Shout out, Housing Choice

Colleges & Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>This is just a shout out to all those going to apply for Tulane housing 2010-2011.</p>

<p>Please be aware that they are building a new college on the lot behind Warren and Butler. At this point, it's pretty much hell. The workers start at 8:00AM (everyday, including weekends) until 6:00PM and will be pile driving everyday at this time until mid April. After this, they will began further construction at the same times.</p>

<p>It's unbearable if you have late morning classes, or need peace and quiet to study. Some of us have complained to housing, but they basically tell us to be quiet, construction WILL start that early everyday, deal with the noise. I'd like to see one of them try to live in this mess for a month or so, or pay what we do for housing and get this kind of environment. They, at the least, should cut what we are paying.</p>

<p>The pile driving is the worst--things in my room were actually shaking when they attempted it a few months ago. They were supposed to do it later December and through break, but ran into issues and now are making the students pay the price. </p>

<p>Just keep this in mind when signing up for housing. My advice: stick to Wall if you can get in. Warren and Butler are notoriously gross dorms, with very bad coachroach infestations. Housing paints a fairyland picture, but these dorms are really substandard and at times not even safe. (Example: my room has windows, but these windows are "barred" with iron. In my state that's a fire code violation. I guess they aren't here.)</p>

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<p>Construction is, unfortunately, a way of life at many college campuses. Its a sign of progress. That is a good thing. Maybe a good set of earplugs or noise cancelling headphones will help.</p>

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<p><a href=“Example:%20my%20room%20has%20windows,%20but%20these%20windows%20are%20%22barred%22%20with%20iron.%20In%20my%20state%20that’s%20a%20fire%20code%20violation.%20I%20guess%20they%20aren’t%20here.”>quote=Zaichev</a>

[/quote]
What dorm is that, Zaichev?</p>

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<p>You haven’t had a house within twenty feet of pile driving, have you? It’s so loud that things shake. </p>

<p>Progress, yes. We need a new dorm. Charging kids an arm and a leg for an infested dorm, that now has a permanent seven days a week wake up call for ten hours straight? Not so much. </p>

<p>Warren dorms, or at least a side of it, have old fashioned “square” windows. The squares are made out of metal and are sealed shut from the outside with paint and some sort of nail. If there was a fire in the hall, we couldn’t get out. The glass squares would fit my head, if that.</p>

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<p>

That doesnt sound like there are “bars” on the window, but yes, the window may be “barred” from opening. Sometimes windows are sealed due to paint, for temperature control with the HVAC system, or to keep young college students from throwing things or hanging precariously out of windows, especially on higher floors. Not saying its right, just explaining. If there was a fire or a drill, you’d be heading down the stairs, most likely. If you HAD to go out the window, there’d probably be a way to break it. OF course, watch for the housing office to charge for the repair at the end of the year, LOL.</p>

<p>We’ve been on vacations to resorts where there was nearby construction. Yup, those pile drivers start early. Note to self- when trying to get s awake when he is home , consider hiring a pile driver.</p>

<p>And unfortunately college students arent known for being the neatest human beings. Critters love to come feed off of the food left around. Not saying its ok, its just a fact of life. Hopefully they’ll crank up the pest control service.</p>

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<p>Zaichev-- thanks for the heads up.</p>

<p>Between Sharp and Monroe, any opinions on one vs. the other?</p>

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<p>Fallen, could you ask your DD how bad the roaches are in Butler if indeed they are a problem as reported by OP?</p>

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<p>Monroe and Sharp are, from what I understand, the worst dorms at Tulane. I’ve slept in Sharp once. The bathroom curtains were covered with mold, pretty gross bathroom… No personal experiences with Monroe, but my friend who is an RA there seems to think it’s pretty bad. </p>

<p>Monroe and Sharp are the very social dorms, so you get a lot of teenage mischief going on. Things like bloody condoms put in water fountains, pop machine dispensers, random urination–their clean up bills are very high each semester. </p>

<p>That being sad, I’m not sure which one is the best choice. They are really about at the same level. Although I know that in Monroe the elevators break about five times a year (or at least did last year), and kids are kind of stuck until they can get it working again. </p>

<p>Concerning other dorms…</p>

<p>JL is a nice dorm if you are looking for a girl’s room. Bugs, of course, and some mice, but less mischief. </p>

<p>Warren is a very, very dirty dorm. Freshman can’t be in it, but never apply. One side of the dorm has a permanent bad smell. I’ve never figured out what it is. They do NOT clean the bathrooms in this place. I laughed reading somewhere on here that things are “cleaned once a day.” I’ve seen a dead cockroach hang out for a week before the cleaning lady finally came and picked him up. They come every week day and refill the toilet paper… the showers, etc haven’t been cleaned for weeks, and the floor at the edge of the wall is very, very nasty with gunk. </p>

<p>Butler I’ve described. </p>

<p>Paterson I have no experience with.</p>

<p>Wall, Meyer and Willow are all amazing dorms. </p>

<p>Well, what can you do? College isn’t a democracy, and housing can and will take your money and give you poor service in return. They could at least be honest about it, though.</p>

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<p>We need to get you some happy pills, Zach. Its a dorm, not a hotel, LOL. Yeah they’re definitley not the taj mahal, and yes they could use a facelift, but the students should take better care of their living space too.</p>

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<p>I will check with my D about both the bugs and the noise. New Orleans is a warm weather city. It is just as jym says, you have to keep the place tidy or they will come in. Any school with a similar climate will have the same problem, although I guess if you let it get bad enough it will happen in any place, period.</p>

<p>I can only say that Zaichev’s comments are at the extreme end of negative comments I have heard. To echo jym again, these are dorms. Sure, some schools have newer dorms that are much nicer, most don’t, even some very presigious schools. Tulane is trying to get there. They have a 15 year plan to replace/upgrade a lot of the dorms and to have them all be residential college style. This, unfortunately, involves noise. I am sure it is very bad for my D, she is in Butler on the side where they are building. She hasn’t complained at all.</p>

<p>There is a point where it seems to me it is beyond constructive criticism (no pun intended) and it is more that a person just seems to be in the wrong place for them. I don’t know, but Tulane cannot possibly have ranked 10th in happiest students or whatever it was similar to that and be that bad about these things, at least as most people perceive it. I really am concerned that you seem so unhappy Zaichev. Tulane isn’t a fit for everybody, just like Harvard isn’t a fit for everybody, nor is UT-Austin nor UCLA…If you are not going to transfer I would really see a counselor and say exactly how you feel about these things. It isn’t healthy to be this down on things.</p>

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<p>Fallenchemist, you like to assume a lot. I’m actually very happy at Tulane and don’t need to “see a counselor”. My perfect GPA and community/student involvement reflect how well I adjusted to this school, and I wouldn’t transfer for the world. I do, however, have a problem with being charged (forced to live on campus, at that) around $6,000 a year to live in filth and noise pollution. It’s not complaining, it’s standing up for what is right. If this wasn’t a university, there’s no way people would put up with this. I was raised in a home that considered a cockroach on the same level as a rat, and I’d prefer not to see them squished in the middle of the halls and left, or crawling in my bed at night. (Which, yes, has happened.) And I don’t want things in my room shaking for ten hours a day. I’m pretty sure this want is universal, so I thought I’d post something here.</p>

<p>Concerning my other posts, I stick to my belief the city of New Orleans is a ruder city than I am used to (which is backed up by another poster) and that some Tulane kids are highly obnoxious (which you yourself claim is the case for any college.) The difference is this city has rich-poor dynamics, and not everyone appreciates rich kids flying into a poor city and attending a school they can’t afford to send their kids to. I was trying to explain that. </p>

<p>It always amazes me how some people can misinterpret being honest or standing up for what’s right as “complaining” or a sign one is just generally unhappy. Obviously we were raised in two different worlds.</p>

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<p>

Sounds like complaining to me too. That isn’t necessarily wrong, but hopefully you will follow the final definition and file a formal complaint. Write a letter to the editor. Get petitions signed. Set up an appointment to talk to the head of maintenance/buildings/grounds., etc. Run for class president. Get elected as hall representative to the dorm government. Organize a dorm clean-up. Do something. Some complain and some act. I hope you are the latter. My older s took issue with the parking policies and fees at his college. He was ultimately appointed as one of the 2 student representatives on the policy and planning committee addressing these issues.</p>

<p>I complained to the head of TU’s housekeeping when I was charged a ridiculous fee for a small stain on the carpet in my s’s room after moveout. We were able to negotiate a compromize. Do. Act. Don’t just be a member of the BMW club (thats the b*tch, moan and whine club). Obviously you’ve managed to deal with these inconveniences and do well in school. Thats great. But we are suggesting a little more diplomacy and a little less overt negativity/hostility. There is a difference between being honest and being brutally honest. It is a good difference to learn. It will make a diffference in the outcome of disagreements.</p>

<p>** and its late-- you should go to bed. Those pile drivers are gonna be gettin’ you up early tomorrow ;)</p>

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<p>Tulane has had a ton of construction for the last 10+ years. It has new dorms, a new Business school building, a new Biology Lab building, a new student University Center, a new Baseball stadium, ect. It’s a campus improvement process and unfortunately current students always bare the brunt of the nuisance while enjoying few of the spoils. </p>

<p>The pile driving will most certainly be done by the time next fall rolls around. The question is what will the next construction noise be. :slight_smile: My guess is that it won’t be any where near as bad as pile driving can be. Heck, they could even be done with the building. </p>

<p>I’m not sure what year you are, but I know the dorms get much better as you go up in your class standing. One of the reasons is that the people that cause problems find that they can REALLY raise hell if they get an apartment off campus where there are zero RA’s. </p>

<p>My hope about the ‘fire code violations’ is that the building you are referring to is brick and therefore won’t catch on fire. I wouldn’t recommend testing that theory but I doubt there’s any cause for concern if it is brick or stone.</p>

<p>One last note about dorms. They are a scam. But they are a scam everywhere. In the same way car dealers make very little profit selling you a car but make tons on the repairs and maintenance, universities make money by charging premium rates for premium real estate. They then stack you like sardines in concrete bunkers. </p>

<p>If you look at the expense of hiring a professor, support staff, add in the electricity (heating and cooling being the bulk), property taxes, campus upkeep, some research done without the aid of grants, and a few unprofitable sports, many universities would barely break even. Room and board services offered to students offer prime location for students to live while providing amazing margin for the school. It’s a give and take. You don’t have to ‘take it’ but you will have to walk farther to class if you don’t. It might be worth it to try living off campus for a semester.</p>

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<p>

Actually I don’t “like” to assume a lot, you just assumed that, lol. But you have posted virtually nothing but negativity and complaints. Where is the balance? The complaints may even be justified to some greater or lesser degree, but you should also realize how this comes across to the rest of the world, since you have chosen to put yourself out there.</p>

<p>Hey, I was just going by what I could see you posting and comparing that to both my first hand knowledge of Tulane and what others say on similar topics. You may not believe this, but what I said wasn’t at all meant as a put down. I have supported your honesty and your expression of your point of view before, as you know. It just seemed like you were not happy about anything, based on your posts so far. I am very glad you are actually happy there.</p>

<p>I guess what I am trying to say is that in the real world, or at least in my real world, people tend to quit listening to someone that has nothing but awful things to say about something that is as huge and complex as a university, just as no one would value my opinion (assuming they do) if I was completely pollyanna about Tulane. It has flaws, I acknowledge them and sometimes make suggestions about them to the powers that be, and if those flaws are in an area of particular importance to an individual that is considering Tulane, I recommend a school that has a strength there. To my ear, since you value honesty, your comments come across as too black and white, too strident, and lacking balance, not to mention being inconsistent with my experience. Not totally inconsistent, of course there are truths in what you say. Just inconsistent in the degree in which you present them.</p>

<p>All just my opinion of course.</p>

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<p>IMO, the experience of living in “less than sanitary” conditions (dorm) is what finally turns the lights on for many teenagers to realize that it is preferable to live in a clean and neat environment (even if you have to do it yourself). A right of passage for sure but I am constantly amazed by what teenagers can tolerate in terms of cleanliness. How is it that my S’s will take 2,3 sometimes 4 showers a day but will gladly drop their boxer shorts all over the floor until time to do laundry! Noise on the other hand is something to take note of - that kind of random but constant noise of a pile driver could really impact a students ability to study and sleep - I’d be mad too Zaichev. It sounds like you are an involved student who knows how to get things done - let us know how your advocacy goes and thanks for the heads up (I will make sure that plenty of heavy duty bug spray and tilex mold spray goes on the supplies list!)</p>

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<p>I appreciate Zach’s comments. Thanks for posting them. After all, it’s is a soldier’s right to complain, and he is there in the trenches.</p>

<p>We’re all here for information, and whether you agree with it or not, it’s another data point to refer to.</p>

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<p>Interesting analogy, but IMO, students talking about living conditions or food quality (Bruff could use some help there) or rating professors or what have you are more like customers reporting on restaurants or hotels moreso than soldiers. The difference is that these customers can become active to help identify problems and facilitate improvement or change.</p>

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<p>Scorpio - I have no problem at all with Zaichev (not Zach, your “he” is a she) having another opinion, or even a negative opinion. What I was trying to point out as constructive criticism is that her posts are extremely negative with somewhat hyperbolic language

</p>

<p>I could be wrong, but it seems to me if we have all these spoiled rich kids she talks about attending Tulane, there is no way they would put up with those living conditions. At the least, conditions as bad as those would lead to a lot of complaints to parents that pay the bills, and there is ample evidence that most of them are not shy about making sure Tulane would do something about it.</p>

<p>But my main point is that she then says

OK, so if that is the case then I assume she would want other people to want to have a similar experience. I am trying to get her to see that presenting nothing but very negative comments with no balancing positives could make students not even consider Tulane, and I am assuming (sorry, I have to make these assumptions) she doesn’t want that. I know if I were a student researching Tulane, those and the other statements she made would make me cross it off the list.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with being honest, but let’s remember the forum. After all, why did she post those comments on CC? Did she really think it was the place to get things fixed? No, she wanted to let people know what she thought of these aspects of Tulane, yet she loves the place and is dedicated to staying. But this site is largely a place where people research universities, so yes, I do have a problem when Tulane is presented in such an unrelentingly unflattering light with no positives by someone that then says they are very happy there. I think the inflammatory language and one-sided portrayal are not remotely representative of the total reality of the Tulane environment.</p>

<p>If it really is as bad as she says in Warren, she ought to get parents and kids to protest in large numbers for better cleaning and other improvements, and if she really thinks it is unsafe she ought to contact the building inspectors and make her concerns known. If they don’t respond to her satisfaction, well that is what newspapers are for.</p>

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<p>I’m a parent of a recent Tulane grad and I appreciate the OP’s commentary. He indicated it as a “shout-out” , a heads-up re the construction. If I had a new student coming there, that’s something I’d want to know and consider in my dorm choice, if I could.</p>

<p>I also think that the older Tulane dorms ARE pretty bad, at least compared to other schools we had familiarity with, particularly given the high cost of tuition and the fact this is a private university. Tulane certainly needed to improve dorm quality and probably should have (and would have) started on that path sooner. However, Katrina set them back financially and timing-wise. The freshman dorms (with the exception of Wall) aren’t very good and certainly on a comparison chart for the 20+ schools we visited with my kids, were on the low end. And sophomore dorms were notoriously known to be among the worst (at least in the past that was true). Beyond that, they DO improve in quality. Just the maintenance difference is pretty obvious upon casual inspection.</p>

<p>Housing has some employees who really seem to care, but by and large, there’s much room for improvement in managing the Housing functions, including the cleaning/maintenance. Without a doubt, the kids there should be held accountable as well–boorish behavior shouldn’t be tolerated. </p>

<p>There’s room here on both sides (kids and Housing) for improvement. However, once again, I appreciated the OP’s information.</p>

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<p>Well, I guess I fail to see what good warning incoming freshmen about the pile-driving does when in the same post she says the pile driving will be over in April. While the rest of the construction obviously won’t be noise free, they will be pretty far along with the exterior work by move-in, leaving mostly interior work while they are freshmen.</p>

<p>Also, it may have started out as a shout-out about the construction, but it went much farther. To be clear, I have said many times to family and friends that I think the old dorms at Tulane (Sharp, Monroe, Phelps, Paterson, Irby, Butler, and probably others. I don’t think I was ever in Warren, but I will take Zaichev’s word for it that it belongs in the same group) need to be replaced. They aren’t that nice by today’s standards, and to be on par with schools with whom they want to compete they need to have more Wall’s. Obviously that is the plan, and it is a shame they couldn’t (or didn’t) do it sooner.</p>

<p>But to read Zaichev’s last several posts as a group, Tulane is a school with rat-infested ghetto quality dorms that are death traps and no one in the administration cares. Meanwhile, this all happens in an atmosphere of drunken, spoiled rich students who snub scholarship students and almost no one takes their classes seriously anyway. And that all takes place in a city of rude people where you are going to get mugged anyway. OK, before everyone gets upset I know I am exaggerating some of the aspects of her comments, but it is to make a point. When a potential student who doesn’t know much about Tulane and New Orleans reads her comments and how they are presented, that is exactly how they are likely to remember it. So while I totally support her wanting to express things that need improving, I do have a problem with how she presents it. Not that she should care what I think, but I hope if she really wants to support Tulane she will at least think about how it comes across and that this is a public forum.</p>