Hi,
That's helpful because people have such different experiences with schools. In the end, I didn't really click with anyone at Tulane even though they were very nice. I didn't feel like anyone went out of their way when I visited and I actually spent a fair deal of time trying to track down a few faculty members that they didn't attempt to set up appointments with even though they asked. I also haven't received any information on financial aid.
Again, people were really nice but it was really laid back. I am a little more of a fast pace person and I really didn't get to talk to any students in depth so I had trouble getting an overall feel for that. The guy who gave me the tour was awesome but that was the only person I had more than a 5 minute conversation with.
The area isn't great but it seems like there are good areas easily accessible by street car and the uptown campus shuttle. I talked to a few students and toured the building, classrooms, etc. The facilities weren't anything special. I thought BU's facilities were a lot nicer and they have that cool "needle" lab place. I doubt I will take more than the required Epi courses and therefore never step foot into it, but since you are in Epi, that seems like a really cool facility.
I wouldn't worry about not wanting to work in the south. I get the impression that people go all over the world.
I liked that BU was smaller, I also liked the campus and the area around it--much more than I thought it would. I thought there were some pretty good funding opportunities for internships and practicums--more so than Tulane but not as many as Yale. I never thought about the Harvard aspect but I noticed that a lot of faculty had degrees from Harvard so I think that evens the field out. I found the program coordinator and faculty I talked to much more interested in me and my background than anyone at Tulane.
I think Tulane discourages the 3 semester thing and they flat out told me it was the same cost so why do it versus BU where it is $20K cheaper! However, the cost of both BU and Boston itself are insanely expensive compared Yale (my other choice) and that is a rough thing to consider. Tulane and New Orleans is much more reasonable than either Boston or New Haven. Winter sucks though and I prefer the warm climate, but I am currently in a cold-ish climate so I will have to endure 🙂
The most important thing is for you to feel comfortable with the people and be comfortable that you will be able to pursue your area of interests. I thought I could pursue my area of interest at both schools but like BU a lot better. I am not sure which school is thought to be more accomplished in epi and research. I think both are good schools and feel and fit will probably be the best deciding factor.
Also, I just re-read this and realized how biased I am towards BU so take this with a grain of salt.
Your thoughts 🙂
