Tulane Honors or UCLA? Please give advice!

fallenchemist
Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:30:31 +0000

CollegeChica - I agree with elephant that USC has a very strong communications program, in fact one of the strongest in the country. Not too surprising given its location in LA. As a general point, though, it should be noted that almost 2/3 of undergraduates change their major at least once. Therefore I personally usually advise that students pick a school based on which really appeals to them overall, rather than because one is supposedly better for a certain major. I think this is also a good rule of thumb (as long as the schools under consideration all offer the major you want to explore) because often, at the undergrad level, there really isn’t that much difference between one school’s offering and another’s.

In your case I noticed that you posted that you might also consider an environmental sciences major. Tulane has a really good program for that, and there is still a lot going on in Southern Louisiana for that because of post-Katrina, the Gulf oil spills and other highly sensitive environmental questions for that and the bayous, etc. So in your case being able to double major or change majors might be a big factor, and it is much easier to double major at Tulane than at USC because of the way the schools are structured. BTW, I was trying to find out where you are from, but no luck. Just saw that you are from a small town.

There are exceptions to using intended major as a primary consideration, but take into account that for a typical undergrad degree you will have about 40 courses in total, and about 10 of those will be in your major. That leaves 75% of your courses in areas outside your major, the point being that most of your time and experience academically will be spent in other departments and areas of study. Add to that the time spent outside of academics and the already mentioned possibility of changing majors, and you can see why I suggest not focusing on your intended major as the key decision point.

There is also the point that while a city like LA will have more communications opportunities, there is also much more competition for those openings, be they internships or jobs, and you might not be spending your summers in LA anyway.

So I am not really trying to dissuade you from USC; it is an extremely fine school with many great aspects to it, of course. Besides thinking about what I have already mentioned, and the points raised in the UCLA comparison, the finances will no doubt play a big role. Remember that your Tulane scholarship is guaranteed for all 4 years, as long as you make the grades and don’t break any major rules. Need based FA, on the other hand, is re-evaluated every year and can be changed, at either school. Now most likely if your financial situation doesn’t change much, neither will the aid. But there is no promise with need based FA that they cannot try to change the proportion of grants to loans, so just keep that in mind.

Finally, I understand that since money is tight your parents are rationalizing that photos/videos can substitute for a personal visit. I don’t mean this in a critical way at all, because I get why they say that. But unfortunately they are just not correct on that point, but sometimes there is just nothing you can do about it anyway. However, if you are the kind of person that feels you can adapt to different environments readily, you should be fine. The people that are most successful in college are those that are organized and fairly disciplined in balancing school and social life, and get involved in groups/clubs that interest them right away so they make a variety of friends quickly, especially if they are on the quiet and/or shy side. Otherwise any school can feel like a very lonely place.