<p>I am going to be applying to Tulane undergrad class of 2018. I am very interested in this school but I have a few questions. First, what is the social life like at Tulane? More specifically, how much partying vs. studying goes on? How prevalent is the Greek life?</p>
<p>Greek life is the easiest question to answer. It used to be about 30%, but the last couple of years has seen a rise to about 35%. The overwhelming opinion is that it does not define campus or social life at Tulane, unless you make it your choice to let it. I know at some schools Greek life is really dominant to the atmosphere and social order on campus, but that is definitely not true at Tulane.</p>
<p>There really is no answer to a question about what social life is like at Tulane. It is different for the different types of students. There are heavy partiers, moderate partiers, almost non-partiers, academically intense students, academically less intense students, sports types, music types, people that have active sex lives, people with far less active sex lives… you get the idea.</p>
<p>The main thing is that Tulane is essentially no different on the whole than most schools that you would consider similar to Tulane. It has the unique advantage of being in New Orleans which, like being in New York, Chicago or other major cities provides students with numerous options other than just drinking or using other substances to have a good time. All campuses have their share of students that drink a lot, but my observation has been that it is actually more of a problem on rural campuses that have fewer entertainment options. The generally warm weather allows for more options, and also makes the partying seem like it is more than at many northern schools where the activity stays indoors.</p>
<p>So bottom line, if you are considering schools of similar size and general academic level to Tulane, I think you can generally assume that 18-22 year olds are not too different in any of these places when it comes to these social subjects.</p>
<p>Thanks, fallen, for your helpful post. My daughter really liked Tulane when we looked at it, but when I mention it to people they turn up their nose and say that the culture is heavy into drinking. My daughter is artsy and a serious student. I’m sure she would go to parties but getting smashed regularly probably wouldn’t be her idea of a great time.</p>
<p>Hi dke. It is amazing how many students that come on to CC are not into heavy drinking (or drinking at all) and worry about the same issue. The ones that end up at Tulane anyway (and there are many) have repeatedly come back on to say that there is a significant portion of the student body that doesn’t drink, and well over half either don’t drink or drink moderately and occasionally. Obviously the heavy drinkers stand out (as they do at all schools). Like I mentioned the fact that they can comfortably be outside most of the year makes it more visible, but not more frequent, than at most other schools.</p>
<p>My son went to a very rural liberal arts type school and had to move out of the house he was sharing with 4 very close friends because their drinking was getting so bad, and he just wanted no part of it. He drank only sporadically and never to excess. Just not in his nature. But in visiting his school, I saw no difference in the drinking levels of the students there compared to Tulane. If anything it was worse because there was little else to do. This place was 2.5 hours from anything resembling a city.</p>
<p>My D at Tulane and her friends don’t drink at all, except for a very occasional glass of wine. She attends plays, movies, belongs to a couple of clubs/organizations, works out, hangs out, and of course studies. There is plenty to do at Tulane besides drinking to excess and lots of people to do it all with.</p>
<p>I also meant to say at the time that while lots of schools suffer from misinformation issues and ridiculous generalizations, I think Tulane gets more of those problems than most schools. Certainly part of it is because it is in New Orleans, and part of it is because so many of the students are from far away, so their families (before seeing it for themselves), relatives and friends have little occasion to hear much about it outside the exaggerated characterizations.</p>
<p>Still, even having said that most people I have talked to over the years do seem to hold Tulane in high regard academically. So I guess you could say the school has something of a split personality type of reputation, even though I would still maintain the non-academic perception is largely wrong. Well, not wrong exactly, just no worse than hundreds of other schools.</p>