Some Destination Tulane Observations

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

<p>As those who read this forum know S2 chose Tulane. He did so even though he was admitted to USC, UC-Berkeley, and other higher ranking schools. Tulane was a choice, not a safety. Accordingly, I now feel that we are new members of the family who can be a little critical out of affection and a hope for improvement. I felt there were some glaring weaknesses with the DT event, and at fallenchemist's suggestion I thought I would post them.</p>

<p>The first was a definite lack of dealing with the issue of diversity. The student panel was anything but diverse. There was no real discussion of diversity or its role on campus, or the the school's attempt to ensure that various groups don't segregate themselves. That is, where Asians hang with Asians, Latinos with Latinos, African Americans with African Americans, etc. The audience was not diverse and this was a little unsettling to S2, but we understand it is only one of many audiences. Others in the audience expressed similar observations and concerns. The community is diverse and is what helped S2 feel better about the issue. S2 has attended a diverse urban HS and really likes it for that reason. He has friends from all groups and would like that to continue in college.</p>

<p>The second issue was a lack of emphasis on academics. Service was discussed, community was discussed, social life was discussed, but there really was no in-depth discussion of academics. It would have been good to have faculty representatives as well as students talking about their classroom experiences, workload, research opportunities, internship possibilities, aha! moments, faculty-student interaction, etc. None of that was really addressed by anything but passing comments.</p>

<p>Lastly, the student panel selected was not impressive. As mentioned above, it had no minority representation. Most of the panelists where from the Greek system and spoke from that perspective, which, while informative, I felt was overrepresented (not that I have anything against sororities or fraternities, S2 may join one). The panel did not speak of the academics at the school either, and when asked direct questions about academics they seemed uncomfortable. As a group, with a couple of exceptions they were not very articulate and did not present an image of the peer group many of the parents attending would find attractive for their kids. Since this is a "first impression" more care and preparation is needed when selecting and presenting the student panel.</p>

<p>The student tour-guide and the students we met randomly on campus were much better representatives of the school. We met some very passionate, engaged, and interesting students on our own. S2 is not shy when it comes to approaching people with questions. He even talked students into providing him with his own dorm tours. Likewise, S2 sought out and spoke with some professors. He was quite impressed and taken with them. One spent 20 minutes speaking to him 1:1, and invited him to his humanities class. He gave him some great advice on selecting courses and on selecting a major given his interests. S2 found the class exhilarating and on par with the course he took at UChicago. The discussion was intense, thoughtful, and based on the reading and previous discussions. Arguing without evidence was not acceptable. S2 came away convinced Tulane was for him.</p>

<p>However, had S2 not taken a certain amount of initiative, I'm not sure he would have had the same reaction. Tulane has so much to offer and is such a wonderful school, more care needs to be taken so that even if the "programmed" experience was an anomaly, such negative reflections should not have a chance to occur.</p>

2

<p>idad - thanks for posting this. I think it helps bring issues forward that don’t otherwise get addressed. I never attended Destination Tulane, just Honors Weekend, and I think they are hard to compare. For example, no big surprise that academics was a significant part of the HW talks. Then again, it was a 2 day program as well. DT is one day, correct? Even so, absolutely no doubt they need to bring out academics more. They may think that Tulane’s reputation and/or top 50 ranking make it a given, but that would be a serious error IMHO. While it is certainly important to talk about community service and other aspects of life at Tulane, it is a university first and foremost, and parents especially want to feel that attending a $50,000+ per year university is going to lead to a well educated child with excellent prospects for grad/professional school or a good job. Of the things you mention, I think this needs to be addressed most immediately.</p>

<p>The diversity thing is interesting. When my D was looking, “peer” schools (by which I mean ones of similar overall profile where there are likely a lot of cross applications) such as WUSTL, Vandy, Duke, etc. all seemed to have the same issue. Not so much in talking about it or not talking about it, but in practice. There were lots of comments about how ethnic groups self-segregate, how much “real” diversity there was, so on and so forth. So apparently this is an issue that other schools have as well. I saw some postings recently on the Tulane site that looks like they have cultural fairs and other awareness events, and I know that when we were there for Orientation there were sessions on these kinds of topics including LGBT. They should certainly play these up and even show the photos in the slide shows they do. There were some great pics.</p>

<p>My only thought on the student panels and the like (and it is just a thought, definitely not an excuse for Tulane not trying harder to make sure that they make a better impression) is that they have these DT things every day except Wednesday for like a month, right? I wonder if they overdo it and a fatigue factor sets in. Do other schools do similar things where there are panels every day? I know they do tours and have the admistrators give a presentation and answer questions, but I at least never saw an invitation to an event quite like DT at any other school to which my D was accepted. But I may just not remember, or maybe never saw it.</p>

<p>Anyway, just some thoughts in the spirit of the discussion you opened. Everything you mention makes a ton of sense and should be taken as constructive critisism by Tulane. I hope they listen and make some adjustments if possible.</p>

<p>Thanks again for the great post and I am really excited for your son. I hope it turns out to be everything he hopes it will be.</p>

3

<p>idad, I totally agree with you about the panelists. At DD’s HW, the panels were all female, white and greek. Someone asked why this was and they stated that 1)girls are more responsible and show up(haha) and 2) some of the GWA (green wave ambassadors) were on the road at an event. At our “parents only” panel session no one had time to question the academics because some parents spent so much time beating the drinking issue to death! I think the parents really wanted to keep their babies at home. LOL. Luckily, we had a talk from the head of the Honors Program so academics were addressed there. A parent did question where all the “ethnic” kids were because all he saw were white kids. Panel did admit that while it is a predominantly white university, they are attempting to attract other races through the Posse Program.<br>
I was impressed with the HW that I attended. I think they could make some improvements that you listed and the DT and HW would be even better!</p>

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<p>I will agree, but for a different reason: i think a lot of freshmen are misled by the “party hard crowd” that academics are not as rigorous as they are some some other institutions. This becomes a serious misapprehension when those students find themselves with subpar grades because they did not prepare as well as they should have.</p>

<p>As the parent of an alum (a former Honor’s Scholarship recipient and all-round good guy) who never struggled a day in his academic life before attending Tulane, I can personally attest to the shock and horror he expressed when he realized he had to be as diligent in his studying as he was making sure he did not miss happy hour at The Boot!</p>

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<p>I will add that one of the silver linings to come out of the diaspora created by Katrina was the numerous reports – sometimes incredulous reports – of how Tulane students excelled at the Ivies and Ivy-equivalents. I think the post-Katrina experience proved what many of us knew but had trouble convincing the “educationally-elite” of – our students could compete anywhere, at any time, but whether for economic, cultural, or other reasons, chose Tulane over more prestigious schools .</p>

<p>And I think the Tulane admin. is remiss in not impressing upon the incoming class that that same level of excellence is required of them.</p>

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<p>There are many students who want to hear that the academics will be challenging in selecting a school. Many want Ivy and peer school level academics and hope Tulane will provide it. Perhaps they assume that the students and their parents will take that as a given, but I think it needs to be addressed. </p>

<p>As for diversity, Tulane may not have as diverse a campus as it might like, but to get one it would be good to show prospective students they are concerned about it. It is important to show non-minority families that it is important as well.</p>

<p>As to fallenchemist’s speculation about fatigue and the student panel, this was the first such DT panel of the year. Perhaps it was the lack of experience that accounted for their performance. Still, admissions must do a better job at selection and preparation.</p>

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<p>As a parent who has attended more than my fair share of these types of events, I must admit Tulane’s was surprisingly weak. I echo idad’s observations about the student panel. My d asked to leave in the middle of the presentation bc the students lacked any enthusiasm for their school and d was getting discouraged about a university she was fully prepared to fall in love with. </p>

<p>The colleges with the most successful programs for us were those with one or two possible events during the March-April Madness. They are 1-2 day celebrations of everything the university has to offer including academics, internships, community service, study abroad, diversity, social life, Greek life, the opportunity to attend a class, see a dorm and to share meals with other accepted freshmen AND STUDENTS ALREADY ATTENDING. We completely missed out on meeting Tulane students, with the exception of Jessica, our very engaging tour guide. My d wasn’t comfortable stopping random students on the campus to ask questions, though she thoroughly enjoyed the class she sat in on. Should she have taken the initiative to meet and speak to Tulane students? I guess so, but I could understand her reluctance to do so.</p>

<p>There were some schools we visited that provided a casual lunch or dinner with enrolled students who roamed the room and sat down with us to converse and answer any questions. These tend to be more personal events and make the accepted Freshman experience more rewarding. Tulane has so much to offer, but didn’t effectively communicate much of it to the kids that have to make this decision (and the parents who provide guidance). </p>

<p>I’d like a “do over!”</p>

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<p>Tulane has long held the reputation of being a “no hand holding” institution, something along the lines of “if a student can get top grades with all the distractions …” That was one of the things that drew my D to the school. She got most of her feel for the school by walking around and randomly choosing people to speak with. She chose to ignore both Destination Tulane and Honors Weekend … without deleterious effect apparently.</p>

<p>That said, perhaps it’s time Tulane “grew up” a little. I don’t recall any discussion of academics … and I’m the sort of person who would have known about those sessions and attended them. It was just sort of assumed that the kids knew the reputation of the place. Most kids apparently did know, and they succeeded academically. A few of D’s freshman acquaintances neglected their studies, and all those left school before graduating.</p>

<p>Lastly, my D had a very diverse set of friends at Tulane, and they’re all doing very well in Med Schools, Law Schools, and Graduate Schools. Granted, this is only one data point. YMMV.</p>

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<p>I also agree that academics needs to be a more important part of the presentation. A 15 minute overview of the core requirements would have been very helpful. Walk us though a typical first year schedule, tell us about TIDES, and generally give us an idea of what the first year is like.</p>

<p>I’ve also been on a fair number of campus visits, and I agree that the Tulane panels and guides were weak, but they’re weak everywhere. I really don’t know why the schools think they’re the best use of the audience’s time. I would much rather hear 6 ten minute presentations from professors in different departments than 60 minutes listening to student ambassadors.</p>

<p>I’m done with it now, but I can go the rest of my life without hearing another presentation on Semesters Abroad. I know, they’re wonderful, but I thought the whole point was to convince you that School X is fantastic–why is it that the first thing they tell you about is how to get away from it? I mean, if a semester in England is so amazing, maybe the kids should apply to one of the UK schools and spend 4 years there. I’m here to learn about Tulane, don’t tell me about France. I grasp the concept of studying abroad, no need to beat it to death.</p>

<p>And if I hear another tour guide tell me that the ___________ building reminds them of Hogwarts I won’t be responsible for my actions. That’s one that Tulane, thankfully, wasn’t guilty of though.</p>

<p>I don’t mean to knock the student guides and students who participate in the forums. They try hard. However, they do seem to all be of a certain type (that’s everywhere, not just Tulane), and that type is not representative of your average student body. I agree that you can learn far more just wandering around accosting random students, and that’s one thing that impressed me about Tulane. Every student I stopped at random was polite, friendly, and very positive about the school.</p>

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<p>I have to give a shout out to our student guide. He was exceptional ––smart, funny, knowledgeable, and spoke in a loud enough voice for all to hear. He is a double major in Latin American Studies and Political Economy and an RA at Sharp, and was able to answer many questions about life at Tulane. He would have been ideal for that panel.</p>

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<p>I vote Fallenchemist join the Green Wave Ambassadors!!! He would be great on a panel LOL!</p>

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<p>I vote for his daughter who I bet is the genius behind the man.</p>

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<p>Hey! I take offense at that. Even though you are right.</p>

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<p>idad - from your description of your guide, he sounds like the guy who was on the parent’s panel (from what my mom said). She thought he was great. However, my mother said that when he was describing how learning also takes place outside of the class room, and gave an example of how one of his Latin American classes took them to a salsa club, one father got very angry. He was not happy that his money was being spent taking students to the club…I guess you can’t make everyone happy lol</p>

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<p>gabby - lol, that’s a good story. So if Tulane paid for salsa instructors to come to campus that would be OK probably because that is “teaching” about a culture, but to go and actually see it in context is wasteful. It is surprising sometimes how unaware some parents are about how things work at a college much of the time. As you say, cannot please everyone.</p>

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<p>Back to my joking response to my good friend Vitrac, I did mention this to my D since she is home for break. She pretty much echoed what we speculated above, that the more social types tend to volunteer more quickly, and she thought that those in the Greek system fulfill some requirement their house has about volunteering some number of hours to support the university. She also added that the more academically oriented tend to take more hours and so are very loaded up with work around mid-terms heading into finals. She half-joked that when her colloquium class had to read 150 pages between sessions, they all thanked the prof for taking it so easy on them.</p>

<p>Still, while we can rationalize some of the lesser aspects of the DT experience, since this all has to be (or certainly should be!) known to Tulane it makes a lot of sense to make adjustments accordingly. I think the comments about presenting the academic experience, talking about core requirements yet how easy it is to change majors (not so true at many other schools!), and highlighting the professor-student experience are great suggestions. I think they could pick different professors to take an hour out of their day once a week to give these groups great insight into how they see their kids.</p>

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<p>I’ve read your comments on this thread since we will be going to a DT on the 9th (arriving the 8th). Any suggestions to make this a more positive experience for my son? He is deciding between Tulane and Tufts.
Thanks</p>

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<p>First, eat brunch at Dante’s Kitchen. :slight_smile: I would make sure your son speak with some of the faculty and sit in on classes. There are plenty of students around to speak with as well. You will find them very friendly and receptive to talking. At the faculty lunch the tables are hosted by a faculty member from various departments. S2 moved from table to table talking to several as the lunch wound down rather than to just one the entire time. Visit all areas of campus including the student exercise facility, which is quite nice and soon to get a rock climbing wall. It actually has an outdoor pool, which I doubt Tufts has. Also, pick up a copy of the TULAME newspaper (Yes I spelled it correctly) if it is still available. It really shows the school’s sense of humor.</p>

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<p>OK idad, I am eating there first next time I go down!</p>

<p>anthony8 - It sounds like your best bet is to take the tour and see how the sessions go, but also to be proactive in chatting up random Tulane students and professors. That seems to be the most consistent message as I read it. Be aware that the students will have been back for only a couple of days from their spring break when you are there. So they will either be rested and loose or starting to panic at the fact that finals are about 2 weeks away, lol. Have a great time.</p>

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<p>Hi, all,
We are doing DT on April 8th, but we did attend the local admitted students’ reception in Seattle in mid-March. It was really great, with a long, excellent video that emphasized the academics including the TIDES program. Professors and students were interviewed, all passionate about their teaching and studies. Sounds like it was the missing piece from the DT event.</p>

<p>We are planning to stay a few extra days in NOLA, and I’m certainly going to make sure my daughter talks to more professors and non-panelist students. </p>

<p>Thanks for the fair warning about the disappointing student panel.</p>