<p>It is a little less than eight years since Tulane was faced with closing for a semester to deal with the ramifications of Hurricane Katrina, not knowing at that point in time if students would return or stay at the institutions that had been charitable enough to take them in. It was during this same time period that the word Diversity has become the biggest buzz word in College Admissions. If Tulane is not as diverse as many would like for it to be, I think we should cut them a little slack. They were busy rebuilding the student body and trying to attract students to a school located in a city that was devastated and certainly not going to be “back to normal” overnight. They weren’t in a position to worry about diversity. The focus has seemed to be to get the most qualified students regardless of color, but even more importantly, students that were INTERESTED in coming to Tulane and being part of that rebuilding process. Recently, I have noticed that the accepted students seem to be coming from a wider variety of backgrounds. And I think Tulane has made a real effort to develop it’s multicultural organization which is very visible on campus. And as others have pointed out, the geographical diversity of Tulane is pretty incredible. Diversity is about more than skin color. It is about being exposed to those with different life experiences. You can’t always SEE diversity. I think it’s only fair to look at Tulane in the context of history and recognize that survival had to be the first priority. I think there is definite movement in the direction of diversity, but the student population will not change overnight. The only way it will change is if those admitted students who would add to the diversity commit to Tulane. From what I can tell, there have been plenty of invitations offered.</p>
<p>Just curious…Okla2012: Are you a current student?</p>
<p>First, I’d cut TU some slack too over Katrina. It is pretty amazing how the school has bounced back from that near death experience and gotten stronger. TU has become so much more well known, popular and admissions selective since Katrina.</p>
<p>Second, as noted above, TU’s enrollment for AAs is in line with its peers. Their “persons of color” numbers reflect lower numbers of Asians and Latinos. Not sure what factors into that. Although I do note that two of the peers cited were Rice and Miami, where location might aide in recrutiment of Latinos as compared to Nola.</p>
<p>Third, TU does attract kids from far away. As the front page of the Sunday NY Times just pointed out, high achieving/low income kids have a strong tendency to attend schools close to home. That might hurt TU somewhat.</p>
<p>Last, TU’s big use of merit aid probably factors in too. That’s a tried and true technique to improve admissions selectivity – a $25k merit scholarship gets you a smart kid whose parents can afford to pay the remaining $30k with no need-based aid. As TU moves up the pecking order, I’d expect them to dial back the merit aid in favor of more need-aid (which would increase diversity).</p>
<p>Good comments Kreativekat…
Not all diversity is visible as you said…my tall blond SoCal daughter growing up in a Highly Asian culture who loves pho, boba drinks,and ramen soup and is an expert with chop sticks will be exposed to Southern friendliness, the incredible cultural mix of the New Orleans population, and probably a fair share of latkes and matze ball soup …she will have a ball!</p>
<p>nyermom said: :Just curious…Okla2012: Are you a current student? </p>
<p>Answer: nope…my Son goes to Tulane doing BME.</p>
<p>Calmomofthree - love your attitude. It sounds like your daughter is ready to be open to new experiences because she has been open for her first 18 years. That is exactly what I want my D to experience, whether she is at Tulane or one of her other choices.</p>
<p>My D, international applicant, who has been admitted into Tulane class of 2017, is the mixing sorts, Asian, and looking for open, friendly, inclusive culture. I am little worried as I read somewhere that ethnic groups tend to band together on campus. Can anybody offer advice? Also, how strong is the support system for international applicants who are far away from home and are completely new in NOLA?</p>
<p>Ethnic minority groups tend to band together (self segregate seems to be the modern term for it) at all universities. This is a common issue, but also a self imposed one. If your D wants to be a part of any group or relationship without regard to ethnicity, that will not be a problem at Tulane (or most other campuses for that matter). The vast majority of students these days seem fairly uncaring as to whether a person is white, black, polka-dotted, gay or straight, etc. They just like interesting, friendly people.</p>
<p>I have read where Tulane instituted resources not just for international students but for all students to help them deal with being away from home. Many students at Tulane are 1000-2000 miles from home, if not farther, and the issues are mostly similar to what an international student might experience, but of course other issues are likely to be a bit more unique. They do have specific resources for international students though.
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