It seems I spoke a little too soon. I've been trying to get a feel for international & research opportunities at Tulane and haven't been able to get in contact with any faculty at all recently. Does anyone have a solid idea of the opportunities that are available for students to get overseas experience? I remember finding a listing of education abroad programs at one point, but I haven't been able to locate it since. What about where to find a listing of research opportunities or student employment options?
Also... where is everyone in the decision-making process? What do your pros/cons lists look like?
Hi!
Since everyone on this forum has been so helpful to me throughout the application process, I'll try to pay it forward a little.
Last week I was frantically contacting everyone to gather information before making a decision. Through that, I found that my advisor at Tulane was a great source of information and very quick to respond. This may be different based on the individual advisor though. I don't have a comprehensive list of potential practicum placements, but I recall seeing a list at some point that included places like the WHO, organizations in Haiti, and many different places around the world. I think the large amount of Peace Corps volunteers could help lead to a lot of potential for experience abroad, even for those not involved with it. That may be generic, but I can't find that list again.
As far as research goes, there is a section on the TulaneSPHTM website for research affiliations of faculty and various centers broken down by area of study. It seemed pretty extensive
For work experience, I'm trying to look into that too, but I think we may have to have a Tulane ID to access the school's own listings. I haven't found a good website taht groups opportunities otherwise (I don't consider Craigslist to always be that helpful).
As you have probably noticed, i just recently made my decision to go to Tulane. Here was my thought process last week (from a thread that I started):
Tulane:
I liked the city, but not necessarily the neighborhood around the school.
I liked that they focus a lot on Global Health in most of the concentrations.
I like the opportunities for practicums that they offer both locally and abroad.
I like that it's slightly cheaper than BU.
I like that my potential advisor has made an effort to contact me.
I like that a student was willing to give me a tour on a Saturday (despite that the school isn't actually open then).
I like that it stays warm in the South.
I like that classes are offered any time of day, not just at night.
I like that any emails I've sent have gotten a response in less than 48 hours, sometimes as little as 2.
I didn't like that the school wasn't open while I was there because I didn't get an equal feel.
I don't know about funding opportunities (I haven't had much luck with scholarships because I'm out of undergrad but don't have a lot of experience and am not currently enrolled in graduate studies).
I didn't get the impression that it was easy to finish in 3 semesters.
I don't like that pretty much every weekend seems to be Spring Break there.
Again, I'm not sure if I ultimately want to work in the South.
Ultimately, I chose Tulane over BU (and GW) because of the focus on global health and the opportunities for more infectious disease based work experience and emerging diseases due to it being the only school of tropical medicine in the country.
I hope this helps a little. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me. (I also hope the other Tulane acceptees will correct me if anything that I said is wrong. I haven't explored every facet of the website and may not have asked all the questions of my advisor that needed to be asked)
