Tulane 101

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

<p>I am a Tulane student, and I'm most def in the know. This thread is specifically for all "Frosh-To-Be"... There are certain things that you should know about Tulane to ensure the best 1st year experience ever! I mean, one can certainly do absolutely nothing and still manage to have one of the best 1st year experiences anywhere... And parents don't fret, Tulane will give your little baby mad control over insanity(translation: lots of stuff) once they graduate. </p>

<p>So go ahead and inquire about anything and I'll answer in the real, and I'll also post little "need-to-knows" every now and then. Right now I'm spring breakin' it so I have crazy time, you know. I'm so busy when school is in session though, so don't hesitate!</p>

<p>OMG! Flashback!!: I remember my first day at Tulane like it was yesterday! My parents dropped me off and got me settled in, I was insanely nervous and scared, I probably looked sooo sketch! I chose to stay in Butler because it was the "honors" dorm, I'd be amongst the kids who ran the show. Ummm not really. If I could have chosen another dorm it would have been Sharp or even Monroe. Butler is like...ewwww. I mean, the rooms aren't smaller or anything, it's just like antisocial central!. Ok anyway, I met my roomate, he was chill. His mom said I was good looking, I was "OMG...." We walked around to all of the lame orientation stuff. NO ONE pays attention to that stuff, I mean, the parents have their own stuff and that's kinda important, but like the students get to learn the wierd Greenwave cheer and stuff. I was like... Yawwwn. So the parents left!! YAY!!!!! My roomate was telling me about the dif frat parties that night and how SAE and KA were like awesome. When the sun went down we got dressed all nice in our Lacoste and Abercrombie(This is not a depiction of everyone at the school...especially in Butler, if you're still in the highschool "hey, i'm antiprep" stage, Tulane can get pretty prep [Prada, Burberry, Lacoste, Armani, UGG Australia boots are like the trend right now, Polo shades and those huge Juicy Couture bags, Northface EVERYWHERE, you'll see Benzos. Beamers, Jags, and Ferraris in the parking spaces) But anyway, I was so nervous I was on the edge of passing out!</p>

<p>We went to the SAE party first and there were drinks, I had never drank much in HS, my roomate was like chugging the vat for show(He is so not a drinker and barely goes out now...he's all into the academics, as are MOST kids at Tulane, we just like to have a little fun sometimes, as do MOST college students at other colleges.) So anyway, I took a sip of the vat, I was like...ummm, alcohol?? I'm not drinking anymore. So I ditched my cup in the bush somewhere... The party was excellent, SAE has their Fall stuff in the back of their house (a mix of rap & rock music playing). The older girls were walking around with their huge pearls and [insert expensive designer here] dresses. Most of the guys toted Burberry and Lacoste. Everything was pretty chic here. I learned that you DO NOT hug people (because they take lots of time to get ready)! "You lightly kiss your girl friend on the right cheek, you shake your guy friend's hand" </p>

<p>So yay! That was fun.. ok my roomate called me to go with his friend from his academy to the KA party. (Yea folks, still the first night) We arrived at the KA house, I was like...ewww. The guys were really drunk and playing beer pong(beirut) or whatever. (Important note: EVERYONE, from the minute I arrived at Tulane, was SOOOO NICE. I had NEVER expected so many people from so many places, ALL very friendly!) But yea, so the KA guys were like "were bored, lets show you guys a good time!" So we got in cool looking Beamer SUVs and drove off to a bar called F&Ms. Most of the guys were def not old enough to get in.. I was like...what's going on??? We just kinda walked in. (I later learned that Tulane kids have sway at most of the fine establishments in Nola.) The frat guys offered us drinks & shots, I was like.. I don't drink, they said fine.. We danced around a bit, had lots of fun. They brought us back to campus. Me and the roomie headed back to Butler and slept well. Oh yea, I didn't drink during the welcome back weeks. No one forces you to drink. It's your decision. There were parties every night!! EVERY NIGHT FOR TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. I went to almost all of them. I made so many close friends. The most fun I'd ever had!! And then classes got serious. Parties were then on the weekend. People study during the week. I ended first semester with a 3.6. I don't think that's too bad.... considering that was NOTHING compared to stuff that would happen later in the Fall. Never a boring moment at this school, never.</p>

2

<p>quick question -- i'm finally visiting tulane in about 2 weeks--
i'll go on the tour and all that usual stuff, but i've never been to new orleans so i was wondering if you could recommend some "must-sees"</p>

3

<p>Hmmm...first time in Nola huh? Well, as soon as you arrive you must get downtown to Cafe Du Monde and eat beignets(uh, no one knows how to spell it!! They are delich! You can either go to the one in the French Quarter or the one in the RiverWalk Mall down Canal. Don't worry, these places will be very obvious... I'm sure it sounds hella cliche, but Cafe Du Monde is awesome! While you're in the area, you should go inside of the huge Sak Fifth Ave. A few Tulane kids don't even know that there is a huge mall within (movie theater & etc...) It's ok.... In the same area there is also the aquarium! I haven't been since I was a little kid but I've been trying to drag my friends there for a while.</p>

<p>Across St. Charles street. (right outside of Tulane's campus, don't worry you'll find out where this stuff is..) is Audobon park...it's gorgeous! Go for a walk if the weather is nice. And somewhere behind the park is the zoo....ewww, animals.</p>

<p>For dins, you must eat at Superior Grill (I hate Mexican food, but I like did a 360 after eating there), Red Fish Grill, Canon, Houston's, Copelands, Misaki(go sushi!), or (CAMELIA GRILL!!!! this place is a genuine Nola experice, and it's in walking distance from campus!)</p>

<p>Oh yea, I don't believe the tour goes down Broadway, lol. If you can you should take a walk down there during the day (or at night if no parents are around, lol). You'll see the various frat houses which aren't awesome, The Boot (yea, Lindsay Lohan and the girl from the OC (and various other celebs) decided to make it there party spot while they were filming in Nola, which BTW has a film industry that's growing like out of control...WTH?) Oh, if you see a Maple St, you should take a turn there...during the day there is great shopping and madd restaurants and cafes, it's so close to campus, but it's like hidden, I mean..everyone goes there, but it's usually at night... you'll see the well known TJ Quills, Vera Cruz, and Brunos, you'll find out more about these places later... I'm sure there are various other must sees, but like nothing else comes to mind right now.</p>

4

<p>I recently applied for housing for next year as a freshman and I was hoping to get a little inside info on the Sharp and Monroe dorms. I know you are in Butler, but do you know what other students think of them and is there a difference between the two? Thanks in advance</p>

5

<p>Oh, for sure. Sharp is like my second home, I'm always there! But, I have friends in every dorm. There are major difs between the two. Firstly, depending on what kind of person you are, you most likely will have a pref. Sharp is known as the party dorm. (I mean its not really, no one actually parties in the dorms...and pregaming happens everywhere) Although a majority of the kids at Tulane are loaded, it really shows in the Sharp kids for some reason... During the fall, if you have a friend with a balcony in Warren(girls dorm) you will see the "evacuation" at night. Huge groups of Sharp kids (like herds of Lacoste wearing cattle) all dressed up heading for Broadway...it's amazing. The rooms are actually ok, but they are smaller than in Monroe.</p>

<p>As for Monroe...ummm, it's a wierd mix of people.(BTW, the dorm you live in fresh year will really influence your entire undergraduate stay at Tulane) Monroe has people of all types, but people call it the odd dorm. There are kids who look like Sharp kids in there, and they stick out majorly. It's the tallest dorm, so if you get a room high up, you will have an AMAZING view of the city(Superdome & everything). Monroe is actually really nice, it was recently totally renovated so everything is new. The doors are really hi-tech..you use this plastic card thing as a key(so if you lose it, you have to go through the trouble of getting the lock reset and getting a new card, it's really wierd...)</p>

<p>Both dorms have their own downstairs washing facilities, VERY convenient cosidering Butler kids have to walk across the street! And like I said before, whatever dorm you stay in will create your social line completely. Usually this will determine what friends you make and what type of person you will become. For example, like the entire 2nd floor of Sharp is basically this year's Sammy pledge class (one of the most popular frats, you'll hear about their parties soon enough). It's really odd how stuff works here...</p>

6

<p>Haha, I remember freshman year. If you care that much, not everyone goes out wearing pink lacoste shirts with popped collars.
Monroe was the cool dorm my freshman year, it really varies from year to year.
F&M's would serve a twelve year old girl if she showed a black man's ID at the door, fun place, too crowded on Thursdays. For a good time, I recommend Ms Maes, Snakes, or Avenue Pub. Quills is the "freshman bar"
The reality of freshman year here is that a decent percentage I'd say about half the freshmen go out and get wasted 4 nights a week. I'm only a sophomore and now I pretty much only go out on weekends. It's fun, and first semester freshman classes are not too challenging if you study and do your work.
If anyone has any questions about fraternities or sororites, feel free to ask. </p>

<p>For visiting freshman, I recommend going to Bourbon during the day. Acme Oyster House is a must. Camelia Grill on Carrollton is amazing. </p>

<p>Entitlement is right that the tour does not go down Broadway, but I recommend walking down there since most of the fraternity and sorority houses are there. The rest are on Zimpel or Audobon.</p>

7

<p>Fact or Myth? You only need to be 18 to get into bars near campus - and anyone who gets in will get served.</p>

8

<p>It depends... first of all, many people have fakes so it doesn't matter, secondly, it's like this:
The Boot - 18
TJ Quills - 18
Vera Cruz - 18
Brunos - 19
The Palms - 21</p>

<p>These places are practically on campus... Most popular places not far from campus are:
Jimmy's - 18
F&Ms - 21</p>

<p>Also, if you can get into any of these places by way of "connections", fakes, attractiveness, or just being old enough, in a sense you WILL be able to get drinks. All of these places, except TJs (they simply don't card), WILL most likely card you, BUT it's very rare that there won't be someone with connections, with a fake, attractive enough, or just old enough & doesn't mind buying drinks for fellow collegemates, to not be able to obtain anything... It's not that dif from ANY OTHER COLLEGE.</p>

9

<p>how big is the greek system down there?</p>

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<p>cool, thanks for the info - there's not many other places where future students can get inside info like this.</p>

11

<p>So basically do you make most of your friends in college through the people in your dorm?</p>

12

<p>Oh god, you will hear over and over that the Greek are like 33 percent of the school.... Not even. The Greeks run the show here IMO. The frats will def have an effect on your social life one way or another... They are powerhouses and they will suck you in during the Fall. In Fall, they have parties every Thursday (which is dubbed Frat Thursday, like Fat Tuesday...anyway) There are keg parties (w/vat) on Thursdays, each frat has their own special vat mix, I prefer the Green Fuzz at Zeta Psi, but that frat isn't awesome... </p>

<p>There will be random parties on random days also. I'd usually hear about these parties directly from the frat guys...they'd call my cell because they swap numbers with many of the guys. The frosh guys in turn tell their girl friends who tell their friends and so on...eventually everyone hears about it. </p>

<p>For the beloved themed parties, the frats spray paint the name of their party and the date somewhere in front of their house(so ghetto...). They also call up the frosh guys the day before the party. But these parties have budgets of like 50 grand. The frat house is like changed into whatever the theme is, like for last years Original Sin party by AEPI, dif sections of the house were decorated as Heaven, The Garden of Eden, and Hell seperately. To get in you must show your Tulane ID and you go through each section of the house, grabbing the themed drinks as you please (i.e. apple flavored i don't know what in Eden). At the end of Original Sin was Hell (lol) where the frat basically set up a night club with flashing lights and everything. There was also a band playing loudly in the backgroud... Chaos, but fun! Other parties you will hear about are Cowboy Christmas, Saturate, Seven Seas, DEKE has a party(I don't remember what it's called), and there are more, I just don't remember, lol.</p>

<p>But the funn doesn't stop on campus, throughout Fall the frats rent out clubs and bars all over Nola, don't worry about transportation, the frats pay for...get this, school buses (dubbed "drunk buses") to drive you around from bar to bar. What field trips those are! But seriously, I have seen so much of Nola through the frats...</p>

<p>Spring is really dif after Rush Week(TOTAL CHAOS, NOTHING compares to this, I can elaborate if needed)...parties become exclusive and formal & the ENTIRE social dynamic of the frosh class shifts. Everyone changes and dif social circles emerge... It's pretty hardcore stuff for "only 33 percent".</p>

13

<p>Vicks, yeah, but not always... Many of my friends are NOT in my dorm. But it seems that for everyone else... their closest friends are the people down the hall or somewhere in their dorm. Like I said down below, the Greeks will change that really quickly after Rush Week. During this time your friendships will be tested. You will either become best friends for life or you'll be on "hi/bye" basis with someone who knows everything about you...</p>

14

<p>So did you rush? What frat? I don't really think a party runs 50 grand. Hell, the frats houses I have seen aren't even worth 50 grand!! </p>

<p>Are you staying in Butler next year? I understand it is a nice dorm. </p>

<p>You have spoken a good bit about parties at Tulane; what other activities do you enjoy?</p>

15

<p>i can't imagine what happens at mardi gras.</p>

<p>did you say you were in the honors program? what's that like (if indeed you are)?</p>

16

<p>Oh yea, and ZBT's PreHistoric is coming up later this year... </p>

<p>Ummm, ya, a party can easily run 50 thou, haven't you seen Super Sweet Sixteen on MTV?? </p>

<p>So yea, I rushed all frats except for ATO & DTD (aka Dorks till Death, you'll see why..) You're supposed to rush at least 5 frats, but like it really doesn't matter... You "pledge" only one frat though, which I am. Pledging is still going on now...you won't hear anything about pledging from me or anyone else (who is or was a part of it). That's like forbidden grounds...</p>

<p>And yea, I do other things besides partying (which sounds a certain way to most but is really just hardcore socializing... so if you mean when I'm being really semisocial) I play intramural sports with my floor, work out (yay go REILY!), writing for the school newspaper, photography, community service fours days a week!!, riding the street car to get downtown, jogging in the park, video games (yea!), tennis, laying out in the quads, going on weekend vacations (quite common here), and trying to remember what happened when I was hardcore socializing... Hmmm, I was gonna do student government & stuff like that, but then I was like..... no. That stuff is not prominent at all in college as it is in highschool... no one really cares, but to each their own.</p>

17

<p>Yea, I'm in Honors. I love it, the classes are so small and intimate the profs are just awesome! They are so nice. You can actually focus on classwork and not the class(i.e. all of your little friends across the room) Actually, none of my close friends have been in my honors courses, so I guess that's a plus. The work is NOT a plus though. You get like 5 times more work than in regular courses and the profs move like lightning. Sometimes I'm like "slowdown!" But, they totally listen to the students and are able to help them in any way because the classes have like 10 people in them. Seriously Honors is the only way to go... </p>

<p>Haha, Mardi Gras, hahaha... That's like a thread of its own. Dark clouds roll over Tulane and the devil comes out to play... I really wouldn't be able to talk about this on CC without having the mods edit like every other word...</p>

18

<p>entitlement, what about the cockroaches down there?</p>

<p>i have to know.</p>

19

<p>As I mentioned in the related thread, I haven't seen any roaches at Tulane... I have heard a story about a sighting in Warren House, but nothing major. I haven't seen any myself, and now that I think about it, I don't see many bugs at Tulane period...oh wait, yea... a fly got into my english class once.... it was hella annoying.</p>

20

<p>I have a question. When I started looking at colleges I wanted to double major in journalism and dance. Well, Tulane doesn't have journalism. I figured the closest I could get would be communications and take some journalism wherever I could find it and maybe take some classes at Loyola, like it says in the viewbook. However, I've heard very little about the communications program and I'm starting to wonder if it is one of those "slack" majors people talk about and if it is a waste of mine and my family's money. I'm a DSA student, I'm wanting to make the best of it down there if I go. Anyone in the know have any ideas? I'm going to visit next week.</p>