<p>It is also the seeming multitude of greeks everywhere. Their branding is on a lot of clothing, a lot of people plan their nights around what is happening greek, that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>But there are plenty of kids who aren't Greek and for whom the Greek scene is no part or a small part of what they do. Greek scene schools, the way Vinin describes at - which I think is accurate for Tulane - are in a lot of suprising places.</p>
<p>Right, but they are the opressed (for lack of a better word) minority.</p>
<p>Well I personally am not a huge fan of the greek scene. I have many many friends who are in frats/sororities and it doesn't really bother me. They know how I am and don't pressure me into going to events or anything. On the other hand I have also found like-minded people to hang around with. It is entirely doable. If I didn't have these friends I don't know if I could handle it.</p>
<p>Let me just say this: getting rejected by Cornell was the best thing that EVER happened to me! I can't imagine going to a more spectacular university. I honestly have yet to meet someone who did not like Tulane.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore at Tulane who spent last Fall at Cornell and couldn't wait to get back to Tulane. He's not into the Greek system and has no trouble with his social life --or any other aspect of his life. Staying safe requires what it requires eerywhere--not running around alone and drunk at night. In other words, good sense. </p>
<p>What's most impressive to me has been the incredible variety of opportunity and experience he's already had in just a little over a year. He's done volunteer work that entailed sheer physical labor and now teaches as a volunteer as well a for paid work. He has been involved in more extracurricular activities than he ended up with time for. He has met many people he likes. I suppose if he rejected people based on their involvement in the Greek system, he might have fewer friends, but he's not judgmental that way. He's just very, very happy, and now he's found a way to travel this summer as well.</p>
<p>I haven't been around here for a while, but I checked in because we are sitting in an RV Park across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans waiting for him to get through midterm tests and papers so we can see him this weekend. Nice to see you jmmom. I hope all is well for your son. To anyone considering Tulane, I'll just say this: Tulane's not for everyone. Of course not--no place is for everyone. If it's for you, I think you're very fortunate.</p>
<p>Things are "close to normal." In a couple weeks they are going to open the New UC. Tulane will still always have its issues, one is the fact that there are noticeably less classes available this year than in previous years. The greek/party scene has diminished post-katrina, and fewer people go out, espeically during the week. The dorms are much better than they were four years ago, and so are a lot of the other buildings. The freshmen this year were a step down from the past few years, but that doesn't mean they aren't smart. </p>
<p>The main change is the spike in crime in the uptown area even with a reduced population. It's gotten pretty bad to the point where I am not working in NOLA after I finish graduate school. Examples are several armed and strong-arm robberies on maple street, a still at large "uptown flasher" who exposes himself to women as they walk home and, most egregiously, an armed robbery three blocks from campus at 11:30 AM on a Tuesday. It isn't the fault of Tulane, and the university has taken steps to mitigate the problem, but the problem exists and I'm sure is not talked about on prospective tours.</p>
<p>Ok so there have been a thousand similiar questions, but I just want to get this straight. So I've been accepted to Tulane EA w/ scholarship and its pretty much the least expensive way I can attend a university of such a high quality. As a result, I'm seriously considering it.</p>
<p>Basically I know I can get the education I want at Tulane, the campus is great, and I like its location within NO. So the social scene is the one factor that there is a question mark, and I've heard different versions of it. Now, I don't plan on going Greek but I'm not opposed to drinking, going to frat parties, etc. Its just that I don't know if I would like to actually join one (in fact, I really do not see myself doing so). Basically, I what some reassurance that an active social life, that does include parties and clubs but isn't part of a frat, is possible. I hope that makes sense</p>
<p>Reading some old posts in this forum really got me thinking/questioning</p>
<p>Cesky - have you visited the campus yet? If not, go and spend time with some of the students - if you know any from your area or from your high school, talk / email / IM them. That should answer most of your questions. </p>
<p>If you'll accept a view from someone who had similar questions quite a few years ago, here's my take. I also went to a school that has been on and off the top 10 party school list over the years, and even joined a frat and lived in the house my sophomore year, before going overseas for my junior year. When I came back, I found I had outgrown that particular scene. </p>
<p>I also compared notes with a lot of my friends who went to different colleges - and we pretty much found that you could party anywhere, and study anywhere.</p>
<p>What I can pass on is that college is about and learning from different things. Experience can come in many ways: per Cicero, "Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide." v. Blake, "You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough."</p>
<p>Go get the best set of experiences you can, where ever that is.</p>
<p>I've decided that I'm not concerned and was just caught in a moment of worry lol</p>
<p>read this article, regarding to tulane's academics:
<a href="http://www.thehullabaloo.com/media/storage/paper958/news/2006/10/13/News/Doctoral.Programs.Cut.Reactions.Vary-2349330.shtml?norewrite200611301716&sourcedomain=www.thehullabaloo.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.thehullabaloo.com/media/storage/paper958/news/2006/10/13/News/Doctoral.Programs.Cut.Reactions.Vary-2349330.shtml?norewrite200611301716&sourcedomain=www.thehullabaloo.com</a></p>
<p>when i read this, my first thought was "are they trying to run this school into the ground?!" i really think NOLA needs the Social Work program, and also Wikipedia lists Economics as particularly strong (im an econ major btw)</p>
<p>My limited knowledge of this I get from my Tulane alum magazines, local news accounts, some googling and my cousins, who are all Tulane grads themselves. First, a lot of these cuts have been contemplated for some time as the programs were considered underperforming, or maybe just not big revenue producers. My cousin, an ee grad, says that most of the engineering majors were so small in terms of enrollment that they were always in danger of losing their accreditation. Some of them were high cost in terms of overhead. To a certain extent, Katrina gave the university a chance to do some things they'd wanted to do for a long time.</p>
<p>Also, bear in mind that Tulane and the city of New Orleans suffered a mind boggling CATASTROPHIC event. Tulane had over $200 million of physical damage, $100 million of which was uninsured. Loyola, Dillard, Xavier, UNO and SUNO have all had major cuts to their faculties and staffs also (I'm not as familiar with their program cuts). SUNO was virtually destroyed and their students take class in trailers and live in hotels. That is, what's left of their students.</p>
<p>Scott Cowen did the best he could under the circumstances and had the advice of some big brains from other major universities to help him survive circumstances which to my knowledge no other major unversity has ever had to face. As an alum, I'm a little bitter about it; my engineering major child is oos, and so is my cousin's kid, but maybe we need to cut them some slack. It is nothing short of a miracle that Tulane is open and functioning as well as it is at this moment. They could just as easily be dead in the water.</p>
<p>Mercymom</p>
<p>First of all, engineering was in the black. To think we cut engineering when the thing new orleans needs most is engineers to rebuild the levees! The Newcomb/Tulane disaster was even worse. Before Katrina, Cowen considered cutting the football program and all of D1 sports. This same year, our baseball team was ranked #1 and went to the college world series. It's as if Cowen has a pathalogical desire to change every aspect of the university.</p>
<p>Second of all, anyone worth their salt in New Orleans knew the levees wouldn't hold and the "big one" was just a matter of time. To have a major university uninsured or underinsured is borderline criminal. Instead this money was spent on a New UC which took 4 years to build and is for all intents and purposes the same as the old one, and a new dorm when demand simply wasn't there. All things being equal, I don't give a rats behind what kind of facilities my courses are in if I can't find quality professors to teach the courses I'd like to take.</p>
<p>I did say that I was a little bitter about all this, please note. I'm a Newcomb alum and I know they've tried before to get rid of Newcomb, and I did say that Katrina gave them the excuse to do a lot of stuff they were already thinking about.</p>
<p>As for engineering, I am getting my info from my cousin who is by nature cynical, so if he can find some justification for what's happened then I am willing to cut them some slack. He was not talking about being "in the black", which I interpret to mean financial stability; he was talking about accreditation of the program. I personally don't have any idea what the factors are for that and I assume he keeps up with it as a loyal engineering alum.</p>
<p>I will grant you that on the surface, to get rid of civil engineering in the face of the largest civil engineering mistake ever made in the US, does seem a little ludicrous, but I don't presume to know the full extent of the situation they were/are facing in keeping Tulane alive and well as an institution.</p>
<p>Two thirds of the campus was damaged. From what I've heard there wasn't a single instituion in NOLA, public or private, that was adequately insured for an event equal to the destruction of all of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. We could debate that one forever. But I do think Tulane was looking in the jaws of death last fall, and now they have more than a fighting chance of surviving as an excellent place of learning. A different place perhaps, but they're not going to perish, which was what it looked like in October of last year.</p>
<p>For the record, I don't think you can say that everyone knew the levees wouldn't hold. For one thing most of the destruction uptown wasn't caused by "levees"; it was caused by the collapse of floodwalls in the drainage canals that weren't built properly and did not take on more water than they were designed to hold. Mistakes were made in design, materials and soil analysis. There were levee breaks in the east that caused the damage to St. Bernard and the 9th ward that could have been anticipated and had happened before during Betsy, but I lived in NOLA during Betsy and there wasn't a drop of water in the streets uptown, even though it was up to the rooftops in the 9th ward. The big fear as I always understood it was if a major hurricane hit from the right angle and scooped up the lake and dumped it into the city over the levees. That did not happen with Katrina. Instead the drainage canal walls fell over.</p>
<p>Rico while I agree with some of your concerns....I can't agree with this comment:</p>
<p>"Instead this money was spent on a New UC which took 4 years to build and is for all intents and purposes the same as the old one"</p>
<p>The UC building was started in January 2004...that sounds like 3 years to me. The hurricane added a year to the original schedule. It is 50% bigger than the old UC, how can you say it is the same as the old one?</p>
<p>Hey guys... for accepted and prospective students, meet and chat with other High School Students and tons of current Tulane students at <a href="http://tulane.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2216714953%5B/url%5D">http://tulane.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2216714953</a></p>
<p>I am taking my son to visit the campus within the next few weeks. I am concerned about the recent reports of additional violence in the area. Anyone have thoughts on a safe, nearby hotel? We will be driving in, so we will have a car. I want to give my son a fair representation of the area. As his brothers attend large urban universities (Houston and Southern California), we are used to undesirable areas near campus, yet we also know where not to venture. We are not that familiar with the Tulane University area.</p>
<p>Any hotel in the Garden District or CBD/French Quarter (i.e. Canal Street) is more than fine. Tulane has good rates at the Marriott on Canal among others.</p>
<p>The crime issues have been in centered in areas outside the city center and far from Tulane itself. The area around Tulane is very safe provided you excercise normal cautions. I have a daughter at Tulane and have no significant concerns about her safety once she was educated on city life and where the areas to avoid are. Tulane has an excellent orientation in this regard.</p>
<p>As with any city, New Orleans covers a large area and has lots of neighborhoods. Some good, some bad. Unfortunately in the media they use the phrase "New Orleans is having a crime problem". While it is partially true...it is too broad a statement.</p>
<p>Like BL1 we also have a D at Tulane and echo his words as parents. Director of Security Ken Dupaquier has a good handle on the situation, and President Cowen addressed the issue recently in his weekly newsletteer: <a href="http://www2.tulane.edu/tulane_talk/tt_011207.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www2.tulane.edu/tulane_talk/tt_011207.cfm</a>. </p>
<p>As I've noted elswhere on this site, visiting the campus is the only way to determine what is best for your child - given the way reporters write (focusing on sound bites and headlines), you'll miss the whole picture (good or bad) unless you see it for yourself - a recommendation I'd make for any school on your list. </p>
<p>When you visit the campus stop by the security office - Dupaquier is very responsive.</p>