Hey guys!
I’m a junior level transfer student and I have received admission to umich, Tulane and Florida state for fall 2022. I’m a psychology major who plans to go to graduate school. For additional context I’m still waiting on BU and UF.
I’m a transfer from a very small LAC (<2000) which I disliked the size, location and culture of. I wanted a a bigger school preferably in the city with a strong psychology program and big school spirt.
Umich looks like the obvious choice but it’s came in EXTREMELY expensive. I receive the pell grant and have a low efc but finaid wasn’t good. The rest of my college career is going to be pure debt so that’s a huge consideration for me.
FSU and Tulane both came in reasonable much cheaper than umich.
Im trying to decide if umich is worth the extra money compared to my other options and if not if Tulane or FSU would be the better option.
Thank you so much for your thoughts!
All are strong options. Pay attention to finances.
If you can identify likely research mentors at each place, and plan to be proactive, then I’d say go for the least expensive. You can go for the “name” in grad school so you’ll want to build your psych resume for that application process.
A psych degree and grad school…u need to go cheap. All great schools.
Follow the money.
Thank you for all the responses! If Tulane and FSU were about equal what would you say would be the better bet.
Both are fine. Tulane is your smaller private…near (in city) but not in New Orleans proper Campus, dorms…ehhhh. But a hard get in admit wise. and high student satisfaction. I say bad dorm and campus…when we visited my daughter was turned off. One dorm had outward doors like a motel. She wanted a mid size school but much preferred LSU although applied to neither.
FSU is a big public school. Big sports. Nice campus. You also only read great things. Both are big party schools and big Greek.
Taking a flyer here. If you are Jewish and want to be invited over in Hillel, both have large Jewish populations but Tulane better.
If you are simply looking for a better perceived name then Tulane. FSU is high up rank wise but some people will always consider it second level.
Take a look at the profs and curriculum. Who researches more of what interests you ? Which classes seem better to your liking?
It means little but niche rates FSU higher than Tulane in psych.
There’s no wrong answer here except the one that you are less comfortable at. That’s the wrong one. They are vastly different so you will know by visiting both which you should do. They are close enough that you can do in two days.
Good luck.
Tulane IS in New Orleans proper. It’s in the uptown section across the street from Audubon Park, a lovely green respite in the city. So it’s not in the French Quarter or in the Central Business District, but it is definitely in the city of New Orleans.
I put in city in parenthesis but was trying to note not in French Qtr or Central District.
A lot of schools are in the city limit bit not really the city as most think.
Thanks for clarifying.
Agree save the money for Grad school especially for Psychology.
So that leaves Tulane and FSU.
A Psychology degree from either one is pretty much interchangeable.
So it comes down to what is the best fit for YOU
Have you visited either campus yet?
Mid size Private or Large Public
The LAC was too small. Tulane about 8000, FSU about 33000 undergrads
Big School spirit you list as important. FSU wins with school spirit up there with Michigan.
New Orleans vs Tallahassee as a city. New Orleans Wins
FSU vs Tulane as a campus FSU Wins
these are MY observations, YOURS are what counts
There is no wrong choice between these two schools. Pick which ever one you see yourself fitting in better.
I’m hoping to tour both on the same trip! I’m concerned that fsu might be too big. I’m also worried about Greek life. I’m from New England and no one cares about Greek life up here and I don’t have a huge desire to be apart of it. At the same time I love to go out and Im worried about my social life being negatively impacted by not joining and if I have to I will. Do you know if either school had a big go Greek or go home mentality? Or if rush is more intense at either school? Because even tho it’s not high on my priority list if it will hurt my social prospects I will.
Thank you so much for the feedback! This is super helpful because I’m not from the region so I’m definitely going in a little blind! I asked this question to another poster but you specifically mentioned it. I’m worried about Greek life. I’m from New England and no one cares about Greek life up here and I don’t have a huge desire to be apart of it. At the same time I love to go out and Im worried about my social life being negatively impacted by not joining and if I have to I will. Do you know if either school had a big go Greek or go home mentality? Or if rush is more intense at either school? Because even tho it’s not high on my priority list if it will hurt my social prospects I will.
You are making a big investment. You owe it to yourself to fly down - you can do one on a day, drive to the other, do the next. They are ot that far apart.
As for greek life, well - a few things.
FSU shows 22% greek or did a few years ago and Tulane 40%. But not all greek is togas and parties. There are many kids who aren’t not typical Greek that join because they find a community of like minded kids. Anyway, on each campus, you’ll find your people so I wouldn’t worry.
That said, you shouldn’t go in blind - period, end of story. You are spending so much on college - so it’s a little more to go check them out.
You applied to these schools so if a large Greek presence was worrisome - well it’s too late now.
That said - both are great - whether you are Greek or not - but you need to go see them to decide.
I’m definitely planning on going down and doing a whole trip. I should hear from UF in the next week or two so I’m waiting to see if I have Gainesville as a stop as well. When I said I was going in blind I meant that more as in I don’t know anyone who isn’t from the north east so I don’t know anyone who knows the areas or the schools. When I was initially applying my one of my main focus (other than academics and cost) was getting out of New England. UF and FSU have low OOS tuition and the Tulane NPC came out good. They’re all strong academically and had good psych offerings but I didn’t consider campus life and culture as much as I should’ve in regards to Greek life. With that said it’s not a deal breaker but if it was less intense at one school compared to another that would be factor for me. Sounds like it’s less prevalent at fsu. Thank you so much for your feedback this has been very helpful.
Glad you are going. You can do UF in the AM and FSU in the PM or take more time.
My personal preference is FSU is a nicer campus but UF today has the prestige. For Psych, they are rated the same - around 40th (per Niche - which many don’t like).
Go see for yourself…
If you like small, you’ll like Tulane…plus you can take the trolley to the action.
Tulane is about 41% Greek out of approximately 8000
FSU about 22% Greek of approximately 33000
So at FSU still over 25000 Kids not Greek
Tulane less total number of greek kids but higher percentage still more non greeks than twice the size of your LAC
Worried about FSU being too big the main campus is very walkable and you can walk from one side to the other in 20 to 25 minutes. The main headache is parking.
Awesome! I’m torn on the size I’m worried about UF and FSU being a bit too big. I visited umich and absolutely loved it and umich is about the same size as the Florida schools. But I really want to get down there to really tell. Can you drive from Tallahassee to NOLA?
Okay awesome! That’s really good to know. A walkable campus is really nice and I’m not planning on bringing a car. You can’t convince me to do a 24 hour drive ahahah
Yes - you can fly directly into Tallahassee or Jax or Panama City (Southwest).
Then rent a car. 5 hours to New Orleans.
If you get into UF, you can fly to Jax or Gainesville - most do Jax. Gainesville is 1.5 hours from Jax…2 hours from Tampa or Orlando…or you can fly into Gainesillve…but likely not cheap. It’s 2 hours+ to FSU from UF.
If you don’t want to pay a mileage fee - i.e. you are looking to save $$, you can fly to Pensacola and drive several hours each way. It won’t be efficient but it’d save a per mileage fee.
Okay awesome! Definitely trying to do this as cost efficient as possible because my little brother is a senior rn and we’re also doing trips for him! I must say I’m super excited for the weather it was snowing today ahahah