@sybylla The UC’s have not responded yet as far as I am aware. I applied to Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. They are great schools, but I never lost sight of what Tulane offered. All of the UCs become obvious choices when factoring costs, but I felt that Tulane had more of an educational edge along with a place I’ve never experienced. Another school, CSU Monterey Bay, looked liked a great fit, but I saw their educational opportunities as less than desirable. I always found problems with the schools I analyzed/examined, but I never found one with Tulane besides the costs. Now, I know that in the end, I would have to suck it up and choose the most practical option. My parents tell me not to worry about the costs-“they’ll figure it out”- but that’s all they tell me. That isn’t a huge level of trust being given, there, hence my concern for the expenses of Tulane.
@Tulanefan101 Grad school is a major concern of mine, yes. I felt it would be “somewhat” wise to go to or another UC for grad school, considering Tulane has some extreme costs(basing this thought off of its law school). Still, grad schools can be expensive. Luckily, the majors I desire seem to be extremely desirable(Econ/Comp Sci) from what I’ve read, and a masters degree would only help. I know teachers who have worked for decades and still haven’t paid off their student loans because of grad school. It worries me, hence my hesitation to enroll in Tulane.
Community College is another option, yes, but I have enrolled in dual credit at my high school and will have completed around 30 credits before I enter whatever university/college I choose. Though it’s still an efficient option, it does not blend well with what I would want out of college(understandably, this is ignorant to say and I will have to suck it up if I see it as the most practical option).
The problem with state schools in California(and the UCs to a large extent) is the impaction rate on the campuses. I would go San Jose state or even Chico if I could, but classes are so large there that I would find it a pain to even attend them. I know I shouldn’t be too concerned considering how I did in high school, but problems-less discussion with my professors, more competition with internships and jobs- would still factor in.
Financing maps; yes. Luckily, my high school did prepare me for this. My counselors have found local scholarships, advice on the FAFSA, and other information for college. However, as you said, it is not easy.
Tulane has an educational edge over UCs? How so? If you have the stats that garners a “big” scholarships at Tulane, then how come you are not applying to the top UCs? If you don’t have those top UC stats, then what do you think Tulane is giving your money for? If you want just OOS have you looked at WUE?
hacher5, have you applied for any external scholarships? there is tons of them out there. Also, have you applied to any federal loans and have you looked at internal departemental scholarships too?. The financial roadmap needs to include these things and lots of kids just give up and are tired of search and finding those source of money (external scholarships).
Lastly, do not blame Tulane for not giving that much or Tulane tuition and fees are high. Tulane as a school has budget and can not accommodate and disburse the money to all of the students. However, in terms of giving and helping the students with those money at hand, Tulane is pretty good comparing to other schools at the same level. Like for example, my son was accepted at Johns Hopkins too but he chose Tulane because JHU is kinda of stingy.
Regarding why the Tuition and fees are high at Tulane, it is because Tulane is very competitive school and needs to pay its professors and instructors very good money. Otherwise, the school will only have so-so professors.
Tulane =Johns Hopkins LOL?
@sybylla You obviously are ill-informed about Tulane University. It is an excellent school that rivals all of the UCs except maybe for Berkeley. The students at Tulane have very high stats and well-roundedness that rivals any of the students at the UCs. Tulane is excellent in the sciences as well as in many other areas. And with the large merit aid offered to high stat students it is more affordable than John Hopkins, at least for families in the donut hole (i.e., those who’s family incomes are not poor enough for need-based and not rich enough to afford full pay).
@Sybylla I had an attraction to Tulane’s Political Economy major, something not offered at my school’s choices. The UCs I did apply to are great schools. It’s not a huge deal, considering a double major in just economics and computer science and economics would work fine, but it still interested me greatly.
@Tulanefan101 Yes, I have done all of that. I’m in the midst of some more external scholarships, too. I’ve applied for the FAFSA, also.
I apologize if I made it sound like I was mad at Tulane for the cost. What Tulane did offer me was greatly appreciated by me and my family, and I know Tulane offers financial aid generously. However, this does not correlate to Tulane being the cheapest school to attend for me, if I get accepted to instate schools. This is why I was curious to what others thought an expensive cost of attendance would be for Tulane or college in general.
If you are worried Tulane is too expensive, then it probably is. My son started his freshman year at Tulane with a large scholarship. I thought the scholarship made Tulane comparable to our excellent state university. I was wrong. The additional costs associated with attending Tulane were astronomical for my son. He has since transferred to our state university. So, while I am in no way bashing Tulane, there are many expenses an incoming student on a budget needs to be aware of. This is just my family’s experience but I have talked to many parents who have had a similar experience at Tulane and other similar private universities (Miami, GW, etc…). I will highlight them briefly:
- Food- the dining hall at Tulane is terrible and the amount of dollars allowed at the food court is very limited. My son and his friends went out to eat or ordered food all the time. (at his new school, all dollars can be used at food court type eateries).
- Going Out- since you only need to be 18 to get into bars, everyone goes to the bars. This means you are paying for drinks and sometimes cover charges as well (at his new school, no one under 21 can get into bars so they all go to fraternity and apartment/dorm parties).
- Travel- we had to fly to NO and you will too. This is a huge added expense for flights, airport transport, baggage fees, etc… A local school would have buses, trains and ride share.
- Housing- you must live on campus for 2 years and the costs are very high for basic accommodations. Once you move off, housing costs are very high b/c you are in a city. (my son’s expenses as a sophomore living off campus are about 1/2 of Tulane’s costs).
- Uber- since most students, especially freshman and sophomores do not have a car, they are dependent on Uber for transport to shopping, restaurants, airport, bars off campus, etc… Yes, I know there is public transport but my son never used it bc he said his friends always used Uber.
- Student Body- while Tulane is generous with scholarships, my son had many, many friends receiving no assistance at all. Thus, to afford $60,000+, you have to be pretty wealthy. We are upper middle class like you. The other students were rich. Like private planes, mom and dad’s credit cards for all expenses, every item of clothing having a label including socks, rich. It was difficult for my son to accept that he did not have unlimited funds like most of his friends. You have to evaluate how difficult this will be for you.
All told, my son really liked Tulane and was sad to leave. But, the costs were just not worth it. You are fortunate to live in CA which has a wide array of excellent public schools. I suggest you choose one. The constant pressure of watching your spending b/c you are attending a school slightly or completely beyond your means is just not worth it. We hassled my son constantly about how much he was spending and it made me (and him) crazy.
@BCPAMOM The expenses you listed are not Tulane’s, but personal lifestyle choices. Sorry the finances didn’t work for your family, but seems like your son’s high roller lifestyle made an initially affordable school unaffordable.
Sybylla: Tulane =Johns Hopkins LOL?
I would say: why do you laugh? Johns Hopkins is better of course. However, they are stingy when it comes to giving financial aids for schooling. Now, my son who has graduated dual degree (Tulane Physics and Vanderbilt Univ. Mechanical Engineering) last May 2016 has been working as Aerospace Engineer in Cali right after graduation with high paying job - entry level (high paying job means above average is not so-so lousy money). Check out the dual degree programs Tulane and Vandy; Engineering Physics Dept. The programs still exist.
So, why do you need to go to school that you can not afford like Johns Hopkins; lots of smart kids have to go to state school instead of private school if they are not given good financial aids like scholarships (internal and external) from private schools…now let see who is laughing at you?
@itsgettingreal17 @BCPAMOM I have to agree with you Itsgettingreal17.
My son is on scholarship, we are middle class and we are making Tulane work financially. There is a huge number of students at Tulane on scholarship.
My son became an RA his sophomore year in order to have free housing and a meal plan. It cut our costs significantly! There is no need to live of campus, that’s a choice. My son eats almost all of his meals at Bruff and while its not gourmet food it is certainly not as bad as BCPAMOM makes it seem. Eating out is another choice. My son and his friends do so once in awhile but it’s not an everyday thing.
My son works for Housing so he gets paid and that is his spending money. He also worked in the bookstore for awhile. He doesn’t go to bars all the time. There is plenty to do on campus that is free! He goes to occasional concerts in the city. His friends are not wealthy and are all working in addition to taking a full load of classes.
We have been able to book affordable flights bu booking ahead of time and using one airline credit card to accumulate miles.
BCPAMOM, to each-each own. I don’t blame you that your son has to check-out from Tulane. However, we are also not rich family and in fact we come from poor family. More importantly, if Tulane has not given my son good financial aids and getting external scholarships, he will not be able to go Tulane (or state university) and has to start his schooling with community college.
However, we are Christian family and therefore my son’s lifestyle is very simple. Our son does not drink, smoke and drugs and at Tulane and Vandy, He joined the Christian group (fellowship). His lifestyle is simple that he does not go to bars, or fly home every year. In college (Tulane and Vandy) He worked hard as showing in his cum-laud GPA at both schools and always tried to find some internships, REUs (undergraduate research) and external scholarships to finance his schooling money. In fact, he was given scholarship from our engineering society in our state and every summer he did REUs and hardly ever coming home.
As of importance, regarding Uber, yes they are expensive and you do not need that services. Tulane has busses to take you to mall, grocery stores, etc. And by joining the Christian Fellowship, our son was able to get any rides since some of the members (junior, senior and the church members) have cars that will help any fellowship members. Our son never used any uber, lyft etc during his education at Tulane and Vandy.
Tulane is very generous in giving school money but Tulane also has budget. Therefore, not every students will be given such money. If anyone is being given financial aids and if your family does not have lots of money (like our family situation) then you just have to adjust your lifestyle or cut some expenses in order to meet and achieve your goals aka graduate with pride with Tulane college degree(s).
Life is not easy and money does not come to us like we wish. But, we have to work hard to find it and adjust our lifestyle to achieve the goals in life. So, thanks to Tulane and Vandy for their generous school money. Both of these schools are well known in terms of giving school money to their students.
@hacher5 I had some really terrible years from 2009 to 2013, so I understand what you are talking about when you say your Dad has “lost a lot.” I think there is a very good chance he is on the mend. I am. If he says he can afford Tulane with the scholarship you have been offered, you should take it. The amount he will be paying is not that much more than what the average non-scholarship parent pays to send their kid to state school.
BTW, a lot of people give the advice to find out what your parents are willing to pay; I disagree. That is a figure that we were not and are not willing to provide for our son or daughter. We told them to apply, look at all the opportunities, and then let us know what they wanted and we would think about it. To simply say up from that I’m willing to pay X is to ensure that X, in its entirety, will be spent.
UC’s don’t issue decisions until late March. OP, my D was accepted to Tulane as well and she is waiting on UCs to decide. Have you visited the UC’s? My rough estimate would say you are most likely going to get in someplace around UC Davis (maybe Santa Barbara as well?). So do some digging and see what positives you can identify with those schools. Did you apply for Cal Poly? Another school that really gives mid-tier privates a literal run for their money.
Best wishes for the process.
UC’s are VASTLY over-rated for the price.
500-800 in first semester classes.
Reputation based and graduate and post graduate programs does not provide for a superior undergraduate experience.
Trust me.
Some very good and helpful posts. As a California resident and parent of a Dean’s recipient of Tulane, I would say that @BCPAMOM’s points are important to consider. Tulane is in uptown. The cost of living (regardless of judgements of lifestyle) is much more than Davis and even Irvine (Santa Barbara may be a push). My DD is very, very happy @ Tulane and it’s wonderful to culturally explore somewhere outside of California. However, I applaud your honest consideration of extra costs for your family. You will not disadvantage yourself by choosing between the UCs (as long as you can get out in 4 years!) and Tulane - all great universities and opportunities. Tulane class sizes ARE small, you will not have TAs and you Will have many research opportunities. Tulane is fabulous in STEM as are the UC’s. How competitive do you want to be in your undergrad years?
As someone told us during the college selection process: it’s not a matter of getting in; it’s a matter of getting out.
Best of luck to you!
Were I you, I would not trust my parents to fund Tulane for 4 years. If the “don’t know much about FAFSA” and spend too much money, and tell you “not to worry about it” but cannot tell you a budget - why would you have any confidence in that?
If their financial situation is as you describe and are now facing a potentially large expense in your college then they should be experts at things like FAFSA and EFC such that they could sit down with you and a spreadsheet to give you good parental advice. If they cannot do that then they are putting you at risk for defaulting on your education.
@WISdad23 I was a fraternity chapter advisor, and I saw a few kids hung out to dry by their parents, who could not afford to pay their bills. I know of parents who stole their children’s college funds. I had parents who who drove luxury cars and wrote repeated bad checks to pay their kids bills. So I see your point.
My son kept trying to pin me down on an amount that I was willing to spend, and I refused. I still refuse. I want us to wait and look at every opportunity and then make a decision. So a refusal by the parents doesn’t mean they can’t pay. But the OP needs to spell out that this is going to cost X, and find out if the parents have the money to pay. The description that the parents “spend too much” is not encouraging.
@EarlVanDorn true enough, but it sounds like you are having an open conversation about the details of money. There are different ways to skin the cat but the decision making process should inspire confidence in the student that the parents are reliable and prudent, not flaky and undependable when it comes to paying the bills.