Hi @Sierra225
I can give you the simple answer of just saying to look at all the successful students and parents of successful students that have posted on here. I can promise you they had some of the same reservations you are expressing. I could also once again point out my D as an anecdotal example. She didn’t “party” in the sense most people mean it, but she had a great time and was very successful at Tulane, and now after Tulane which prepared her excellently for her graduate work at Stanford and was instrumental in her landing one of the most coveted internships in her chosen career path. But I will go into a little more of a general exposition on the subjects you raise.
There is no question that Tulane and New Orleans offer plenty of distractions. The distractions that come from parties, Greek life, etc. are the same as at any school. People talk about Tulane being a huge party school, no doubt in large part due to its location. After all, who else has Mardi Gras? But the fact of the matter is that the level of partying at Tulane is no different than at virtually any other school, including Harvard, Duke, etc. In fact some people say, and I have seen some evidence of this at the very rural school my son attended undergrad, that these more rural schools have more drinking and partying of “that nature” precisely because there is not a lot else to do.
So then you get to the distractions outside of what you would find at any other college, those offered by NOLA. Clearly any major city offers lots of distractions. Can you imagine what going to NYU must be like? Or USC? True, NOLA has a lot of festivals and other unique aspects, which is what makes it so wonderful. But part of living those 4 years away from home, but not yet having the full responsibilities that go with having a full time job and/or family of your own is to learn to balance these things. And that really is the key. The vast majority of kids at Tulane find that balance fairly quickly, if for no other reason than mid-terms come up before you know it. In your D’s case of being a BME major, reality will hit even sooner. It is a demanding major with a lot of work well before mid-terms. Which is good, because it forces that kind of discipline upon them. But I have also found that most students, and especially the most academically serious ones, understand how to stay disciplined from the start. I promise there are plenty of students just like your D that don’t want to party in the wild sense, but just want to have good friends that like to do some fun things, have interesting conversations, and know they are primarily there to do well in school. I won’t pretend that it isn’t easier to find those people that like to party hard, and again that is true anyplace. But with a little effort finding ones true peers happens pretty fast for most.
As far as safety, the Uptown area is very safe in general. I look at the stats for other schools frequently, and Tulane actually fares better than a lot that might surprise you. But it still requires that all students use a healthy dose of common sense. No one should walk around off campus late at night alone, not even guys. But is there anywhere that wouldn’t be true? The campus is extremely safe. If she does decide to attend a frat party or two, she should employ the buddy system where one of them promises to stay sober and look out for the other. Tulane hasn’t had some of the issues that other schools have as far as I know, but let’s not kid ourselves. It could happen anywhere. Again, common sense and good preparation through honest talks would prevent most of the terrible incidents we have heard about. But my daughter took the streetcar all the time, walked from campus to the South Carrollton shopping areas during the daytime (staying on main streets like Broadway and St. Charles), and one semester took the bus (with her bike) from campus to the City Park area to work at a local library and never had a whiff of a problem.
So in conclusion, IMO getting the most out of attending Tulane and NOLA is a matter of self-discipline, balance, and common sense. And also putting yourself out there to take advantage of all the wonderful things the school and the city have to offer. It doesn’t do much good to attend school in a city with all those great festivals if you never attend any with your friends.
