<p>Suggestions based on following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Program - Comp Science</li>
<li>OOS for Both<br></li>
<li>Campus Experience</li>
<li>Safety</li>
<li>Diversity</li>
</ol>
<p>I have read up the past posts on both, so I know that students party. Would like to hear first hand from students/parents about their experience so far at these schools, thanks.</p>
<p>I wrote this for another thread, but am reposting for you here. Campus is fantastic, safety is good (surrounding neighborhoods are high-end suburbs), easy access to metro for exploring city (use same safety smarts here as you would in any large city), very diverse student population with students from all 50 states and countries from around the world. </p>
<hr>
<p>I am not certain about their Political Science program but can tell you that my D just started there as a freshmen and LOVES it! She is a biology/marine bio/ chemistry major. She can triple major because she received 38 credits from Miami for her APs. </p>
<p>Things she likes about Miami:</p>
<ol>
<li>Her professors, says they are all great (very accessible and helpful) and she has no TAs.</li>
<li>Class size. Small, most in any class is 20.</li>
<li>Administration and staff are fantastic and go out of their way to make things work for you. </li>
<li>Students, very friendly and diverse. You can party off campus or avoid the parties on campus where they have tons of mostly free activites for the students.</li>
<li>Dive Club! It is the largest club on campus. She is learning to Scuba dive and will be certified in 2 weeks time and can go on weekend dives for $30.00 to $40.00.</li>
<li>The weather! She is still in shorts and flip flops.</li>
<li>Access to shopping and restaurants and beaches.</li>
<li>The campus, it is gorgeous!</li>
</ol>
<p>She has a guaranteed transfer to Cornell for next year and after one month at Miami says there is NO WAY she will be leaving.</p>
<p>^ thank you for your response. I was looking at the UM website and they do offer many good computer science related options plus offer very good AP credit. The only minus point is that the fees are very high, nearly 50K?!</p>
<p>What are your stats? My D got a VERY generous merit scholarship and VERY generous FA. The cost for her to attend Miami worked out to be less than for her to go instate to Rutgers. The key for scholarship and aid money (if you have the stats) is to apply EARLY ACTION! They are much more generous at that point in time.</p>
<p>Great merit aid at both schools. Son applied to both as safties.
Husband didn’t want so in LA due to crime so close to the campus.
Son is in Miami- full ride and lots of perks. He couldn’t be happier.</p>
<p>My niece is at Tulane…great merit $$$…loves it there. Got her undergrad there and is now going to grad school.</p>
<p>Decent GPA but good SAT’s. Lots of AP credits.</p>
<p>My D was interested in both of these schools during her junior year. We had an opportunity to visit only one school during the fall of senior year before applications. D chose to visit Miami as she was offered a personalized visit (private tour, meeting with head of department of interest ect.)</p>
<p>Although she enjoyed her visit,and decided to apply she didn’t fall in love with the school. </p>
<p>She ended up applying to both Tulane and Miami and receiving almost identical generous merit offers.</p>
<p>Come April, she was actually planning on attending a third school, but she decided we should visit Tulane. My D fell in love with Tulane. The school is located in a very nice uptown neighborhood where my suburban NJ freshman feels very comfortable and at home. My husband who had always said he had no desire to visit New Orleans, loved it there and can’t wait to return after his first visit move in weekend. </p>
<p>My purpose in writing this is just to say if at all possible visit for yourself and make your own decisions. If I had listened to the Tulane bashers and not made that visit my D would have missed a great opportunity. </p>
<p>All that being said I don’t think that Tulane has a computer science major so it may not be the school for the OP.</p>
<p>Yeah, thats a bummer! But they do have Engineering physics and also a program with Vanderbilt. Seems like a good option.</p>
<p>You’ll need to check Tulane’s engineering offerings. After hurricane Katrina, they eliminated some of their engineering majors.</p>
<p>Yes, We are checking into that…heard that they are adding back some programs.</p>
<p>If you find that both meet academic needs, the only way to make an informed decision is to visit. When dinosaurs walked the earth, I attended both schools–one as an undergrad and one as a law student–and while the vibes are very different, it will vary from person to person as to which one is “better” than the other. The good news is that because there’s no clearcut answer, chances are that either place would be just fine.</p>
<p>We now live half way across the earth, so cannot visit. Once the acceptances come in we can make the rounds during spring break.</p>
<p>What are the major differences between the 2? I am keen on finding about the student body and the vibe.</p>
<p>dg5052, how would you describe the differences between those 2 schools?</p>
<p>When I asked some people I know, most of them react with “its a party school with rich kids” about UM and “is New Orleans back to normal now?” about Tulane!!</p>
<p>Since many of you have kids going there or have visited, you may have seen some stark differences.</p>
<p>I agree with Septmbr – you must see Tulane and New Orleans for yourself to appreciate it. The section of New Orleans where Tulane is located is gorgeous. And, I saw no lingering hints of devastation in the French Quarter or downtown areas – just the opposite, everything was quite vibrant. My daughter is a freshman, and while only having been there a short time, she simply loves Tulane. So much so that we’re having a hard time getting her to come home for fall break.</p>
<p>Pixel, this may not be a totally fair comparison, but my admittedly broad-brush over-generalization would be that at Tulane, one can find more down-to-earth kids, more artsy/quirky/environmental aware kids, more “walking to the beat of their own drummer” kids–although at both schools there are certainly plenty of mainstream, full paying kids from wealthy families.</p>
<p>Looks like my son is a Tulane type!</p>
<p>Oh sorry, forgot to ask - arty/quirky does not mean gothic or anything, right?</p>
<p>“down-to-earth kids, more artsy/quirky/environmental aware kids, more “walking to the beat of their own drummer” kids–”</p>
<hr>
<p>This describes my daughter perfectly and she instantly found lots of kids just like her at Miami to hang with. I do not think one school has a corner on a type over the other.</p>
<p>Interesting about the “down to earth” etc kids descriptor for Tulane – we went to the information session here in the Boston area, and the prospective students in attendance were for the most part perfectly coiffed in expensive outfits.</p>
<p>The recent grad giving the presentation did a fantastic job, by the way.</p>
<p>Something else to take into consideration is that Miami is a large metropolitan area with an extensive business community, whereas New Orleans is less so - may affect internship opportunities and such.</p>