<p>My daughter and I are traveling from NJ for Destination Tulane in April, going up and back in the same day -- yes, I know it's crazy but it seems doable...into NOLA at 9:20am and back out that night at 5:40pm. I know it's not enough time to get a complete flavor but I'm hoping she will get a sense if she likes the school and the area. </p>
<p>I see that the tour starts at 9am (which we will partially miss - ugh - hopefully we can get another in the afternoon) and then there's a student panel at 10:15am which we should be in time for. Does anyone have a recommendation as the quickest way to get to campus so we can take advantage of as much as possible while we're there and potentially join up with the tour? How far is the campus from the airport and how long will it take to get there?</p>
<p>Campus is about 15 minutes by taxi that time of day. Definitely taxi is fastest, and since you won’t have any checked bags if your plane on time you should be on campus by 10:00 I would say. That really is a very crammed trip though, and it is a shame. So much of getting the feel for Tulane is riding the streetcar down St. Charles, seeing Audubon Park across the street, and eating in the French Quarter. Oh well, she will just have to fall in love with Tulane so you can do all those things during Orientation!</p>
<p>As far as the tour, as you say hopefully there is another in the afternoon, otherwise just get a campus map and walk. It is not a huge campus and you can definitely do a self-guided tour, although obviously you won’t get as much info that way.</p>
<p>You absolutely need to get a tour. Call the school and tell them about your dilemma and I’m sure they can get a student/tour guide to give you a 1-hour tour of the campus sometime during the day. Contact “Tulane Jeff” perhaps…he works with NJ students (we are also from NJ…my daughter is a senior)…look him up in the admissions office website…he could probably help you.</p>
<p>You should still see if you can change to a later flight. If your plane is late getting to NOLA, you would really be shortchanging yourself. </p>
<p>Thanks to you both for your travel suggestions. Great ideas too. Duh…didn’t think to contact my D’s counselor. Faye is actually the NJ rep and I just left her a voice message. I see that there are some things in the afternoon during Destination Tulane, like financial aid, which are optional and since we’ve heard so many of those talks, I think it would be safe to say we could skip to do other things. I feel like I could do the talk. lol - with twins I’ve heard it alot! </p>
<p>I wish we could change our flight but that was the earliest and latest one out. My impression though from my daughter is that she will either like or hate within an hour of being on campus so the downtown tour, although showing more of the flavor, would probably only enhance her feeling and not sway her in the opposite direction. If she is not a fan of the campus, the downtown area is not going to make her change her mind, I don’t think… She is still looking for that epiphany that “this is the place for me” and I’m hopeful that she will get it soon! Thanks for your advice. We look forward to our visit.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right…it was Faye…she is very helpful…I have spoken to her a few times as I help with local events. If you are up on financial aid (it’s basically the same shpiel at all the colleges) and you already know what your package is…yes…great idea to possibly skip that and use that time to get a feel of the campus and neighborhood.</p>
<p>As you know, there a is considerable northeast population at Tulane (NY/NJ/Conn). </p>
<p>Understood. My other main suggestion then is not about downtown, but the gorgeous ride up St. Charles through the Garden District. It really sets the stage for entering the Tulane campus, but you will be too tight on your schedule to have the taxi driver do anything but go straight to Tulane. So since, as you said and lewmin commented on, you can free up your afternoon, you might be able to just squeeze in a streetcar ride after the tour. For a 5:40 flight, you should be able to get to the airport at 4:30 and have plenty of time. That means you need to leave Tulane at 4:00 (traffic might be a bit heavier that time of day).</p>
<p>For most universities seeing the campus is enough, but Tulane is rather unique in its symbiosis with NOLA. Hard to explain, it just is the way it is. So ideally you would have gotten to see the other things I mentioned, but since you can’t, for your D to get a bit more of a feel beyond just the campus (which is actually enough to win over most students actually), try to take the streetcar to the end of the line near the French Quarter, grab a taxi to the airport from there, and you will be all set. If you started waiting for the streetcar across from Gibson Hall about 3:00, that will get you to the end of the line between 3:30 and 3:45. Could work out perfectly if the tour starts at 1 or 1:30.</p>
<p>I did hear from an intern in admissions. She says there are no other Destination Tulane tours during the day, however, they do have regular campus tours we could hop on at 2pm but suggested we leave the tour early to catch our flight. I wonder what’s on the “normal” tour. Downtown maybe? Still waiting to hear back from Faye. Perhaps she will be able to help. Also, was thinking we could potentially get a tour from a student belonging to Hillel so we could learn a bit about that too during our tour… So much to cram in. Getting stressed and it’s still a month away. :|</p>
<p>Don’t get fooled by the neighborhood called “Tulane/Gravier”. The university is in the Audubon neighborhood. It is that big rectangular section with very few streets right across from the big park. St. Charles is that street right between the park and Tulane, and if you follow it through Uptown, Touro and the Garden Districts to the CBD, you can see it kind of curves with the river. The streetcar follows that and lets you off in the CBD, if you end up with time to do that.</p>
<p>Getting someone from Hillel to show you around is a great idea.</p>
<p>Great thank you! Trying to relax but my type A personality has kicked into overdrive. I have contacted the Hillel but have not heard back yet. Was thinking that if a student from there could give potentially guide us around, that would be a way to see as much as possible and could be better than the school tour, for our situation. Do you think I should contact Tulane Jeff as well or do I have enough feelers out to orchestrate something?</p>
<p>Do you want me to contact my daughter to see if she can take you around (if you can not get anyone)? She was also very involved with Hillel (worked there), went to Birthright through Tulane and spent her junior year in Isreal. (she is not religious at all). If interested, you can send me a note directly. Don’t know what date you are coming down…it would have to be on a date that hopefully fits her work and school schedule.</p>
<p>I would wait to hear back from Hillel first. If you don’t hear back by the end of the week, then try Tulane Jeff. Alternatively, do you know anyone from your D’s high school (or anyone else for that matter) that is at Tulane already? When my D was looking at Middlebury we called a kid that we knew went there, even though we really didn’t know the kid. He was extremely gracious and gave us a great tour. I think most kids are like that as long as you don’t ask too much of their time.</p>
<p>PS: crossposted with lewmin (I am a slow typist today). What a nice offer! Do that first!</p>
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