<p>I really don’t think the smoking is that bad here, at least not during the day. If you go to bars you will certainly see it more. But just walking around campus it’s not really bad. There’s a place between Sharp and Monroe where people go to smoke unofficially called “the cancer corner” and people are usually smoking there. But it’s not that often that people stray too far from there to smoke. </p>
<p>BMEPREMEDgirl, Tulane 14 is spot on.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know how i feel about the hookup culture. IMO, the actual act of hooking up and casual sex itself is fine, and whether you do it or not with whoever you choose or with how many people is your business- its college have your fun. ( ie I have no moral or religious attachments that make me feel that it is bad or “wrong” ). </p>
<p>My problem is just everything that comes with hook ups --primarily stds, unwanted pregnancies, how it affects you mentally/emotionally and your relationships, and any stigmas that people put on you because of the choices you make (gossip, judgement, intolerance, “slut shaming” ect). I am aware that Tulane (as with many non religious institutions) has systems in place to help protect its students–free condoms, health services, birth control ect–though I’m not well versed in the specifics. What kind of birth control do they have? Do they have educational services when it comes to sexual health? Is there a problem with STDs on campus? Are there other precautions the university take? Personally I am not sexually active but don’t yet know if that will change when I go to college, so I want to make sure the necessary measures are in place when I get there to make safe choices.</p>
<p>To me, hookup culture is one of those things that a lot of people do and a lot of people are aware of but no one talks about. Is there a lot of gossip/shaming/talk about people who hookup? Is there name calling (slu-, who–)? Are people open about it or is it hush hush? Are people ashamed and regretful? Is it restricted to parties or does it happen all the time? </p>
<p>And what about those who aren’t sexually active? Do they get pressured a lot/ is there a big pull for people to do it? Do the people who don’t hookup look down at those who do? Do the celibate people party seperately/stay away from those who hook up (and vice versa) ?</p>
<p>I know the student health center will prescribe birth control. When I went for a check up, they even offered to give me three months of free birth control if I wanted it. Condoms are readily available, both in the freshmen dorm bathrooms and sometimes outside of Bruff (the cafeteria). I don’t know what kind of educational services are or aren’t offered. </p>
<p>I think that college differs greatly from high school in that people don’t care about other’s business as much. I’m sure judging-both for being sexually active and inactive-occurs within friend groups, but in general no one really “keeps tabs” on others. Hooking up isn’t restricted to parties, it is pretty common place. I’ve never felt pressured and anyone who pressures you probably isn’t worth your time anyway. </p>
<p>I hope this all helps. I should add that I think the above would apply to most colleges (unless we are talking about religiously affiliated schools), so I wouldn’t focus too much on this when comparing colleges, etc</p>
<p>Ok thanks for the insight. Another question–how “hard” are classes? I say "hard"because i know at some HYP schools and top-tier universities classes are very competitive and there is grade deflation, and i know that sometimes the workload can be unmanageable and very heavy for many. The same effort that may yield a 4.0 at a state school may only produce a 3.2 at an ivy simply because of the difficulty of the courses/workload. So on a scale of state school to ivy, how heavy/difficult is the workload? Especially when it comes to engineering majors–many have told me that engineering majors have the heaviest work loads, making balancing social life an academics very difficult for them and killing their gpas and forcing them to sacrifice sleep. what’s the average gpa for an engineering major? Are the engineering majors up to their necks in busy work?</p>
<p>My s was an engineering major. Engineering is HARD. Takes a lot of time to do the assignments and problem sets, etc. You might want to read this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-engineering-track/[/url]”>http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-engineering-track/</a></p>
<p>But it also is one of the majors where there is an excellent chance at a good-paying job when done, so I guess there is some balance to that universe, eventually.</p>
<p>Totally agree, FC. I edited my previous post to insert an article from the NYT from earlier this year. There are different kinds of engineering, but it does take a significant time commitment, as was asked in the previous post. Work-life balance is certainly doable, but it is a time intensive major.</p>
<p>Question about move in - It looks like I will have a conflict in August because both my kids move into different colleges the same weekend. I know Tulane has the NOLA experience where students can move in a week early…but if my son is not selected for that, can we make arrangements to move him in earlier than the regular move in day??? Any experience with that???</p>
<p>No experience with it, but I expect they will do what they can to help you out. Of course, maybe if he mentions that in his NOLA application, it will help get him selected! You should have enough time from when they tell him if he was selected for NOLA that, if he isn’t, you can see if something can be arranged.</p>
<p>I know that early move-in is available because we were there a day early when S1 was a freshman and we asked about it. Many of the students involved in band, athletics, etc. are there a week or two early so the dorms are open. There is, of course, an additional fee for early move-in, but I don’t recall what it was.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! Do you know when the NOLA apps come out? I only saw that May was the deadline from last year…</p>
<p>I don’t know but you might try emailing this contact that I found on the website.<br>
tulanenolaexperience@**********</p>
<p>The person in charge of the NOLA experience has recently accepted a position elsewhere I think I read, so I am not sure who will be in charge, but the above email looks like a general information email address.</p>
<p>I’ll pm you Bloomy since CC won’t let me put the email address.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>We will be visiting campus from the northeast next month, but our plane arrives on Saturday after the 9 am tour. Is there any way to arrange an “unofficial” tour (including a dorm) outside of the Admissions office one? I am sure we could wander on our own, but since this a school my daughter is seriously considering, I would like it to be more worthwhile than that. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>What time would you be able to make it to campus by, assuming your flight is on time? Have you asked admissions if someone might be around then, or would be willing to volunteer to show you around?</p>
<p>We were able to arrange two unofficial campus tours at two colleges by contacting a student that had gone to my sons high school. Both students were very helpful. Your high school counselor may be able to help you there.</p>
<p>Do you know if prospective students can sit in on a class?</p>
<p>Hugo - absolutely, quite a few do. Just contact the prof ahead of time in case they are planning an exam that day. Also sometimes the classes are not where the original schedule says they are, they occasionally switch locations.</p>
<p>Prozack2,</p>
<p>I would reccomend calling the admissions office and see if you can work with them! I also believe they give some tours later on? I could be wrong though. If this is your first time on campus I wouldn’t reccomend just wandering around because that could be kind of overwhelming. I hope everything works out!</p>