<p>I mean how much did katrina affect Tulane as an institution, like is it the same as before ? If anyone could shed some light on this it would be cool.
Cheers</p>
<p>Academically it is exactly the same, they are recruiting REALLY heavily because a lot of people think they'd be going to a school that was virtually destroyed..however, that's NOT the case, they have been rebuilding so I think the school is in great shape. Tulane is on the higher land in New Orleans...i.e. the richer area so Katrina didn't hit as badly as the stuff we've seen on tv</p>
<p>Try this link
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=239332%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=239332</a></p>
<p>The flooding poured in from the Claiborne Avenue end of the campus and there was some water damage as far back as Willow Street.
But from what I saw in the fall, it has all been repaired, mold remediated and cleaned up - in some cases better than its pre-flood form.
Externally, I don't see how a student's college experience at Tulane will suffer in post-Katrina New Orleans. The university is not near the most widespread (and well-publicized) destruction.
This school obviously needs to "repair" its enrollment. It has taken a huge PR and financial hit. I would guess that a top student will have the red carpet rolled out for her or him, flood-stained as that carpet may be.</p>
<p>I'm taking my son down to see Tulane next week, tour campus, eat in the cafeteria, tour the uptown area and check it out. I have not seen the campus since before Katrina hit, so I'm anxious to see what it looks like now. </p>
<p>I am a Newcomb alum and when I attended an out of town alumni meeting last month they told us that the campus was a lake from Newcomb Hall all the way to MacAlester auditorium. So the water extended much farther than just Willow street; more like all the way to Freret.</p>
<p>My best friend's mom lives on Nashville, one block from Freret, and they got water in their house. It is repaired now and they were able to move back in over the summer.</p>
<p>Son will be applying to Tulane next fall. If he goes he will be fourth generation Tulane.</p>
<p>Ok that's good, thanks for the info!
cheers</p>
<p>The physical plant is fine. Academically there has been a huge turnover among the various senior academic leadership - new provost, Med School dean turned over twice, Engineering School and Newcomb College eliminated, the head of the Horors program left, and a bunch of graduate programs dropped. A bunch of other deans were also reorganized out of jobs as part of the renewal plan as well. There also has been a fair amount of faculty turnover, not surprising given the hardship in the immediate aftermath of Katrina and a new class of non-tenured faculty created who only teach and don't do research. Oh and the Dean of admissions left to pursue other opportunities as well as they say.</p>
<p>If you ask Dr Cowen the university president all of these changes are for the better. They are also mostly his doing as well. The chaos in the wake of Katrina gave him the chance to a lot of things he had wanted to do for a long time. Applications were allegedly up last year but the yield was attricious. Cowen blamed it on the Mommy Factor and probably the Dean of Admissions as well who is now gone and Cowen is handling the duties himself. Suffice it to say the merit aid is flowing bigtime as he doesn't intend to miss filling the class.</p>
<p>All in all it is still a good school. The campus is in great shape. The part of NOLA Tulane is in is fine, and most of the departments outside of engineering and the graduate programs that were droped are still fine for now. I would worry more if you were planning to study in a department that had their PhD programs dropped like Economics or English than I would in the ones that did not like History, Anthropology, and the hard sciences. Obviously if you want to study engineering try someplace else.</p>
<p>There have been so many tours today and this past week, its been crazy. As a student, it doesn't look like people aren't interested in the school. We will see, off to parades!</p>
<p>We were there in November, and it was beautiful. The newly constructed and repaired buildings looked teriffic, and the combination of old and new architecture is really something. We were both impressed with Tulane, and how friendly and engaging the students were. The ones we met seemed to love being there. And the profs were very approachable.</p>
<p>OK, just got back from touring Tulane with S. It looks so much better than before the storm. It almost looks like they repaired the potholes, repaved some of the streets and put in new sidewalks. Honestly, it's been about 4 years since I last saw the campus, and it was pretty bad before Katrina even hit (streets and sidewalks, dirt). Maybe they pressure washed the buildings to clean off storm gunk, but absolutely everything seemed cleaner, fresher and in better repair. The Lavin center is now open and looks great; food is very good. Students seem very happy, and somehow they all seem to be the same kind of kid that was there in the 70's, except w/o the shaggy hair we had.</p>
<p>Admissions office said they had 25,000 apps for next year, the highest number of apps in Tulane history. Our tour had lots of kids from up north (Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, etc). They all seemed to like the fact that it was warm enough to wear shorts, tshirt and flip flops.</p>
<p>Tour guide friendly and knowledgeable, a junior who enthusiastically came back to Tulane after the storm. Some dorm windows had "Hold the Corps Accountable" signs in them.</p>
<p>It's true about a lot of what Higher Lead said above on faculty/admin turnover. Some people are suspicious of Cowen's motives; Newcomb alums are irate and organized (<a href="http://www.newcomblives.com)%5B/url%5D">www.newcomblives.com)</a>. Students don't seem to care; people on tour don't seem to care. I think they may have reinstated Mechanical Engineering, not sure. Engineering alums are mad too.</p>
<p>Reilly rec center is awesome. Interesting astro turf soccer field there.</p>
<p>All in all they are recovering quite well from the storm. I think they will make it. If S wants to go in 08, and he gets some money, I will probably let him. They still have neuroscience and it seems like it is still good. I was pleasantly surprised overall. Good luck Tulane!</p>
<p>I just got back from a week in NOLA. We stayed in uptown and biked the town. Weather is really beautiful this time of year. Tulane definitely looks better than any time in the last four years. The library still has a few issues and they are pumping chlled air in but it is open and functioning.</p>
<p>Services and businesses in the Uptown area all seem to be back and functioning. There are still some houses being worked on but nothing like the last time we were there in May. Other parts of town are a mixed bag with vast swatches of the 9th ward still a rel mess. There are gobs of federal money held up and not being spent because the city and state canot get their acts in order. Part of the problem runs back to there being a lot of properties with sketchy titles. I surmise from what I have read that a lot of the problems are related to the fact that properties have been handed down within families since Jim Crow or even earlier so a lot of deeds and titles are not up to date.</p>
<p>As for crime I really don't think it is a major problem. If you are willing to send you kid to any city Tulane is probably one of the safest. I know I would take it in a heartbeat over Hopkins, Chicago, Penn, or Columbia.</p>
<p>Scott Cowen the president is mostly either adored or despised. A significant chunk of students despise him. Among the alumni right now the atheletics fans are so grateful that he didn't cut football that they worship the grond he walks on. The Newcomb alumnae of course despise him and the engineering alumni likewise. He is a polarizing figure and polarization is something the university does not need right now. I know his contract is up next year and I am hoping it is not renewed. He has been mentioned for nearly every university presidential opening in the last year which tells me he must be floating his name with the search firms but nobody has bitten. Likely nobody wants to bring his style of "leadership" to their campus. It will be interesting to see if his contract is renewed.</p>
<p>Looks like they are getting rid of Mechanical Engrg as of this coming June (07). I still saw it on some of the signs, but there was apparently some sort of an appeal and then a decision in December to stick with getting rid of it. That leaves only bio engrg and chemical engrg left in the new dept of science and engrg.</p>