I was only going to reference it briefly at the end, talking about how I want to attend college in a different cultural environment and the City of New Orleans and Tulane’s relationship exemplifies that. Does this break the classic unspoken “don’t talk about the location in the essay” rule?
I’m pretty sure my son wrote about the City of New Orleans and it’s diverse history for his “why” Tulane essay. He was accepted.
In general, you don’t want to write a Why Us that confuses the city for the college. Most of the time, any competitive college wants to see the focus on what they offer, the college. (If this were Stanford, eg, you’d need to be cautious about mentioning the weather.)
But if you do a good job, it can be ok to mention the environment. Just don’t get some detail wrong. Do you know what Tulane’s relationship with NO is, other than being there?
If you pay attention to Tulane’s messaging, they very much embrace their unique and vibrant location…Tulane and New Orleans are so intertwined that it is difficult to disentangle them. Of course I would hesitate to focus on the city at the expense of the university, but it sounds like you are aware of that pitfall.
My D’s Why Tulane essay was very New Orleans centric and it was well received…her adcom referenced it in a personal note he sent to her. She was accepted and admitted into the Honors Program, is in her first year and is loving both the school and the city. So don’t sweat it and we wish you the very best luck in your application season!
Please look at the Tulane admissions blog - an October post. The post says not a “why X college” and gives examples how to approach the essay. My son’s common application essay was how he discovered his love of history after moving to a historic city and as I remember it, his “why” essay was about exploring the history and culture of New Orleans.