Posse is binding. My son was a finalist for F&M - would have been enter in the fall of 2020 from Miami. He didn’t get it and goes elsewhere. The Posse students that started the process in Covid had to meet each other online (aside from the interviews where they met in person). When Posse is correctly established it is a wonderful experience. We know many a Posse scholar. Having Posse helped give those students a group they knew even with a pandemic going on. Since I know the process well. My son was told time and time again to pull out if a binding acceptance to the Posse school wasn’t something he wanted. He was told that once he signed if he got Posse was binding to the group and school he was selected. He was also told which school he was being considered for so that was easy too. At least here in Miami students are supposed to research all the Posse schools and rank them early on in the process. When he didn’t get it he got a call from F&M to ask if he wanted to remain ED to F&M. They also offered to make it financially worth while. My son wanted elsewhere and thanked them entering the RD pool there and ED2 where he wanted to go. Everyone that got Posse went. Yes it’s scary. It’s always scary when there is change. Yes NOLA can get hurricanes and tornadoes. But hurricanes we have warning. As in we know they are coming - and the school has processes in place to get students out. Lots of Miami students go and we have watched them come back if needed before the storm hits. Tornadoes can happen anywhere in the US and can other natural disasters and weather issues. It just is. See the school. Talk to the Posse liaison and figure things out but really your child should be going. It’s not full ride but it is full tuition with a built in group (Posse) and a liaison just for them.
@MomOfTwo22 - Is there a special visit for Posse accepted scholars? What if you started listing your questions/concerns and how to get them answered so you feel more comfortable? For example, if the school takes care of students with on campus housing can students live on campus all 4 years? Etc.
@EconPop @ArrBee @thumper1 @TomSrOfBoston @tsickles Thank you all for your thoughts and insights on my inquiry. I appreciate being challenged to think about all angles of this decision. We were totally ecstatic when the opportunity presented itself and are still excited, especially as we will be visiting soon, to help ease any nervous energy. Throughout the process, I was in constant discussions with our D about whether this was truly what she wanted and she confirmed each step of the way, until her recent discomfort surfaced, which I think is normal. We were working through our own on our own.
@EconPop @Eeyore123 @Mwfan1921 We have not gotten a final financial aid offer yet and I should have probably lead with that, as it’s a given that the school must be affordable to the family for ED to work…from what I understand. But between waiting for that and everything else that surfaced, caused some stirring. We were told that the difference of the tuition and COA will be evaluated by the financial aid office, to determine if any more funding will be offered. I do not know the window of time to find out since the scholarship offer is still fairly new and everyone is out until the new year. The current gap plus travel will certainly have an adverse impact on our family, even though we are considered middle income. Attending school in state would be more affordable, by far, even while living on campus, but this is the only way our D can attend an OOS school and we always knew this. From 9th grade, we told her plan A was to attain a scholarship and we would support her desire to go OOS. Plan B was go where we can afford and plan C was go to a JC then transfer to where we can afford, or where w=she got a scholarship. We managed expectations early.
Admittedly, we are learning as we’ve gone through this process, as both of us parents are immigrants who went to school locally without the option of going OOS and ED didn’t exist during our time. Thank you @nc2020mom for asking me what questions I have. I’ve already requested for an opportunity for my student be able to speak with a current Posse scholar to discuss their experience and answer any questions, outside of the scary mom conversation I had recently. My D’s experience has been a bit wonky, as we were never invited to the Posse meeting where they discussed the full ED commitment with the finalists and their parents before the interview, and where there was also a student panel to share their experiences and answer questions. You can say we’ve been a bit fringy. We suspect that perhaps she didn’t make the first round of finalists selected (perhaps someone declined to advance) or someone dropped the ball at the office. Who knows…but we did reach out to discuss further.
All in all, I posted here after reading many posts, thinking maybe I’d learn something about if someone passed on the opportunity and why. Well, I should have known that perhaps no one would be willing to admit that decision publicly (or maybe no one has actually declined so late in the process, given the binding status), and instead gained valuable perspectives to help reground my thinking and move forward, albeit with cautious curiosity of what’s to come and remembering what an awesome opportunity this truly is. I will continue to take deep breaths… 
My daughter went to school in Florida. We’d lived there for 3 years before, but never had a hurricane. She had FOUR hurricanes in her 4 years there (2 in one year). The school took good care of the students who couldn’t get out on their own (daughter went to NJ to her boyfriend’s parents’ home twice). Once they were supposed to get a direct hit (as in Al Roker was on the corner of their street, two houses away) so they fled to Orlando. Their street was fine, Orlando got hit hard. You just don’t know.
But, it was all fine. Her school had a lot of international students so they made arrangement for food, for electrical outages, for checking up on students. Even those who lived off campus were checked on. The city had shelters. They weren’t luxury accommodations, but they were safe.
This daughter had buyer’s remorse for almost every decision she made, but not after choosing this school. Other daughter never worried about any decision she made, but really had trouble the first few weeks at her school and it was her #1 school. Didn’t really settle in until second semester. She’s now been there for seven years (4 years undergrad, a year close by, in 2nd year of grad school) and it is of course ‘home’ now Took a while to get used to 25 degree weather IN SEPTEMBER but she did it. Her school too takes care of students stranded at school by weather.
Go to the visits assuming everything will be great. Not perfect, but great. Even if it wasn’t the right fit for others doesn’t mean it won’t be for your daughter. My daughter in Florida rarely came to my home (moved after she started but lots of family and friends where I am) except for the summer. She had short breaks for Thanksgiving and played her sport over spring break. Sometimes for christmas she went to boyfriend’s home. College is a time of change and we have to adjust as much as the kids do.
Good luck. I think Posse is great and hope it all seems good to her on the visit.
First of all congratulations on your student’s accomplishments! Tulane is a fabulous school with a wide spread academic opportunity as well as a great bit of personal growth. We live close to Nola also on the gulf coast and are have the same weather. I wish I knew the right words to calm your fears other than saying I have lived here since 1994 and my husband all his life and we are still here in spite of the many hurricanes that have hit our area.
Our S23 has also applied to Tulane and Loyola Nola and we have toured both. The Audubon Park area where the schools are located (they are literally right beside each other on the same block!) is a lovely area mostly residential with pockets of small commercial and of course the beautiful park and zoo with in walking. We have family friends who live in that area and we are close enough to Nola that over the years we have visited at least once a year (just went again for an overnight at Thanksgiving just because!) There are lots of students who attend Tulane who are from the gulf coast, upper MS, AL, FL and TX (and subsequently use to hurricane preparation). Our friends who have gone to Tulane would bring home students during hurricanes, depending of course on whether it was approaching the east or west side. The students at Tulane are great and it’s a strong community. They will take care of each other!
I hope this helps! We personally know SEVERAL students there now and several alums… not one would trade their time at Tulane! (plus their big football winning season and Cotton Bowl upset of USC has really put them on the map so to speak - going to be even harder to get in next year! Roll Wave!)
If your son has not yet accepted the match with Tulane, he can still withdraw without any issues.
If your son has already accepted the match with Tulane, he has committed. He will probably be able to withdraw if he has not yet done the final interview, though they really do not like that, since it throws of the calculations. However, an applicant can always call and see if they will allow him to withdraw.
However, if he has interviewed and been offered the scholarship, that is far worse. Since colleges take 10 of the finalists, any kid who withdraws at that point has literally taken the scholarship to another finalist. That is an extremely mean and selfish thing to do.
My kid is a Posse Scholar, and I continue to volunteer with them as an interviewer and mentor, so I know about the worries that come with the process. I also know what an amazing opportunity this is. Aside from the assured full tuition scholarship, Posse provides a long list of additional resources, including the social support network of the Posses themselves.
If you want to know more about Posse, feel free to ask.
I’m afraid I can’t answer any questions specific to Posse withdrawal, but I am a parent of a Tulane student. My son had been at the school (as a Freshman) about 2 weeks when a hurricane hit in 2021. The school did a fantastic job, both addressing students’ needs and communicating with parents. Food and water was provided to them (bread and peanut butter - not fancy) to tide them over while the storm would be at its worst. Off campus students were invited to shelter in the student center if that felt more safe. They never lost power (thanks to generators), but because City was delayed in power recovery, they elected to close school for 2 weeks. Communication was prompt and clear. They chartered buses and sent all on campus students (and off campus who elected to join) to Houston, and individual return home occurred from there. Students who were unable to return home (financially or otherwise) spent that period in a hotel, with meals and lodging paid by University. The Dean of Students and other administrators stayed with them. One week of closure was to permit faculty to attend to their own homes. The next was virtual instruction. The semester schedule was tweaked a bit to maintain full instruction and exams despite the closure.
Every student is required to submit a hurricane evacuation plan, which truly helps the families think through their intended response. It doesn’t mean your students are on their own - it helps them gauge how many will need to shelter in place.
Honestly, we were incredibly impressed by the planning and execution of their disaster response. As a mom, it was very scary to know my kid was there and I was helpless, but I deeply appreciated that there were “adults” (he was already 18, but inexperienced in this type or emergency) who were there to direct and advise.
As to the party reputation, absolutely partying can be done. The kids spend far less time in the French Quarter than you would think (it’s expensive and needs Uber to get there). With about 7,000 students, there are many “types” on campus? and not all participate in the party culture. The city is rich in good music and food (more than 300 food festivals a year), so there are many more things to do than just party.
Definitely visit and talk to current students and administration. Good luck with the decision and the transition!
I truly appreciate your willingness to put yourself in our shoes and express empathy. Your ability to connect on that level didn’t go unnoticed and helped me process that much more quickly. Thanks so much. I’ve been wanting to reach out since reading your responses to let you know.
You’re very welcome. Best of luck working through your child’s decision.
With respect to hurricane risk, New Orleans, based on historical information, has a 37% chance of experiencing adverse events from a hurricane over a four year period. The risk to a typical college student would be less in that they would be likely to live elsewhere during part of hurricane season. Hurricane watches, it seems, would be more frequent, however.