<p>Hi! I've been accepted to Tulane with a generous financial aid and scholarship package which is almost enough to convince me to RSVP my spot at Tulane right now. What's stopping me is the lack of the diverse student body at Tulane. I know it's almost 90% white at Tulane. I guess I never realized it but diversity is a huge factor. Diversity in the sense that I won't be singled out or discriminated against. I don't want to be the "token asian kid". I hear from a lot of students that Asian students tend to band together which is a huge turn off for me (I don't want to be stereotyped into a clique). So in a sense, my question is whether or not Asian students integrate with the rest of the student body and whether or not the "being the only asian kid in campus" feeling is prevalent.</p>
<p>Hi Smokey:</p>
<p>I go to tulane and am Taiwanese-american, so I speak from experience. While Tulane may feel overwhelmingly white, it’s more like 70%, not 90% white lol. It’s about 6% Asian, which is on par with the national percentage of Asians. However, I came from a school that was probably around 30% Asian, with all my honors classes in HS being mostly asian as well, so it was initially a bit of a culture shock for me at Tulane. However, I have never ever had the feeling of being “singled out” or “token asian kid” on campus. The Asian kids who band together in cliques are the ones straight from China who are in America for the first time, so naturally they would stick to their own kind. The other Asians blend in well with the rest of the population. Before I came to Tulane, I had mostly only asian friends. Now, my best friends are both asian and white. </p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to message me or anything!</p>
<p>Smokey-I suspect this thread is quiet bc many of us are parents and we have to ask our children the answer to your question. I suspect twgangsta is correct that the Asians who are in the US for the first time would likely hang out together. I see in my d’s fb pix, that she is friends with Asian students, as she was in hs. And there are Asian girls in her sorority. I don’t think it’s an issue.</p>
<p>Vitrac is right, I asked my D when I saw your question, and I also mentioned to her that the 90% number was incorrect, it is indeed about 70% white. By the time she finished her answer to me and I reloaded the page, twgangsta had posted and said exactly what our combined answer was. I would only add that my D is a China Studies major and has participated in the China Club or whatever it is called, and has mixed with both Asian-Americans and Chinese students studying in the US. It is natural that foreign born students here would, especially at first, hang together more. It seems to get less over time for the more outgoing students. It is, like anything, a lot about what you choose to make it. You certainly won’t be snubbed or looked at funny by the vast majority of people at Tulane or in New Orleans.</p>
<p>I should have added that the most noticeable Asian population in New Orleans but not at Tulane is Vietnamese, if I have understood correctly.</p>
<p>That is exactly right, fallenchemist. Being from New Orleans and Vietnamese myself, I definitely feel like Vietnamese is the predominant asian ethnic group here. However, that does NOT mean that we are the dominant asian ethnic group at Tulane. Many Vietnamese students go to Xavier or UNO, local universities, or out of state to other universities. You will, more often than not, encounter Chinese students and Indian students at Tulane as opposed to other asians.</p>
<p>My son is Chinese American and he is a junior there. He has no problem making friends with either Asian kids or Caucasian. I even asked if he had encountered any discrimination, and the answer is a resounding no.</p>
<p>I’m Chinese, and I might be going to Tulane.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore, and his roommate and best friend is Asian.
They are frat brothers with a variety of backgrounds living in their suite. Not even a thought or mention about it.</p>
<p>This post has some very encouraging news for me. I’m from India, headed for the MBA program at Tulane this Fall. It feels great to know that the Tulane community is this convivial :)</p>
<p>I’m white (and a freshman) and I see lots and lots of asians on campus… maybe it’s just my majors, but it seems like there is more than a 6% asian population. Like someone else mentioned previously, a lot of them who haven’t lived in the US before college tend to band together in cliques, but there’s also many who don’t, and from my experience there’s really no kind of social discrimination at all.</p>
<p>What interesting is how different Tulane’s demographics are from those of New Orleans itself… I grew up in the city, my high school is literally down the street from Tulane, and moving on campus still felt like a big culture shock… not in a bad way, just different.</p>
<p>That’s great info man… Thanks for sharing that!</p>