Ask a Tulane Freshman

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

Hey guys! I’m so excited to see these acceptance posts! It’s so hard to believe that about a year ago I was in the same exact position as y’all…sitting in front of my laptop while anxiously refreshing Gibson. Anyway, a year ago I would have died to have heard personal responses from a current Tulane student. Well, I’m currently trying to procrastinate on my finals and winter break is quickly approaching so I figured that now was as good a time as ever to offer to answer all of your questions! A little bit about myself: I’m a Tulane freshman and a declared double major in Neuroscience and Spanish. I’m involved in the pre-med society, TUNA (Tulane University Neuroscience Association), and SURJ (Students United for Reproductive Justice). Also, I am head over heels in love with this school and New Orleans.
So, if you have any questions AT ALL, then feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! To everyone who has been accepted, congratulations and welcome to the Green Wave! I hope I’ll get to see you on the A-Quad Fall of 2016! :slight_smile:

*Moderator Note - Much thanks to @Bananabelle96 for taking the time to do this. However, per the rules of the site, anyone is free to answer questions posted on here. We don’t allow “forced” single perspectives, and unfortunately all too often people start threads like this, answer one or two questions, and then go away never to be seen again. Of course I know Bananabelle96 won’t do that :wink: . Still, them’s the rules so there you have it. Personally I have always tried to encourage student-only exchanges, so I will stay out of it unless A) she really isn’t answering and I happen to know; and/or B) I see something I just think is not right. Then I will speak up like any other member. But neither of these will likely happen, so I hope this can indeed be an exchange between prospective students and any current students (or parents of current students who can represent) who care to chime in. Have fun!

Oh, and congrats on such a great start at Tulane, Bananabelle96!!*

2

How often do you stay on campus?
How often do you go off campus?
What’s NOLA like durin Mardi Gras?
What clubs are there?
How often do people go to athletic events?
What are the dorms like?
How difficult are some of the classes you’re taking?

I feel like some of these could be answered with my own research but I felt compelled to ask them all regardless, thanks.

3

I’m planning to major in neuroscience on the pre-med track. What size are the majority of your classes?

What’s the most spacious dorm?

Curious to know what schools you passed on to go to Tulane!

How much free time do you have?
How many classes are you taking?
How’s the food on campus?
How are your professors in regards to teaching styles?
Is greek life a problem like with other colleges?
How is the diversity (race, international, religious, region, etc.)?

4

I am going to comment on this because it has nothing to do with interfering with the thread, but is a general comment about asking questions on CC.

I strongly encourage asking things that can be looked up in a search a lot of the time, because you have the potential to get more of an answer than just a dry statistic. So if anyone says “You could have just Googled that”, unless it is the most basic thing that has almost no possibility of further exposition, such as the date of a test or whatever, tell them “thanks, but I am asking anyway because I am hoping they will throw in personal insights”.

5

Is there anyway to see visuals of the different housing options? I could only find the floor plans. If not, then what are your recommendations??

6

I’m not Banannabelle96 but you can find pictures of each of the dorms on the Tulane housing website http://admission.tulane.edu/about/studentlife/housing.php

And videos on the Tulane Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_MAgwUbnWQ

@fallenchemist is it ok to post those links?

@dolphnlvr6 Yes, absolutely. We opened up YouTube a while back as long as the videos are from universities, major news outlets, etc. Not personal blog types.

7

@tigerbomb05

I’m on campus a majority of my time. I’ve only been into the quarter a few times (once for Halloween and another for my birthday). Campus almost always has something going on. So, it really isn’t necessary to venture too far from home.

Once in a while I’ll go into the French quarter or try a new study spot at a coffee shop a bit off campus but for the most part I’m on campus.

I haven’t been here for Mardi Gras yet but I’ve heard it’s insane!! In a good way of course!

There are so many… It’s insane. Seriously you will
Be able to find anything. I can’t list all of them, because it would just take too long, but rest assured that if you are interested in it, there’s probably a club for it.

Not often. In fact, we have a gorgeous football stadium and it is never more than a quarter full.

Most of them are dorms. Like there’s nothing special, but the honors dorms/the dorms you apply to live in are incredibly nice. I live in Monroe (not an honors dorm) and I love it. Everyday there are DTZ workers that come to clean the communal bathrooms and the hallways. And the sense of community is really wonderful.

To be honest, general chemistry is pretty difficult but that’s the only class that’s truly giving me a hard time. I’ve heard the economics classes are really difficult. So far it’s been doable.

8

hey I’m a freshman this year as well! and also procrastinating on studying.

How often do you stay on campus?
during the week, almost all of the time. Most things I need are on campus; there are so many beautiful places to study or just chill.

How often do you go off campus?
my friends and I go off campus to do things almost every weekend, but I think it’s important to note that off campus doesn’t just mean going downtown. There’s so much to do uptown and a ton of really cool places to shop and eat on Oak and Maple (uptown streets) and Magazine (closer to the river) as well as gorgeous parks and such. I’ve been downtown to Frenchmen and to the Quarter a few times; for Halloween, when my friends’ parents visited and took us out to nice dinners, and just a few more times. Probably once every three weeks or so.

What’s NOLA like durin Mardi Gras?
haven’t been here yet.

I’ll chime in here that Tulane is off the Monday before and the Tuesday of Mardi Gras (We got Wednesday after when I was there, but we didn’t have MLK day and we didn’t get a 5 day Spring break, so you have it better now overall). Suffice it to say it is plenty crazy and plenty of fun. - FC

What clubs are there?
literally almost anything you could imagine. I think this is the last thing you should worry about; there’ seriously something for any interest.

How often do people go to athletic events?
depends who you’re friends with honestly. I know a few people who have been to every football game and a bunch of basketball games, but the majority of students don’t go to a lot.

What are the dorms like?
depends which one you’re talking about. Each one has kind of its own personality. I live in Wall and I love it; I don’t know anyone who really hates their dorm.

How difficult are some of the classes you’re taking?
calculus is killing me because I’m terrible at math. Other than that, most of my classes are challenging in a positive way - I took an intro gender studies course this semester that I wasn’t expecting to be so much work, but I’m glad it was. Even intro level classes here will really give you a nice, broad base of knowledge and require a decent amount of work but it’s all manageable and rewarding.

9

I’m planning to major in neuroscience on the pre-med track. What size are the majority of your classes?

most of my classes are about the size of average high school classes, like 20-30. A ton of people at Tulane major in sciences, so intro level science classes are almost always going to be huge lectures - i.e. bio, chem, etc. My calc class is similarly big and so was my intro to public health class. Other than those intro level science and math classes though I don’t really know anyone who has a class bigger than 35ish people.

What’s the most spacious dorm?
For freshman, Wall. JL is pretty big too. I think Monroe and Butler are the smallest, but none of them are like too small to live in or anything.

Curious to know what schools you passed on to go to Tulane!
UMiami and Pitt rounded out the top three.

How much free time do you have?
see, free time in college is a weird thing. Technically I have a lot of time on my hands outside of class - like an obscene amount, way more than I was expecting. But then I have an on campus job which is a few hours a week. And then keeping up with all your classwork from day 1 is somewhat time consuming. And then joining clubs and such. Even accounting for all of that, I still feel like I have a ton of time to hang out with friends and just chill. I feel busy, but in a positive way.

How many classes are you taking?
I took 5 this semester + my TIDES class which ended up being 17 credits, which is about average.

How’s the food on campus?
Decent. I like that I can go to Loyola’s dining hall too to change things up.

How are your professors in regards to teaching styles?
All over the place. Some of my classes are discussion based while my larger ones are mostly lectures. On the whole I’d say my professors have been really engaging. This probably sounds a little ridiculous, but my actual education has been the most pleasant surprise of college so far. I was so worried about the other parts of picking up and moving my whole life that I didn’t think all that much about what my classes would be like, but I haaaated classes in high school so I guess I didn’t really think I was the type of person that could ever really like learning in a school environment. But my classes at Tulane have made me remember why I love learning so much.

Is greek life a problem like with other colleges?
I’m not a huge Greek life fan but I wouldn’t call it a problem or anything. Most people I’ve met in frats and sororities are cool. The majority of my friends are rushing, but I don’t feel left out or anything. It’s just kind of another club or obligation you can do and another way to make friends.

How is the diversity (race, international, religious, region, etc.)?
There are a lot of suburban, upper-middle class white kids. So racially and socio-economically (as in family income and parental education levels) I don’t think diversity is where it should be. Unfortunately, I think this is the case at most colleges (as in students of color, low-income students and first-generation college students are massively underrepresented) so this is more a knock on the higher education system as a whole than Tulane specifically.
As for international - I’m always surprised by how many people I meet from other countries. Off the top of my head, I have friends from England, Japan, the Philippines, Poland, etc. Religiously, Jewish and Catholic students have great student religious life centers. Regionally, a ton of people from Louisiana, the northeast, Chicago, LA and south Florida, but really everywhere. I somehow have met multiple people from Kansas of all places.

10

@Chopinspiano

As of right now, I’m in intro classes so they’re about 150+ people. However, once you get more into your major course they can be as little as 10 people.

The most spacious dorm (as far as I can tell) for freshman is either Wall or Greenbaum. They are SO gorgeous. You have to apply to live in both of them though and the selection for both is kind of competitive.

University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. I got into the honors program at both and received a ton of merit aid, but when I toured Tulane’s campus it just felt like home (which I never felt at either Pitt or Tech.

A surprising amount. I mean of course there are nights where I need to really buckle down and work for hours. But for the most part, as long as you know how to budget your time then you will definitely have free time. I’ve been able to go out every single weekend since I’ve been here.

I took 5 this semester, so 15 hours. Which was pretty doable.

It’s not the best. I cannot even begin to tell you how many of my friends (myself included) have gotten food poisoning from the dining hall. You just have to be careful what you eat. Also, loyola’s dining hall is absolutely amazing. It’s less than 5 minutes off of our campus and it’s free for Tulane students.

Most of them lecture and work examples on the blackboard.

Greek life isn’t a problem, but it definitely is prominent. However, if you don’t want to rush then you won’t be missing out on much. There isn’t pressure to rush like at other schools.

The diversity at Tulane is definitely lacking. There isn’t a lot of minority representation and Tulane prides itself on “geographic” diversity. Also, a majority of the student body is Jewish. We get school-wide holidays for Jewish holidays if that gives you any clue to how high our Jewish population is.

11

Just a technical correction. I think she meant plurality, not majority. According to Jewish news publications and self-reported affiliation, Tulane is about 30% Jewish.

12

What do you dislike about Tulane or New Orleans in general?

Do you like your roommate/suitemate match?

Do you like communal bathrooms?

What dorms have majority of suitestyle rooms?

Do you know anyone on the quidditch team?(yes haha I’m a bit of a Harry Potter geek)

How far did you travel to attend Tulane?

13

Is it hard to get around New Orleans without a car?

Do you ever feel unsafe (specifically off campus)?

If you do not rush for greek life can you still attend the parties?

What is your favorite part of Tulane?

14

Hey sorry for the late responses, guys! My finals just ended (thank God) but I needed to study…

@Chopinspiano

As of right now, I’m really not a big fan of Tulane’s “landmark security”. They add absolutely no feelings of security at all. In fact, my friend was catcalled by one of them the other night (he was in his mid-30’s-40’s). Other than that thought, I love pretty much everything about Tulane.
For New Orleans, the crime rate isn’t good. It seems like every other day we’re getting emails about robberies that happened off campus. But, you just need to be safe and smart. Don’t walk around alone at night, don’t leave your door unlocked, carry pepper spray, etc.

I am in love with my roommate. She is wonderful and actually my best friend now. We get along so well. I’m sure you know that Tulane has two options for when you’re choosing your roommate, either you can request one (and they would need to request you as well) or you can do random (which is COMPLETELY random…you don’t even fill out a survey). Well, anyway… I met my roommate through the Class of 2019 Facebook group through a process of “Facebook Roommate Dating”. Basically, everyone posted a little bio about themselves and if they sounded interesting then you would message them and decide if you wanted to room or not. But to get back to your original question, my roommate is my best friend and will probably be my best friend for the rest of my life. We are two peas in a pod.

Hmmm… I don’t mind them personally. I mean having a private bathroom is amazing (and having a bathtub is even more amazing), but I don’t really mind the communal bathrooms. I get along well with everyone on my floor and (believe it or not) the bathrooms are kind of a way to socialize. Like if two people are in there removing their makeup/taking a shower, then they tend to talk and get to know one another. Also, the bathrooms tend to be super clean because of the DTZ workers. Not gonna lie, not having to clean my bathroom is a total perk.

For freshman… I think Wall and Greenbaum mainly… yea I can’t really think of any other buildings that are available to freshman with suite style living. Once you’re a sophomore pretty much every dorm has the suite option though.

Unfortunately not! I’ve been meaning to see one of their matches but I just haven’t had the time! I’ve seen them practicing and oh my lord it is one of the funniest things I have ever watched.

I’m 1100 miles away from home… and I don’t regret a single mile.

15

@Caitlinxox

Honestly, not really. Especially in uptown biking to wherever you want to go is totally doable. Getting downtown like into the French Quarter requires public transportation but it’s super affordable and honestly really fun. Tulane is right in front of a streetcar stop ($1.25 for a ride) and the streetcars are like actual pieces of history. Riding on them is so much fun and just a total blast to the past. Oh, and driving in New Orleans is terrible. Like if someone was to make a map with a red dot to represent every pothole… New Orleans would be one giant red dot. And I’m sure you’re well aware of how bad potholes are for you car.

Yes I do but there are ways to avoid that. Never ever EVER go anywhere alone, always in groups. Never walk around off campus at night unless you are in a LARGE group (not like 3 people, more like 10). But Tulane has some really great programs where if you ever feel unsafe and you’re within like a 3 mile radius or something then you can just call a certain number and they will send a shuttle to come and get you.

Yes you can! Every weekend there are parties and they are almost always fun! Unfortunately, because of Tulane’s new (not really ever enforced) alcohol policy, frats have to have “wristband” parties where either you were carded prior to coming to the party and given a wristband in advance or you were carded at the door and received a wristband after having presented a 21+ ID. But, honestly, greek life is still popping. The frats are smart and have figured out ways to work around the new rules. So, basically you don’t need to rush in order to enjoy the festivities of greek life.

Oh man… I love campus. I love the weather. I love the temperature. I love almost all of the people I’ve met. But if I really had to pick one thing, it would probably be campus. I love this campus so much. The Mardi Gras tree is beautiful, there are so many quads, and campus is like the perfect size (it takes about 15 minutes to get from end to end while walking at a leisurely pace).
I’m going to expand a little bit… I also love the city that Tulane is in. New Orleans is a city like no other. The people here are so kind and just genuinely beautiful people. A way I like to describe New Orleans is that it has a soul. It’s dynamic, it’s full of different emotions, it has passion and dedication, etc. You can’t say that about many cities. I live about 20 mins outside of DC and I can say that DC LACKS a soul. But New Orleans is just such a vibrant city… and I am just head over heels in love with this city.

16

Hi!

Do you know anything about LGBT life on campus (clubs, events, general atmosphere)? Thanks!

17

Is the academic atmosphere very cut-throat?

Is it doable to have a 3.8 GPA (i.e., a credible pre-med GPA) without having to work every single minute of the day?

Is grade inflation (or deflation) a problem at Tulane?

Thanks!

18

@JesusWept

Absolutely not, in fact it’s very friendly. I think there’s a very pervasive “all in this together” mentality. Sometimes I wonder if the cut-throat atmosphere even exists because I’ve visited a lot of schools and never seen it. But definitely anyone you know would help you in a class. I personally forgot to bring a pencil to every exam in my one class and each time got one from a stranger immediately. Just my small example :slight_smile:

A 3.8 GPA is different for different people. It depends first and foremost on your course load and time management. You can absolutely have a 3.8 GPA, be pre-med, and also be done by 6pm every day at Tulane. The question is do you have the self-discipline to make that happen?

I’ve never heard anything about grade inflation or deflation. We definitely don’t deflate, but curves are also hard to come by. You get what you get mostly and I’ve never seen it be unfair!

Freshman guy here

19

@merething We have an active QSA and an Office of Multicultural Affairs (we call it the O) that are the cornerstone of LGBT life. The O has a lunch every Wednesday at noon that a lot of people go to, but I had class during that hour. The QSA also holds events regularly and at their first one the room was so packed that we had to move outside.

In general, Tulane has many many more LGBT students than the general population. Maybe it’s because we’re a liberal school or because New Orleans is so gay-friendly. I showed up to almost none of the clubs (don’t recommend that!) but still had no problem finding a lot of LGBT friends.

We also have gender neutral bathrooms and housing, 24 hour support lines, and mentor programs for LGBT students. It’s pretty impressive.

20

@wave19 That’s really exciting! Thank you!