Is it the right fit for me?

<p>I have narrowed down my list to two schools. I really like almost everything about Tulane - academics, prestige, study abroad, internships, and much more. Though I have a few concerns about the school.</p>

<p>How safe is New Orleans? I understand all big cities have crime, but as a female in college, do you feel like you can walk around the campus at night and feel safe? Walk around New Orleans and feel safe?</p>

<p>Tulane has division one sports, but how much do the students rally around their sports teams? Do a large percentage of students go to the football games? Is there tailgating?</p>

<p>I am also not interested in partying a lot, but having fun doing other activities on campus and around New Orleans. I don't drink either. I am concerned that the partying scene might be overwhelming for me in New Orleans. Will there be enough for me to do around New Orleans? Is there a good percentage that doesn't party all the time? Along with this, I would like to be Greek, but i am also concerned about the partying scene within the Greek life. </p>

<p>I know there will be partying anywhere I go; I am just concerned that it might be a very large percentage of the school that participates and that I won't completely fit in with the culture of Tulane. Any thoughts and comments would be useful. I really, really like the school and would love to attend Tulane next year, but I am just slightly hesitant. Thanks!</p>

<p>I certainly cannot say if Tulane is the right fit for you, although you seem to have decided already that it pretty much is in many respects. But I think I can address your concerns.</p>

<p>Regarding safety, there have been numerous threads on this topic posted previously on this Tulane forum, but I know they can be hard to find. Bottom line is that the campus is extremely safe, and the area around campus is at least as safe as most other universities and safer than many. Tulane is in the Audubon area of New Orleans, also know as Uptown. Huge homes border one side of the campus, and in general it is very nice. Of course common sense needs to prevail as far as not walking alone at night off campus. Tulane also runs an escort service. LOL, sorry couldn’t resist. But in fact they do provide the option of calling TUPD and having someone come to escort you from A to B at night, even within a mile radius of campus, I think it is. You would have to check on the details. There are also numerous other safety options, such as SafeRide, and an app where you alert TUPD that you are leaving point A and expect to be at point B in X minutes. If you don’t alert them you arrived safely they check on you. Something like that.</p>

<p>The point is that Tulane does a lot to insure the campus and the area around campus is as safe as possible, and the track record is very good. I get a crime report for a 2 mile radius around campus every day (left over from when my D was there, I just keep it for info) and there has been nothing significant within a mile of campus for some time. And what I see outside that mile is almost always in one area called Hollygrove where you would just not go anyway. I would also point out that the undergraduate students are about 58-60% female. I don’t think that many young women would be attending, nor would many parents allow it, if there were a major issue here. Even rural campuses require diligence by the individual.</p>

<p>As far as walking around New Orleans in general, like all cities this is area specific. You pretty quickly learn where is OK and where is not, and again there is more safety in numbers, During the day it is fine to walk down St. Charles, Broadway, and other well traveled streets alone. My D did it all the time, sometimes for miles. Magazine Street, for example, has a lot of shops and restaurants and is very popular with the students. So are the Oak and Maple Street areas. So there are a lot of places that are considered safe, which are within walking distance of campus. Of course people go downtown often as well, to places like the French Quarter, Frenchtown, and other areas. Some areas have regentrified, such as parts of Freret, also near campus. There is variety that can be enjoyed without undue worry.</p>

<p>Regarding sports, it has traditionally (meaning the last two decades or so) not been a major rallying point for the school, with one or two years that were exceptions. Sure there has been some tailgating outside the Superdome, but parties are easy to come by in any case. However, now that the football team is playing much better (and it continues to look positive), and most importantly that starting this year we will be playing in a brand new stadium on campus, I think this will get much better. So while attendance has been so-so to lousy when they were at the Superdome, I think it will improve markedly with the games being on campus now. The men’s basketball team is very uneven in its level of play for a few years now, but the women’s team has been quite good for some time. Not UConn good, but very strong within the conference and a heavily winning record for the past few years.</p>

<p>

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every Tulane student that told me they don’t want to party, I would fund a full scholarship. Well, that might be overstating it, but there really are a lot of students that are looking to enjoy New Orleans and Tulane without large amounts of alcohol. As I have told a number of others in your situation, the key is to be proactive in finding these other students. It is a bit harder than the opposite situation, since to find fellow students that want to party, you only have to go to a party. In your case you need to join a few clubs, talk to people in your classes and dorms, and be proactive. There are a lot of you out there. The party scene is far more public, so it seems to dominate. And hey, this is college. To a large degree it does dominate, but that is, as you say, true pretty much everywhere. You just have to make your own experience, not wait for it to come to you. But there is plenty to do besides the heavy party scene. There are always concerts, plays, movies, games, galleries to visit, and people interested in the same things you are as far as more “mundane”, for lack of better word, hobbies and interests.</p>

<p>I cannot say if the sorority scene = party scene. Obviously that is part of it. Someone more familiar with Greek life at Tulane would have to weigh in on this.</p>

<p>I hope this helps you make up your mind. If I may ask, what is the other school you are focused on?</p>

<p>I have to echo everything FC has said. He pretty much covered it. I have been visiting NOLA for 20 years and I’ve always said I felt safer there than in my own home town. I’ve visited by myself several times and always feel comfortable walking around the FQ area. Like any city, use common sense, don’t put yourself in a situation that could make you vulnerable.
My son does not drink and has no interest in the party scene. He already knows there are so many campus activities and events in the FQ and other areas that he will never be bored. Check out the Tulane Class of 2018 FB page. Kids there are getting to know each other and he said he’s “met” several girls not into the partying scene. No guys though,lol! </p>

<p>It probably is true that there are more girls than guys that are wanting to avoid the party scene (both in raw numbers and percentages), but there are still definitely a lot of guys that are looking for alternatives to it. They just tend to be less vocal about it. Still, potentially a big plus for those guys!</p>

<p>That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks fallenchemist and dolphinlvr6! </p>

<p>I am also looking at TCU. I am from the area around TCU, and have loved the school since I was little. I’ve gone to football games since I was two and really enjoy them. However, like a lot of people, I don’t really want to stay that close, so I have searched for schools that seem relatively similar to TCU.</p>

<p>My pleasure. TCU is a fine school, of course. But IMO I agree with you that there is value in getting some significant separation from home and experiencing a new environment. A couple of other differences you might want to take into account as you make your decision. TCU has about 60% of the undergrads from Texas, Tulane is much more geographically diverse. Possibly more importantly, Tulane is significantly more selective. Not just that its acceptance rate is lower, but also that the average test scores and class rank are a fair amount higher at Tulane. Just a couple of facts I thought you might want to consider.</p>