<p>I recently have been admitted to UT Austin (from CA) as a journalism major and Tulane (with 20k/year scholarship). I'm leaning towards the longhorns however have a few questions/concerns.</p>
<p>While I would really like top academics, I also am looking for the full college experience from school spirit to greek life. Therefore, to me, UT seems like the perfect fit - Tulane seems to lack a little on the spirit side, however I hear NO is great.</p>
<p>I am little concerned about the size of UT not so much socially but academically; however, all my friends at UT say they love their classes. Tulane obviously will have smaller classes, less TAs, etc.</p>
<p>At both schools their seems to be academic inclination from the students, as to get to UT as a Texan you have to be in the very top of your class and at Tulane, students seem very smart and motivated.</p>
<p>I also feel that at UT, I will have a more diverse experience. This may seem out of line as there will be TONS of Texans, but I hear Tulane is a lot of northeastern kids who come from the same sort of socioeconomic background.</p>
<p>I’m in the same position you are, I was offered full scholarships to both schools and yeah, Tulane has greek life but it really seems to not be as big or exciting as UT’s. The good thing about UT is that they have a better job recruitment than Tulane. As far as class size is concerned, you can have small classes at UT, they’re called discussion sections, it’s like 12 people in a class and there are other programs like it. I think that UT is generally better since it’s more diverse and you have more opportunities. There are a lot of Texas kids (I am one of them), but there are also 50,000 students there… SO I’m sure there are PLENTY from other regions.</p>
<p>ARe you kidding me? Tulane is an elite private school with 92% of its classes having less than 50 students, and ~60% less than 20 students. Tulane has community service opportunities and still Div. 1 sports. Granted, UT’s sports are national in scale, it is a public institution run by the governement in which many will be in-state students with far less credentials that you bring there.</p>
<p>I would think Tulane would offer more if your criteria is academics and class size. However, Austin is a great city and Texas sports are great events for the student body. Tulane’s sports are clearly not at that level, but they do make it to the NCAA tournament every few years.</p>
<p>Well i think you are confused about what a discussion section is. It is a subsection of a class that usually focuses on just whatever people need help with. Most of the time you don’t have to go (unless thats where you turn in homework, take quizzes, etc) and pretty much ALL of them will be like 20- 40 students. If you need smaller classes than that… then you clearly have been spoonfed your entire life.</p>
<p>Tulane really lost its spark after Katrina thought and have not come close. UT hands down will be a better choice IF YOU LIKE IT. Pick a place where you can enjoy yourself</p>
<p>@ohmygosh09 is completely right. Tulane is also not hard to get in… I’m in 27% and don’t have good testing scores and got in… so calling it ‘elite’ is a little far fetched. It’s an AMAZING school don’t get me wrong! If you want a bigger school with more to offer (because it’s a bigger school) then go to UT, UT has amazing service opportunities too. I know a lot of people that have actually transferred from Tulane to UT, but that’s going to change person to person.</p>
<p>@BeccaIB, I don’t know where you get off saying you have a full ride scholarship to UT. Nobody gets those. Especially not somebody who claims they are only in the 27th percentile of their school. AND who has self-proclaimed poor test scores. </p>
<p>I get the feeling that you just like to make yourself sound superior to less fortunate people. For example saying that you have wonderful family connections and that’s what got you into Communications. Maybe you just got into Comm because Comm isn’t hard to get into. Also IB is not “harder than AP” just FYI. They’re mostly considered interchangeable (much like the ACT and SAT). It’s really a matter of which one suits you better. So please get off your high horse. </p>
<p>Additionally being mean to people about UTEP and saying that “even dumb people” you know got into the CAP program… totally unnecessary. Not everyone has as easy of a time with college admissions and education in general. Plenty of intelligent people don’t get into great schools, and plenty of unintelligent people get into schools they shouldn’t be going to… <em>cough</em></p>
<p>I’m thrilled to find out you will be living at Hardin House and will be studying Communications next year because that will (hopefully) mean I will never have the misfortune of running into you. </p>
<p>You seem rather rude, self-important, and overly confident. I hope you learn how to be nice at some point during your time at UT.</p>
<p>That was exceedingly harsh, I realize. But seeing many of the posts that you have put up, Becca, I was deeply offended. There is no need to run your mouth off about how much better everything you’re doing is than what other people are doing. That’s silly and uncalled for. </p>
<p>Also one more thing to note: Most kids at UT are from Texas. Only 8.5% are from out-of-state if that matters to you, OP. But please note that many many many are going to be from very different socio-economic rungs, and there are many students from schools that are mostly minority-based. So diversity is rampant (in a great way!) despite the incredible number of Texans.</p>
<p>Becca IB said, “I’m in the same position you are, I was offered full scholarships to both schools”</p>
<p>The only “full ride” UT offers is the 40 Acre Scholarship. It was my understanding that the finalist interviews were held over the last 4 days. Is this the “full ride” you are talking about?</p>
<p>My two cents, for what its worth. I am a UT grad, my wife is a Tulane Grad. We met at Tulane Masters program, and have a child currently at UT. That said, I love both schools. The freshman classes are large at UT. You will need to be a “go-getter” to seek help if needed. If you take these classes seriously and keep bugging TA’s and profs as needed, you will compensate for the large class size. My daughter received a Tulane scholarship, visited, and concluded that she wanted to attend a large state university with excellent academics, and ended up choosing UT. She enjoys UT and is a “go-getter”. Tulane is a wonderful environment. It is a bit easier to get to know your profs than at UT. I had some excellent professors while in the MBA program there. New Orleans is a fascinating city with the best food in the world. Visit Domilice, Camellia Grill, or Mosca’s if you check out the school. Austin is a great city as well. To be honest, and perhaps a bit chauvinistic, I was a bit apprehensive about sending my daughter to N.O… It has never been a safe city and I’m hearing worse after Katrina. If you are street saavy, it would be best. Two great schools. Assuming both offer your academic needs, this is really a choice of large school vs. small school.</p>
Lost its spark… How so? Apparently, thousands of colleger-goers completely disagree with you, as applications have never been higher in TU’s history. In fact, Tulane actually had the most applications out of all private universities in the country last year. This year, however, the number dropped from 44,000 to 38,000 or so, which is still extremely impressive. </p>
<p>Moreover, the Tulane of today has never been more selective. The acceptance rate has continued to drop in recent years, and this year is no exception, i.e., Tulane’s acceptance rate of 26% last year will fall a point or so this year. Of course, this is where you tell me a 25% or so acceptance rate isn’t “elite” or “impressive.” </p>
<p>Most importantly, it’s not just the increased selectivity that’s the most impressive: its the increasing quality of TU’s student body. So, not only are more and more students applying to Tulane, but BETTER, more elite students are applying. This is extremely telling, regarding Tulane’s future. For the past couple of years, TU has seen a dramatic increase in their applicants SAT scores. This year’s SAT scores for the incoming class “should translate into an entering class whose average SAT score will be higher than any in Tulane’s history.” ([Tulane</a> University - Class Acts](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/administration/president/tulane_talk/tt_021811.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/administration/president/tulane_talk/tt_021811.cfm))</p>
<p>Your assertion that Tulane “lost its spark” is entirely false and baseless. BETTER students are applying, MORE students are applying, and Tulane’s endowment has also grown since the Hurricane. The endowment peaked at a little over 1.0 billion in 2007 ([Tulane</a> University - Tulane University’s Endowment Reaches Historic $1 Billion Mark](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/2007/tulane-university-endowment-reaches-1-billion.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/2007/tulane-university-endowment-reaches-1-billion.cfm)). With the downturn in the economy, it has since decreased, though. It has risen once again since this decrease and is looking to point upwards of a billion in a year or so, but at this point in time, it’s still shy of that prestigious 1.0 billion mark.</p>
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And yet again we disagree. As you saw in my links, 70% of Tulane’s incoming class next year will be in the top 10% of their class, their acceptance rate is below 26%, their average SAT score has increased once again. I don’t know the exact numbers for the SAT score, but I expect it to rank among the top 30 (by this, I don’t mean TU is a top 30 school; I mean if you rank schools strictly by SAT scores, this is where TU would fall).</p>
<p>Things at Tulane have actually never been better… Larger endowment, better students, more selective–and all of this happened AFTER one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history. It’s easy to see how the “spark” has not been lost; it’s just the ignorance of others has been heightened.</p>