty. that is why he is being attacked. It is fine to argue the position that NU is a better choice for any number of reasons; it is never a good idea to debate by being a jerk and running down another school, especially one that clearly is respected nationally and internationally. Until Katrina, Tulane was a top 50 school if you are a fan of USNWR rankings. Recovering from Katrina it dropped to 51, but it will probably get back into the top 50. Is that at NU’s level? No, but it is ridiculous to argue that unless you are a top 20-30 school that your faculty must be second-rate and has little national respect. You tell me if that makes sense to you.</p>
<p>Let’s put this to rest barrons. I am re-reading your post #6. So honestly, have you ever been to Tulane? Sat in on classes? Do you know the faculty there? Other than reading ratings, how do you know these things about Tulane? You are free to feel my post demonstrated limited intellect and immaturity, but again, what does that say about your post #6? It just begs the question as to what you have against Tulane, and why you would slam it that way. Or would you have said the same about any school rated below #50 by USNWR?</p>
<p>rjkofnovi - Sorry, didn’t mean to appear uncivilized. Barrons has a knack for the pejorative (like when you come to the Tulane board and call the faculty of that top 50 university “second-rate”), and he clearly enjoys applying it. Stick around CC for some time and you’ll see plenty of this. My favorite was his position that Sweet Briar College was not isolated because it was a mere car ride away from the metropolis of Lynchburg. HA !!</p>
<p>New Hope - LOL I did not look up his other posts. That is a riot. He can respond again if he wants, I will ignore him in that I am pretty sure that any rational person reading the various posts will see who is “right”. It isn’t that he is wrong about NU (even if he is very wrong about Tulane), it just was never the point of the thread as the OP clearly set it up. And you are right, it is like waving a red flag in front of bulls to come on here and “argue” a position using those kind of perjoratives. Sigh…, I know I should just ignore people like that. Someday, maybe, after lots of therapy. LOL.</p>
<p>while I appreciate all of the… interesting… feedback, I would just like everyone to possibly tone down or eliminate their possibly rude or derogatory comments. </p>
<p>Tulane and Northwestern are both great schools. Each school has some amazing qualities that make them institution special. As of today, the financial stability available at Northwestern is particularly attractive. I find out Friday if my mom formally receives the tuition deduction. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your comments. </p>
<p>I really appreciate it.</p>