Hi! I have been accepted to both Tulane University and The University of Michigan. Both have been my dream schools for as long as I can remember and I don’t know how to decide! I plan to study either biology or public health and go onto medical school! Financially the schools are the same for me so that is not the issue (from CA)! I plan to rush as well! What do you guys think?!
Both are great options for biology and public health, so academic offerings will be a wash. The difference will be in all the other factors – size (8300 vs. 28000 undergrads), weather (considerably warmer and wetter in New Orleans), location (city vs. large college town), athletics (AAC vs. Big 10), etc.
If you’ve visited both, preferably including an overnight visit with a current student, and still can’t decide, draw up a list of positives and negatives for each school.
I like Tulane a lot, but an opportunity to go to Michigan should not be ignored. Where will you fit better? where will you do better work?
Both are excellent universities – you cannot go wrong with these options – but (as indicated in post #2), which is YOUR better “cultural fit” AND are the finances “really” essentially identical? Those are the two factors I recommend you base your decision upon.
Michigan>>>Tulane. Ultimately, you should see whether Tulane will cost you a lot less. If the costs are going to be similar, go to Michigan. It is a much better school.
Michigan is somewhat more highly ranked (individuals can decide if a ~25 rating is meaningfully different compared to a ~50), but both universities unquestionably have fine reputations. However, in much of life, PERCEPTIONS – not FACTS – govern. There are considerable areas in Southeast and Southcentral America where, I suggest, the perception of Tulane’s stature will be at least as good as Michigan’s. Similarly, I suspect, in the Northwest Territority, some may says, “what’s a Tulane?”.
Congrats on getting into your two “dream schools”. I’d go with the one that is the best fit for you. If it is possible can you visit the schools one more time? That may help you to decide. There are notable differences between the schools. mid-sized university v huge state university, New Orleans v Ann Arbor, weather differences, size of campus differences (UM has some dorms and classes on North Campus which is a bus ride away from the main campus), likely average class sizes are different (don’t know for sure but UM has some huge lectures), UM is a bigger sports school, both do have Greek Life which you want but is it easier/less competitive to rush at one school v the other (I don’t know) etc…