Haha-she’s already complaining about the cold! I’m secretly hoping she gets stuck here a few extra days 
Her top 3 schools were in Chicago, Albany and New Orleans and she enthusiastically chose the warm climate. Wasn’t fun moving her in with 95 degree temps but she loves the NOLA winter weather for sure! 
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She should have also applied to Loyola Marymount and Loyola of Maryland as she seems to like her Loyola’s!
Wish my older daughter (college Sr) now had applied to Loyola NOLA, neat place.
Also remember our visit there due to the Tulane death March (was like a three mile tour on a 90 degree day with 90% humidity).
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I live in the deep south and am familiar with long walks in high temps and humidity. New Orleans is bracing for its own cold spell with this freeze sweeping the country. A friend sent me this, which I feel is a propos for this thread.
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Ha ha. I have been breaking out the big coat for the last month.
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LOL, so true! I finally broke down and took out The Big Coat. -5 deg F here but also sunny and beautiful with deep fluffy snow.
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Might even have to break out gloves.
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The Tulane death march! 
D19 and I put ourselves through a Tulane death march when we were visiting for orientation. I think it was mid June, we decided to do some exploring the day before the meetings. We Ubered to a spot about a mile and a half from campus to grab lunch then planned to walk to campus. By the time we got there we were absolutely dripping! We live in south Florida but the NO summer heat was crazy.
Even after that she chose Tulane and loves it - she lived there last summer and may stay after she graduates. Her love for the city makes her forget the humidity I guess!
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We were there during July!
Will never forget the bald guy in front of me with the glistening head and soaked t shirt.
New Orleans would be an incredible place to go to college though!
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This sounds like an excellent idea if the school will accept supplemental items. Having more information about the applicant can only help in the decision-making process. What you describe shows his natural curiosity, his drive to learn, his ability to self-start and teach himself, his ability to reach out and find resources, and above all else, his passion for robotics is on full display. Definitely send in this information, if the school will accept it. I think it can only help! Best of luck!
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My S23 was just accepted to Tulane EA. It was a surprise. We visited for a weekend in October and he loved it. He plans on being a business major. Anything you could share about your D19’s experience would be greatly appreciated. How is the academic rigor? One of the students we spoke with during our visit spoke openly about having a really hard time academically. Not sure if this was an isolated incident or if the rigor is such that many kids struggle?
Also if anyone else would be willing to share Tulane experiences, we would love to hear them.
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Paging @trops who might be able to provide some insight.
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Thank you! We will give it a try. Now to figure out where to submit it!
My daughter attends Loyola but has many friends at Tulane. The general consensus is that Loyola kids are more artsy, happy free-spirits who balance fun and school work and the Tulane kids are serious and in the library 24/7. But she made it clear they do save time for partying too. Lol. She dated a guy who went to Tulane for a few years and said he studied constantly and described the rigor as intense. But he always did well in his classes. When she lived off campus, one of her roommates was a senior at Tulane. She graduated with 3 majors (math, psychology and accounting I think) but apparently bombed her first semester causing her overall GPA to be a 3.0 which worried her going into the job market (she did find a good job in Texas but was rejected by some because they expected 3.5 or higher.) But the sense I got was that students at Tulane really have to seek help if they are overwhelmed (she was shy and in denial) so nobody came around to hold her hand when they saw her struggling. It is a bigger school so I think that’s the case at most of them where students have to be very independent and advocate for themselves. It seems to be the opposite approach at Loyola. Her friend was struggling with mental health issues and not going to class and the PRESIDENT of the school (Tania Tetlow who is now president of Fordham) reached out to him and personally invited him to chat with her in her office. She asked what was going on, what he needed from the school to help him and tried to help him set up a plan of action. I’m not sure how he was even on her radar but they do have a reporting system where students or parents can ask counselors or mentors to check on students if they are worried. I think they let him take a few non-major classes pass/fail to allow him to get back on track, set up counseling, things like that. She said he was ready to drop out but this really helped him and he was surprised anyone at the school cared. My daughter’s classes aren’t easy, they have high expectations for students too, but it just seems like a more collaborative, supportive approach when kids struggle as opposed to competItive and “you’re on your own” that seems more prevalent at Tulane and bigger schools. Not saying one is better than the other. There was probably value in her roommate failing a few classes as she recognized she needed more study and less partying. But it really depends on what your kid responds best to. She said all her friends who go to Tulane say they love it (it was a dream school for many of them) but admit the rigor can be stressful. I think it would have been a great college for my son (more serious, academic kid) but he doesn’t want to go to school in New Orleans where his sister is (there would only be a one year overlap but she’s likely to stay after college) and wants to have his own path. They get along fine but just wants his own “place” I guess.
Hope that helps.
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My D19 has had a little different experience at Tulane. She would probably say overall the rigor is not too hard except in a few classes (Calculus, Stats) however she is not in business or STEM.
She was a double major in Psychology & Communications (decided to drop Comm after not being able to get Comm credits when she went abroad) with a minor in something the used to call SLAMM (School of Liberal Arts Management Minor) and now call SLAM (Strategy, Leadership and Management I think?) Basically it is a way for non business majors to learn a bit about business.
One thing she loves is that she is able to take classes outside of her major so easily (except business, you can only take those if you are in the business school.) Once she dropped Communications she had wiggle room in her schedule for some fun classes. She really wanted a creative outlet and was able to take Glass Blowing and Ceramics which were both a lot of fun.
She is in love with the city and has really taken advantage of exploring everything from restaurants to music to museums to festivals. She takes long walks in Audobon Park several times a week (I always know when she’s walking because that’s when she calls to talk!)
If you have any more questions feel free to DM me. It is probably not the school for everybody, D19 often says she doesn’t think D21 would like it, but we have had a very good experience.
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He could try reaching out to his admissions officer/coordinator to inquire if/how/where to submit this supplemental info. He should be sure to describe what he’d like to submit–the way you described it–so the AO knows it’s value. Sometimes the AO will accept supplemental items to share with the admissions team.
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My D22 is a Freshman at Tulane and loving it. From what I see and hear I would qualify her and her friends’ experience as work hard play hard . They seem to have found a good balance between going out and partying and studying to get good grades.
I had been concerned about rigor going in, because my D comes from a public HS in Louisiana. Our schools are not known for high quality academics and I was wondering if she could keep up with the kids from good New England and NY private schools. This proved to be a non issue. She just finished the first term with a 3.9 GPA. So rigor doesn’t seem to be overwhelming (yet).
Positives for me are the emphasis on community service (it’s mandatory) and the amount of opportunities for fellowships, internships, jobs, study abroad, community service abroad, etc.
A problem that I knew we would run into but I underestimated the extend of is that so many kids come from wealthy backgrounds. We are middle class (though not a full pay family, thus clearly on the lower end of middle class for CC standards 
) but my kid is the poor kid in her circle and sometimes it’s getting to her.
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Any kids doing any last minute applications over break? I still feel like we are missing the needle in the haystack. We need a solid music program yet also other options if he wants to switch, collaborative campus, preferably near a town or city with things to do, opportunities for sports clubs, and not in Wisconsin. And we would love to stay under 20k all included. His 35 ACT is not totally offsetting his 3.3 gpa.
Thank you all SO SO much for your thoughtful replies @AmyIzzy @momtogkc @trops !!!
The question of academic rigor was mistakenly not something I investigated with my S20, so I am trying to find out what I can. Work hard, play hard is fine. But some schools seem to have gravitated to work hard, work hard, work harder… play a little. Looking for a school with some balance.
I am sure the students major plays a big role. My S20 is comp sci at a different school and the work load is ridiculous. He describes it as “soul-crushing”. My S23 will be business, so maybe that will be better?
I also know every kid is different. Every school is different. There is so much to consider. I may DM you all as this process plays out. I am glad all of your students have loved New Orleans & their schools. Thanks again!!!
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Two more apps submitted, the ones that didn’t require extra essays, 4 left. She’s going to drag it out until the bitter end lol.
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Has he looked at Belmont in Nashville? I am not sure how they are with merit, but great music program in Music City!
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