<p>I just came back from Destination Tulane and absolutely loved the school. I had applied somewhat on a whim, but Tulane's location (and awesome financial aid) has made it a serious option for me.
That said, the one thing that's seriously holding me back is the academic atmosphere at the school. I know that academically, Tulane is great and that students generally do a good job of studying hard, but also take advantage of being in New Orleans. I guess my question is: to what extent is the academic atmosphere of the school centered around just getting good grades, and having that be the end all? Are kids likely to have discussions that leave the classroom? In short, how intellectually curious are Tulane students?</p>
<p>Any feed back is much appreciated!! Thanks.</p>
<p>I asked the very same question and fallen chemist gave a great answer. look for the thread about honors program and campus culture to see what was posted.
Of course if anyone else has something to contribute that would be great too.</p>
<p>Was up at 1 AM PDT answering a flurry of text messages from S2 on his thoughts while reading Plato. He was so pumped he could not sleep. He is into the academics far beyond grades. Only an “n” of one, but think there must be many others as well.</p>
<p>Oh, many others. My D talks to people all the time about literature of all kinds, philosophy of religion, cultural issues (especially China, one of her majors), etc. And she isn’t talking to herself! Again, Tulane is definitely a mixed bag. I mean, all schools are, even the Ivies. But I think at Tulane maybe it is a starker contrast because of being in New Orleans, and how easy it is to either party or just be laid back because of the warmer weather, or both.</p>
<p>But when one sees the high average test scores, the number of students that graduated very highly in their class, the enthusiasm many have for their majors and for areas like community service, it would be impossible for there not to be a lot of people that like to talk “shop” outside the classroom. One just has to be a little patient if you don’t find them the first week.</p>
<p>In fact, that brings up a good point. Don’t be discouraged if the first month or so at Tulane it seems like the partying is really crazy. You have a collection of 18 year olds, most of whom are away from home for the first time, and classes are just getting started. So at first, you might not have quite as many focused on trying to find a group discussion of fractal analysis or whether Kantian philosophy still has a place in this world. So go with the flow, explore, and things will gel as people get into the academics more.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman, and I must say that it is a very mixed bag. There are students who came here to party and there are students who came here to take advantage of NOLA’s unique opportunities, educational and recreational. A lot of people here turned down more “prestigious” schools because they didn’t want to be stuck in their dorm room writing papers for four years. Not that we don’t work hard here or don’t sometimes have a lot papers, but at Tulane we get to be engaged with the Real World in a way not possible at other schools. Most students here are very adventurous, intellectually and otherwise, and have no trouble getting out of that “Tulane bubble.” Kids here who don’t push themselves miss out on a lot of cool opportunities (unless you count getting drunk at Rocco’s every weekend a cool opportunity). </p>
<p>I know what you mean about the vibe here…it’s not that classic New Engand collegiate vibe. You can come here and coast, or come here and learn things that you can’t anywhere else.</p>