Hi… based on academics and school reputation. Would you select Tulane, Villanova or U Miami. Thx!
Tulane
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They are equal. What are you looking for in a college?
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I generally see them as equal too. If a business major Villanova has the edge IMO.
I lived in NOLA for a long time, if you choose to go to Tulane, please adhere to this advice. Please, please, please be respectful of the culture, identity, and history of that city and its people.
I am looking for small class size, relaxed environment, school spirit, strong academic reputation, engaged alumni network, decent diversity, not into greek life so that does not matter. THANKS!
Small class - Miami
school spirit - Miami (Villanova close 2nd)
academic reputation - Tulane by a hair, but could be debated.
Alums - Not sure
Diversity - Miami
Full disclosure - daughter applied to 2/3 and chose Miami.
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According to the most recent CDS for Tulane and Miami, Tulane has the smaller class section and subsections sizes, as well as a lower faculty to student ratio of 8:1 vs 12:1 for Miami. This is not surprising, as Tulane has a significantly smaller undergraduate population of 7,700 vs 11,300 for Miami.
Faculty ratios can be misleading IMO. You need to find out from the percentage of classes with 12 or fewer students IMO. Worth the effort.
Why fewer than 12 students? That seems a bit random, and one would have to speak with the institutional reporting departments to get that breakdown because that range isn’t reported on common data sets.
From 2019-20 CDSs:
% of classes with 19 or fewer students: Tulane 66%, Miami 51%
% of classes with 9 or fewer students: Tulane 26%, Miami 13%
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Good question. On the board of the college I am on, that is what they use. They say it defines “small classes.” Maybe I will question it. Obviously, the two schools do pretty well in that department. Also, maybe I am wrong.
Colleges often use and report internal statistics that make them look good compared to other colleges. Frankly, any number that we select is going to be more or less arbitrary: 12, 15, 20, 50. (I’ve seen all those numbers used.) A smaller college is going to have more classes with 12 or fewer students than its nearby medium-sized neighbor, so I can see them choosing 12 because - well, it makes them look good. (I agree that faculty-student ratio is also easily goosed; not all faculty teach undergraduate classes.)
Really, I’d say the only arbitrary number that matters is what the OP considers a “small class size.” OP, are you really craving small intimate discussion classes that almost feel like a graduate seminar, with something like 7-15 students? Or are you just looking for ‘not giant lecture hall classes’?
All three of those universities are excellent ones, and you really can’t go wrong on academics and school reputation, so I’d focus on the other qualities of the school that will shape your experience there. Since you asked, if it were me I’d be choosing between Tulane or University of Miami (for weather), but after that I’d have a hard choice: both are great schools and I love both New Orleans and Miami. I think I would lean Tulane’s way and that’s mostly because I really love New Orleans.
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