Perspective From a Former Tulane Student

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

<p>Hi y'all,</p>

<p>It's been a few years since I attended Tulane, and I wanted to pay forward my experiences for those who helped guide my college selection process on this forum.</p>

<p>A little bit of context:</p>

<ul>
<li>I attended Tulane University for the 2010-2011 school year in the Freeman School of Business</li>
<li>Had a mixed experience at Tulane (detailed below), and wanted to explore other opportunities</li>
<li>I ultimately transferred to another top university on the west coast (think UCLA/UC Berkeley/Stanford/Pomona)</li>
</ul>

<p>I tried to be objective as possible, and I hope this will help serve as 1 piece in the puzzle of making a college decision. </p>

<p>Pros:
- New Orleans! Honestly this is the most unique city in the United States. The food, culture, weather, people--everything! I dearly miss New Orleans and come back every year or so to visit old friends and run around the city.
- Size This probably narrows down the schools above, but attending a much larger university is a very different experience from Tulane. 5-10k people, to me, is an ideal fit where you're forced to meet a ton of new people and step out of your comfort zone.
- Involvement Opportunities I didn't realize it at the time, but Tulane gives students a ton of ways to get involved, whether that's academic clubs, Greek life, and especially volunteerism.</p>

<p>Cons:
- Reputation I don't think Tulane's reputation is on par with the quality of its students. I can only speak about Freeman vs. my current business program, but the Freeman career center simply does not compare. Several of my friends at Tulane (seniors now), echoed similar complaints as they are going through the job hunt now.
- Student Attitude I've read this on other threads here, and it was probably my biggest reason for transferring. When you come in as a freshman at Tulane, the prevailing mindset is "I'm here because I got into Emory/Vandy/Miami/UVA but Tulane gave me a huge scholarship." That was my mindset, too. It's a bad environment when a university's top students feel entitled to be at a better school and put it down as a result.
- Student Body Statistics may tell another story, but I felt like Tulane was New England in New Orleans. Not that I dislike people from New York, at all (!), but I felt a little out of place being from elsewhere. I think this rings especially true in Greek Life.</p>

<p>All in all, I don't regret my decision to transfer from Tulane, but there are definitely aspects I miss. </p>

<p>Hope this helps! I'm sure fallenchemist will have something to say (heck, I think he sold me on Tulane when I was a senior). Cheers</p>

2

<p>thanks for your perspective, Woop. Good luck with your graduation.</p>

3

<p>Not really much to say, except that your honest assessment is appreciated. Statistically, about 1/3 of the students come from the Northeast. Of course, Tulane defines the Northeast as everything from Maine to Maryland, and west to Ohio, I think. So a lot more than New England, but your point is well taken.</p>

<p>I also wish you the very best of luck.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for your take on things 2011TransferWoop. For me though, it would be helpful to know where you are from originally? Where did you spend most of your years before attending college?</p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>

5

<p>I am from Texas originally.</p>

6

<p>I know that the population of students from the Northeast is significant, but I have to say that we are from the South and in my son’s fraternity (since TransferWoop sites the NE kids as dominating Greek life), his best friends are from Texas and Tennessee with multiple kids from each of those states. There are also some from Georgia and Alabama. So the mix is definitely there…</p>

7

<p>My son is the only person from the Northeast on his floor at Paterson…that surprised me, since when he flies down from NY you’d think it was a private Tulane charter!</p>

8

<p>Hi,
Similar to my UT Austin post, I know…I love Tulane and New Orleans. Tulane has a great program in what I want to study and I have the right scores to possibly get in. The only problem is I hear that Tulane has a huge party scene and that kids “drink 3 nights a week”. Now, I am not sure if this is true because I don’t go there, but I would love to know if socially you could be okay without rushing and/or being a part of the big party scene–or if that really exists as much as I hear it does.
Thank you!!</p>

9

<p>@rkatesee14‌ - First of all, you will absolutely be fine by not going Greek or partying a lot. Let’s get that off the table right away. Second, sure it is true that there are students that party three nights a week. There are some that maybe even party more. There are a lot, even most I would say, that party less or almost not at all, if by partying one means a lot of drinking and getting a bit (or a lot) wild. But that isn’t just Tulane, that is all colleges with a few exceptions. It is just a little more obvious at Tulane because it is in New Orleans and because it is more out in the open. Tulane really is no different in this regard than Duke, WUSTL, Emory, Miami…I could go down the list. And big state schools? Tulane pales in comparison from what I have seen at Penn State, Ohio State, Florida, etc. It is just those schools are so big and the campuses are so spread out that you don’t notice as much as at a rather compact campus like Tulane.</p>

<p>I’ll just repeat what I have said before. This question gets asked by so many students on here that like Tulane but don’t want to party “hard”, that if you all could just get together you would easily be the biggest organization on campus. Clearly there are a lot of like-minded people at Tulane.</p>

10

<p>interesting. i graduated in 2009 and the prevailing mindset of the students when i attended was “i love this school and living in new orleans.” wonder why it seems to have changed to the “i got into a “better” school mentality”. many of my friends were in the honors program and so considered “top students” but loved being at tulane… i hope that mentality you speak of goes away. stupid usnews making people believe rankings mean something… :slight_smile: </p>

11

<p>@ExceptionalSea‌ - Despair not! I am confident that the “I got into a ‘better’ school mentality” is a very small minority. Most students definitely have a far more positive outlook. But when a student such as the OP feels that way himself, they will notice others that feel the same way far more and therefore amplify in their own mind how much it really exists. This happens all the time. It is like when you buy a certain car and all of the sudden you notice them everywhere. In fact, while there are always some that feel they should have been able to go elsewhere but couldn’t for whatever reason, even many of these get over it and thrive at Tulane and come to love being there and in New Orleans. Besides, if you are at Emory, WUSTL, Northwestern, etc. you will come across that handful of students that feel they should really be at Harvard or Princeton or Yale. So it isn’t just a Tulane thing.</p>

<p>You are right, of course. It would be far more productive if this relative small group of people realized that “better” is a very nebulous term when applied to schools. USNWR has poisoned the well badly by using terms such as “best” college.</p>

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<p>Now I see the upside of paying sticker price. And I thought there were none!</p>

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<p>I think the “I got into a better school” mentality is at many schools. Northwestern, Duke, Vandy and BC attract kids from the Ivies by offering big scholarships so they have that mentality. Tulane, Miami, SMU and TCU attract kids who got into Vandy, Wake, and BC by offering big scholarships. I think it’s a cycle you will see all the way up and down the ranking list. The large universities have it too but there are so many students that it’s not as prevalent. </p>

14

<p>The methods vary a little, but everyone competes for the best students. State schools were losing them to privates, so they created Honors Colleges and some (many?) started giving full tuition or full rides to NMS finalists. While they may be unique businesses in many ways, universities are still businesses that compete for customers. Lots of analogies to the auto industry with your super luxury brands, economy brands, etc. Obviously some major differences too, since I have yet to see an auto company routinely give free cars to the best drivers.</p>

15

<p>Someone told a story on CC about how her D? went to Pitt Honors, and the first night the kids sat around talking about how they had been admitted at (the more prestigious school) but had to go to Pitt because of the money. Once they had talked that out and realized that there were lots of people at Pitt who could tell that story, they didn’t talk about it again. That more than likely is what happens to students at (large in-state flagship) or Tulane or WashU, about any place that isn’t HYBS. The students who remain unhappy where they enrolled because it isn’t HYBS can fantasize that their family’s finances radically will improve and they will be able to transfer to (the more prestigious school). Unhappy souls they may remain. My D’s going to Pitt Honors, so maybe I don’t have this story exactly right. Maybe it wasn’t Pitt. I hope my D gets over any lingering fantasies rather quickly, and she probably will.</p>

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<p>The “I got into a better school thing” happens everywhere up and down the college food chain. </p>

<p>A recent, extreme example was in the news recently. Very smart female student gets a full scholly to Vandy but decides instead to attend dream school Duke at full price. Figures out that there’s no way the family can pay Duke full price. So the student takes a rather unsavory part time job to pay the freight.</p>

<p>Why not take the Vandy offer? Like Groucho said, no one wants to belong to a club that will have them as a member. </p>

17

<p>@northwesty - Wow, I hadn’t heard about that one. Really leaves me shaking my head. I think anyone (other than a very biased Duke alum) that thinks there is much difference between Vandy and Duke was simply not given good advice.</p>

<p>I know every year about half the people that get full tuition/fees from Tulane go elsewhere. Some percentage have similar offers at other schools, so of course then it is a wash financially. Others come from wealthy families and so the money isn’t the issue, although one could debate the ethics of applying for the scholarship in the first place then (that’s another discussion, of course). And others get into Harvard, Yale, etc. where the no-loan guarantees are very generous, resulting in a similar financial wash. I can only hope that the number of people that turn down offers like this and put financial strain on their families is very small.</p>

<p>I also have to put some blame on the parents in the Duke/Vandy case. I know a lot of us have trouble turning down what our kids want, especially for something as important as college. But really?? They couldn’t put their foot down and tell her she had to take the offer from Vandy or they wouldn’t pay for Duke?</p>

18

<p>S2 was admitted to “higher ranked” schools than Tulane, and they also offered scholarships. He went to Tulane because he wanted to and loved it. He recently graduated and has no regrets and has decided to stay in New Orleans. He and his friends had many opportunities upon graduation including Wall Street. He and his friends have found Tulane to be well respected. (S2 is involved in an exciting Internet start-up and could not be happier.)</p>

19

<p>@idad - you and I have talked occasionally since your son got into Tulane, and I have followed the steps you posted about his time there all along the way. That is so great that it all turned out at least as well as he hoped, and it sounds like even better. What an adventure he is on! Is he keeping up with his music as well?</p>

<p>As you know, my D was in a very similar situation to your S a year earlier than him. In fact, she just got written up in the School of Liberal Arts newsletter about her going to Stanford this fall (although they didn’t mention the full ride scholarship she earned) and her acceptances to Harvard, Hopkins and Berkeley. And of course her current internship with the State Department. Truly, there is nothing Tulane kids cannot accomplish if they go for it.</p>

<p>Congrats on all his success at Tulane and best of luck with his entrepreneurial enterprise. And you keep getting to visit NOLA!!</p>