<p>Does anyone have experience with this? I was reading a lot on the Tulane site last night (I'm so jealous of my son now... I want to go!! The TIDES topics are amazing).</p>
<p>I read about the NOLA Experience and it seems that they get more applications for this than they can fulfill, but without it the 'move in and adjust' time seems pretty short. (at Miami I think it's a whole week for everyone).</p>
<p>If there's already a thread on this feel free to direct me, if you don't want to rehash!</p>
<p>I did NOLA! It was a great experience. I’m from really far away and I felt I needed more time to adjust to New Orleans and NOLA experience worked out perfectly. It’s seriously fun and by the time everyone else moved in I already felt comfortable at Tulane and in my dorm. I really recommend it if you’re looking for more of an adjustment period than just the move-in weekend.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that Tulane does its orientation during two day sessions in June, so students have already taken care of course selection, meal plans, ID cards, banking, etc by the time they move in. Although the “move in” time is short, it is really plenty of time to set up your dorm room and acclimate. Don’t worry if you don’t do the NOLA experience, you will be fine.</p>
<p>I would even say don’t worry if you cannot do the June Orientation, although I highly recommend it. Plenty of students registered online starting in early July, couldn’t come any earlier than move-in weekend, and are doing great. Tulane is a small enough campus and has enough of an immediately close-knit student body to allow anyone to feel comfortable quickly. Of course some get homesick even with Orientation and NOLA experience, that is normal and passes within days or a few weeks 99% of the time. Plus, pretty soon after classes start, there is an exposition of sorts where all the clubs (sports and otherwise), religious groups, musical groups, etc. set up so people can wander around and learn more about them. So within a short time a new student has a roommate, floormates, a TIDES course that is very laid back and an orientation of sorts in itself, and organizations to find people of like interests. Not to mention regular classes and the dining hall. Very few students feel isolated or alone or disoriented for long at all.</p>
<p>But again, having said all that, being able to do June Orientation and/or NOLA Experience is a big plus.</p>
<p>CC is OK for that, but sometime in early spring, if it hasn’t already, a Facebook group for students committed to Tulane will start. Then there will be another for roommate searching. A lot more kids will hang out there for getting to know each other. Facebook is better designed for that. This is much more oriented towards info about the school, and has too many of us old fogy parents for the kids taste when it comes to socializing.</p>