<p>Anything that would help make my decision easier?</p>
<p>hurricane katrina</p>
<p>Division 1 basketball and football or bad athletics?</p>
<p>Jazzfest, Mardi Gras, Crawfest, Hornets and Saints, Sugar Bowl, constant flow of politicians, dignitaries, and celebrities speaking on campus, great food, amazing architecture, community service opportinities, amazing music scene all the time.</p>
<p>I know its a terrible reason to discount a school, but the apparent effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and Tulane were the primary reason that I'm choosing not to go to Tulane. Right now, my first choice is UM, but I think it'd be more helpful if I tell you my concerns regarding Tulane instead of why I like UM.</p>
<p>Tulane representatives went to great lengths to assure me that Tulane has fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina and, in many ways, is now better than ever. However, some things I have seen seem to disagree.</p>
<p>Several engineering programs were scrapped at Tulane under the Renewal Plan when the School of Engineering was merged to form the School of Science and Engineering (<a href="http://renewal.tulane.edu/renewalplan.pdf)%5B/url%5D">http://renewal.tulane.edu/renewalplan.pdf)</a>.</p>
<p>According to US News & World Report, Tulane's yield rate, or the percentage of accepted students who decide to attend the school, is 11%. For comparison, UM's yield is 27%, Emory's yield is 30% and Duke's yield rate is 40%. Statistics come from here: USNews.com:</a> America's Best Colleges 2008: National Universities: Most Popular Colleges.</p>
<p>The final major reason for my misgivings about Tulane is the overall status of the city's population. The City of New Orleans had a population of 223,388 in 2006, compared to a population of 484,674 in 2000 (<a href="http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22071.html)%5B/url%5D">http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22071.html)</a>. While I am sure that the city is rebuilding at a very fast rate, I think the quick and marked drop in population has negatively affected some of the resources that I would be using as a student. For example, Tulane's medical school had to lay off employees and, I believe, faculty because of the decreased amount of patients.</p>
<p>Before Katrina, I think Tulane was a great school. I'm sure Tulane is still a great school, and I know that it will be a great school in the future. In my personal opinion, though, now is not a great time to be a student in New Orleans unless you are interested in a major such as City Planning, Architecture, Sociology, etc. If you're in any of these majors, New Orleans will probably provide some very unique opportunities. Otherwise, though, I would advise caution in your decision making.</p>
<p>That yield rate was for the year right after Katrina...of course it's gonna be lower. I think last year's was about 19% (still comparatively low, but I don't really think that means that the school is somehow worse--their class size was almost back to what it was before Katrina last year and they are expecting it to be back to normal this year.) As for the population, a lot of people in the 9th Ward and other severely damaged areas left because their neighborhoods were practically wiped out. This does not really affect the Tulane community and surrounding areas, and most student would not have gone to those places very often to begin with. </p>
<p>I'm not saying that you shouldn't consider it as a factor, but I don't think you should let Hurricane Katrina alone stop you from considering Tulane, and it is definitely worth a visit if you haven't yet.</p>
<p>Yeah, I would also advise a visit if at all possible and if you haven't already.</p>