Freeman School of Business

There is a strong bond between all business students. Everyone helps each other learn. It is in no way a "dog eat dog program" all the students recognize that every student is a resource and friend. Also we get great treatment by our professors and resources to computers, printing, library, and job opportunities. We have our own library. I think we are the only school at Tulane to have a library in our building. Tulane has been a great place to motivate me to succeed.

There should be more focus on landing internships/connections during Freshman year. I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing to land a job until the beginning of my Junior year.

Our professors are very accessible and want to see students succeed. Additionally, students who take the initiative to reach out to alumni are rewarded. Alumni will go to bat for students.

For whatever reason our reputation on campus is the "slacker" school, even thought I've found that to be completely incorrect. It definitely deters people though. No one wants to be seen as lazy for four years.

We have a lot of excellent programs - Burkenroad Reports and Darwin Fenner - where you can get direct, real, and hands-on experience. Burkenroad Reports is a course where students are Equity Research Analysts for real companies, we publish real reports, visit company sites to talk with top management, and create extensive excel documents for valuation. Darwin Fenner is a course where students manage a real fund.

The grading scale needs work.

It is a fairly small program, so as a student, you get to know most of your classmates. I think once we graduate, we are going to have connections all over the country and the world. Also, since Tulane is in New Orleans, we have been part of rebuilding a city and seen the infrastructure come back and thrive.

I think that students should have to apply separately to the program. The quality of some of my peers is lacking. An application process would allow only the most qualified student into the program. In addition, I think that some of the Finance classes should focus more on real-world application rather than conceptual applications.

I have never once had a TA teach my class. Almost all of the professors are very willing to stay after and just talk to you about your future.

The faculty turnover rate seems to be very high. Aside from a core group, professors are constantly coming and going, making it hard for reference purposes and to establish longer-term relationships. While I have never had any problems, I've talked to peers who are unhappy with the number of foreign professors who lack mastery of the English language.

The experience of our professors, their willingness to meet with you and help with classwork or give advice, the small size of our classes, and the connections with the developing New Orleans economy and the rise of entrepreneurial firms in New Orleans makes the program strong and unique.

The biggest weakness would have to be not being able to get into the classes you want, which leads to very poor course selection.

Tulane's business school is relatively small. Class size is small, allowing professors to get to know students and students to get to know each other. I talk to past professors whenever I see them. I have also participated in the Burkenroad Reports project. Students make market projections on a group of about 40 small-cap, Southeast firms ("Stocks Under Rocks") based on qualitative and quantitative research they conduct over the semester. The class's research is funneled into a mutual fund. This fund has outperformed 99% of the nation's nearly 7,000 equity mutual funds since inception. Additionally, I am taking an honors class next semester called Darwin Fenner, in which students manage an endowment portfolio of $2 million. I am very grateful for the opportunities and experience that these two classes in particular offer.