<p>My son's good friend, the one who urged him to apply to Tulane in the first place, and is there with a $25,000 scholarship, is transferring. Apparently he is not finding that the students are serious enough there. </p>
<p>He did fairly well in our very competitive high school, but was not what I would call a "serious student" by any means...definitely had a social life although I also wouldn't say he was a giant partier. Still waiting to get more details from my son on where his friend is thinking of applying. He originally chose Tulane over schools ranging from UMass to Indiana to NYU.</p>
<p>oy vey; that’s kinda frightening…if Tulane kids aren’t serious enough, I can’t imagine he will find more serious ones at schools like Umass or Indiana…</p>
<p>More info needed…as you say, definitely more details needed as to where he is thinking of applying; may be a situation of “out of the frying pan into the fire” if you know what I mean…</p>
<p>It sounds like you have your own suspicions about his reasons for leaving. If he had the $25K President’s scholarship (2.7 GPA requirement) he was probably in the honors program which requires a 3.45 GPA for Freshmen and Sophomores. I would be very interested in his 1st semester grades. We all know there are plenty of distractions/temptations the first time we go out on our own. Personally, I doubt there is any lack of “serious students” in the Tulane honors program.</p>
<p>I’d also be curious about the friend’s definition of “serious student.” Tulane is a very social environment, but a lot of kids get a seriously good education without appearing to try very hard. (In part, this shows up in high acceptance rates in Law and Medical Schools.) They’re just smart kids who are very good at learning the material without spending Saturday nights in the library. Some undisciplined students do have trouble in this environment.</p>
<p>Rodney…I got the impression that he wasn’t planning on transferring to one of the schools he got into originally. I know he has good friends at Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, etc…not that it means anything except that it identifies where the types of kids that were in his peer group ended up. Maybe he is looking for a more highly ranked school…dad went to an Ivy and mom went to a top LAC, older sibling also at top school…</p>
<p>AVHS Dad…I think he actually got a 4.0 this semester so it’s definitely not an issue with keeping the scholarship. (No money issues in the family anyway…the merit money was more of a compliment than something needed.)</p>
<p>I’m also hoping to hear more from the mom when I see her, although I don’t want to pry either!</p>
<p>RTR: you can pry since your son would be a prospective student there (unless she knows that you have eliminated that option?)…I’m sure it wouldn’t be considered prying under those circumstances??</p>
<p>Just my opinion, but I’ve had a number of local parents call me recently to get my daughter’s take on the scene at her school…good and bad…not a problem for me…</p>
<p>Nit-picking I know but he would have gotten $24K last year.</p>
<p>Anywhere from 5-7% of the students transfer out every year for a variety of reasons, including this one. Everyone perceives things differently, and there is no question that Tulane is not considered one of the more “cut-throat” schools. It would be interesting to get more details. For example, did he take advantage of placing out of the intro courses? My D took 200 and 300 level courses and the Honors colloquium course and was very satisfied with the level of seriousness and intellectual discourse. Did he have a particularly party oriented section of his dorm? That would potentially skew one’s perspective. Some schools, like Chicago for example, have a reputation for attracting students that consider talking about string theory or the metaphysical implications of Dante’s 6th level to be a blast to do on Saturday nights. Personally I think that is great, I tried to get my D to more seriously consider that. Tulane isn’t like that, it is more balanced, defining balance in the more broadly societal sense of the term.</p>
<p>That’s not to say Tulane has as uniformally academically talented students as Duke, Wash U, the afformentioned Chicago, and many others. One only need look at the statistics to know that. But there are dozens of parents on here and other forums like Facebook with students that are in the Honors Program that say their kid is extremely happy at Tulane in all respects, including the classroom. While it is true that this reason is often code for other issues, if he isn’t happy there it is good that he find a better fit. If this truly is the reason, however, I would also say it is a shame not to give it more time. First semester freshman year is not exactly like the rest of college, as AVHS points out.</p>
<p>The only thing is…I totally don’t see this kid as the kind of kid who likes to discuss the metaphysical implications of Dante’s 6th level. I do know he is really into sports and not that into the frat scene. I will post if I get more details about his particular issues.</p>
<p>There are always excuses for leaving schools. Often the truth is homesickness, immaturity, too much partying etc. And dorm drama.</p>
<p>All of those things occur at every school. Its up to students who are serious to rise above the fray and do their work, avoid party animals and get going. Many freshmen flunk out in the the first semester for all these reasons. </p>
<p>Adjusting to college life is difficult. College is NOT the glossy brochures you get from the schools. Its not even the “paradise on earth” presentation that your tour guides give you. Its work. Its annoying people and roommates in dorms or frats/sororities. Its being away from home for the first time and being responsible for yourself and learning to set priorities, address problems as a young adult (seeing professors in office hours, making schedules and keeping them, eating right, sleeping right and telling kids who are irresponsible to shape up and get out of the way.) </p>
<p>At every school the cream rises to the top…and it takes courage and determination and sometimes creativity. (My DI in New York used to do her laundry, which was free of charge, in her dorm basement in the wee hours and get some serious studying done at the same time. Then she would schedule naps for make up sleep time. The worst was first semester, then the partying tapered off…but then the flu season and homesick season hit in January…)</p>
<p>You have to endure and see beyond the gray skies. Freshmen go through transferitis every time this year…the grass is greener…because reality sets in and they think they can run away from problems. I have news for you. The Ivy League is no different. </p>
<p>My advice to that kid from Tulane is grow up and get serious. Its a fabulous school. Learn to love New Orleans and embrace what it has to offer. Tulane has very good programs and professors, its there if you seek it out.</p>
<p>Transfering is NOT the answer. Growing up is.</p>
<p>ghostbuster: “your words flow over me like an empty vessel flows over a river”…no, seriously, you are more than correct…couldn’t have said it better myself…</p>
Well there we have it! Have you seen the quality of the Tulane football and basketball teams? Definitely not one of the schools strengths.</p>
<p>Ok, being a bit more real, it sounds like he isn’t a “serious” student but doesn’t find enough serious students around him. He sounds like a very smart student who maybe so far hasn’t found the work challenging enough, which goes back to my questions about the coursework. I know we just don’t know enough and don’t know the kid, but it is sounding more like it might be an overall “fit” issue. Hey, that’s OK, it happens. Apparently it doesn’t happen for about 95% of the students. I am not counting those who flunk out or leave for financial reasons.</p>
<p>With respect to ghostbuster’s screed: I think it is very largely correct in general, if a bit harsh towards a student we know little about and he doesn’t know at all.</p>
<p>I would otherwise only take issue with the implication that if you find that you don’t like being that far away from family you should suck it up and just “grow up”. I know our society has changed over the last couple of generations to where it is far more common to live away from the nuclear family after a certain age, but there is no law or even societal norm that says that is what evey kid has to do or adjust to. There is nothing wrong with going to a school that is within a certain comfortable distance from home so one can stay closer to ones family. Most kids don’t mind being farther away, but let’s not ridicule or stigmatize the child that feels differently about it.</p>
<p>I have a small data point concerning Tulane students. S1 was a student at UChicago during the Katrina year. Many students from Tulane enrolled at Chicago. S1 said they did perfectly well in the very academically rigorous and demanding Chicago courses and in those Saturday discussions fallenchemist mentioned (yep, they do occur). The Tulane students were quite capable of holding their own, and I would surmise, being serious. He did say, however, handling those Chicago winters was a different story…</p>
<p>OMG idad. I literally LOL’d. Excellent excellent point all the way around.</p>
<p>You reminded me that there are anecdotes out there from parents who said their kids were actually told they could transfer to the school where they Katrina’d, and some of these were higher ranked schools. The three I know of are Wash U, BC, and Rice but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were others. All these students chose to go back to Tulane, as did 90% of the students. Think about how remarkable that is given the state New Orleans was in and the number of parents that were probably saying “No way in hell”. I bet there were some interesting “discussions”.</p>
<p>I appologize for implying that the individual in question was in any way deficient. It certainly seems to be more of a question of fit rather than effort. Best to find that out early in the process than later.
Before we applied I read about how Tulane dealt with Katrina and how most students chose to return. Very impressive indeed.</p>
<p>Got more of the scoop from my son. Too much partying at the school for this kid. Would rather watch a good baseball game with friends than get drunk, and feels like there is a lot of drinking and it’s hard to avoid. The kid is very social and was an athlete in high school, but I guess the difference is that he could go home to his quiet house instead if he wanted!</p>
<p>I know Tulane is taking steps to address this by providing more alternate entertainment on-campus (Tulane After Dark), and I know there are happy students that seem to find their niche that doesn’t involve drinking. But it can be a challenge, not just at Tulane but at a lot of schools. Not that it is the same environment, but listen to the episode of This American Life on NPR that documents drinking at Penn State to hear about how bad it can get.</p>
<p>Can you find out what dorm this boy was in, RTR?</p>
<p>As former bartender at the on-campus bar at the University of Chicago (yes, it has one), I can assure you such things happen there too. Every school has its own temptations, and the freedom freshman year brings is just too much for some to handle.</p>