<p>Hi all,
Just to quickly introduce myself: I am currently a freshman from the northeast at Tulane and I am so glad with my choice to attend school here. I truly do not think I could be happier anywhere else. I am a prospective business major and I plan to go to law school. Choosing which college to attend is a huge decision. I spent countless hours scouring the Internet trying to get the ‘inside scoop’ and overall feel of every school I applied to. I ultimately narrowed down my choices to Tulane and the University of Miami. I am ecstatic with my decision to come to New Orleans; this is truly an awesome city.</p>
<p>I started this account with the purpose of answering prospective Tulane student (and parent) questions. Feel free to ask about anything. I will try to give an unbiased answer on everything from the good to the bad to the ugly (although it is mostly good). </p>
<p>Good luck on your college search,
TulaneFreshman</p>
<p>Hi there,
I have recently been admitted to Tulane and am very excited. I loved the school when I visited and have for quiet some time felt like that’s the school for me. But I’m starting to second guess myself. I keep reading how partying dominates the campus and I’m not someone who will want to party everyday. I like to party every once in a while, but I don’t want my college experience to be all about partying. So what do you have to say about going to tulane and not being a huge party person. </p>
<p>Hi JohnJay14,
From what you said it seems as if I had a similar attitude before coming to Tulane. I had this preconceived notion that college & partying (especially with Tulane being in New Orleans) would be like a scene out of ‘Animal House’ and ‘Old School.’ The first two weeks of school, when the workload was light, there was a party day after day. However, as classes started and the workload became heavier, reality hit and the weekday parties diminished. Tulane students recognize that class work and school comes first. If you have work to do no one will judge you for staying in on a weekend and going to the library, I have stayed in multiple times. </p>
<p>With that being said, there is always something going on Tuesday nights, Thursday nights and the weekend. I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine here about the academic culture at Tulane and I think he summed it up pretty well: For many Tulane students studying is a chore, but at many other schools of similar caliber studying is just something you do. I thought about this for a while and realized that studying being a “chore” is not necessarily a bad thing. Tulane students are still driven to succeed academically. Many students may view studying as a chore but that is only because there is so much going on at school and so much to explore in the city of New Orleans. We ultimately just want to see it all. </p>
<p>To sum it up, if you’re looking to party you will find a party. But if you want to stay in, order some pizza and watch a movie or study that is completely of the norm.</p>
<p>Hope that helps, if you have any more questions feel free to ask
TF</p>
<p>In terms of “nicest” it depends what you are looking for. I have not been in all of the dorms but the nicest I have been in is JL (all girls dorm). However, I have also heard that Wall is extremely nice but I believe you have to write an essay and apply separately. The most social dorms are Sharp and Monroe. Also, it is often a misconception that Butler is not a social dorm. Although it is the honors dorm, a lot of people were placed there that chose Monroe/Sharp as their top choices. </p>
<p>Monroe and Sharp are extremely similar in the type of people that live there. (I currently live in Monroe). Both dorms are very social, comprised of outgoing people, and often loud. This is not to say that if you live in another dorm the people will not be friendly and social. The only difference I can think of in Monroe is if you are lucky and get a higher floor you have a good view of the city on one side. A pro to sharp is that the dorm has a much nicer lobby with couches and a pool table. A con to Monroe is that some floors do not have central common rooms whereas all Sharp floors have common rooms. I am on a Monroe floor without a common room and it definitely limits your ability to meet other people on the floor. </p>
<p>No matter what dorm you end up in you will make a good group of friends and end up hanging out with people from all different dorms. People that did not get placed in their desired dorm were understandably upset at first. But everyone I know is completely happy and content with their current living situations.</p>
<p>As for Bruff: Bruff is like any cafeteria, there are always the safe options of getting a sandwich, burger, salad or pasta. Then there is occasionally the option where you are not quiet sure what type of food it is when looking at it. Then, if you are willing to take a risk, you eat it… and are still not quiet sure what type of food it is. But generally the food is good. People often go to Loyola’s dining hall “Luff” (meal plan swipes can be used here) and the food is better in my opinion (although it is the same company). Besides Bruff and Luff there are always other options such as the food court in the LBC, the City Dinner, Le Gourmet and Bruff to Go. Also keep in mind you will be living in a city with amazing food, so delivery or a short walk to Maple, Freret or Oak street is always an option.</p>
<p>Hi. My daughter was accepted to the honors college. She is a very good student but likes to have fun too. She is set on Tulane. Should she accept to go into the honors program?</p>
<p>Also, my daughter is nervous about starting college. She never liked sleep away and was apprehensive about the whole college thing but is a terrific kid. She’s friendly and talented and high honor roll. Will she like it there? She isn’t a partier but I read the above.</p>
<p>Your welcome. Definitely true. The other changes were 1) whereas before you had to take at least one honors course a year (or was it per semester? I forget now, but I think it was per year), now there is no such requirement. 2) Before, by taking the honors courses and doing the thesis, the requirements for graduating with Latin Honors (summa cum laude and magna cum laude) were to have a GPA of 3.8+ for the former and 3.6-3.8 for the latter. Now they are basing on having a GPA that would have put you in the top X% of the last graduating class. So I think to graduate summa this year requires at least a 3.9 or something like that, because that would have put you in the top 5% of the most recently graduated class. I think magna will require a 3.8. That’s if you choose to use the new rules. People that came in before September 2014 can choose the old rules if they want, but your D would only be able to use the new rules.</p>
<p>Two more questions: 1) Is it better to go to the honors weekend or the general orientation? Expensive to fly-cannot do both
2) How is it best to get dorm “stuff” (sheets et al ) and clothes there from NY? Thanks!</p>
<p>fallenchemist-now I understand the confusion! They only changed the thesis requirement for Latin Honors. For LAC like my D she would still need to write it although you can negotiate with a prof to make non honors into honors so it shouldn’t be too bad. Latin is different.</p>
<p>Regarding post #10: It kind of depends. If your D is still undecided as of late March or early April, then definitely going to the Honors Weekend is the ticket. But even if she has decided on Tulane for sure, I would pick the Honors Weekend with one caveat, which I will get to in a second. The nice things about Honors Weekend are: 1) She gets to register for all her classes way ahead of the other incoming freshmen. 2) That time of year the weather in NOLA is much better than in June. 3) She will be with and get to meet the other students that are, presumably, the “best of the best”, the ones that are going to be more prone to place their academics at the highest priority. That certainly isn’t to disparage the other students in any way, shape or form and it is certainly a generalization. But as a generalization, that is highly likely to be true.</p>
<p>So now to the caveat. In meeting those other students, she might find a potential roommate she feels likely to get along with. The problem is that those other students might not have committed to Tulane yet, whereas at June Orientation by definition they are all incoming freshmen. But, of course, at the June Orientation they also won’t all be in the Honors Program and so might not be looking at the Honors Dorm (I am assuming your D will be. Just another variable, though). In fact, since many of the Honors Program students will have gone to the March/April weekend, the proportion in June will be even lower than their proportion of the incoming class. So personally, I would favor the Honors Weekend, if I had to choose. My D did go to both, btw, but went to the June session mostly just to check out NOLA more while the other students registered for classes and to get to stay in Butler, where she pretty much knew she would be in the fall.</p>
<p>As far as getting stuff to campus, Tulane sends shipping instructions (FedEx in the last number of years) wherein there is a very organized retrieval system on Move-In Day and ROTC volunteers move the boxes for you to the dorm room. Between that and whatever you can fit in a suitcase if she is flying in, she should be able to have all she needs. I assume if you were driving you probably wouldn’t be asking.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! Here’s one that has been nagging at me… an acquaintance of ours who went to Tulane back in the 1980s told me that it is NOT safe and she won’t let her kids go there. I’ve spoken with a current student (who is a senior) and she said Tulane has a lot of security programs on campus, and much of the crimes that occur are avoidable. I’ve been told that the campus is beautiful and safe, but walk 1-2 blocks away from campus and you’re surrounded by sketchy areas where there’s a lot of crime.</p>
<p>I realize that New Orleans, like most major metropolitan areas, has crime… and I don’t want to go into this with blinders on. I want my daughter to be safe, but I also don’t want to be putting too much emphasis on the safety issue if it’s not really such a big deal.</p>
<p>So my question is this… do you feel safe at Tulane? Are you concerned about the crime? Would that ever be a deterrent to you for going there? Thank you for your time!</p>
<p>(And fallenchemist, I welcome your input too!)</p>
<p>Regarding post #11: I am not sure what you mean LAC. Of course one can always do a thesis project, and it may be required to graduate with honors within your major, I am not sure. It was when I was there, but there was no Honors Program then, just departmental honors and Latin honors based on GPA (can’t remember the GPA needed back then), but no formal program. There has always been honors sections of some courses, even way back then when there was no Honors Program. So now that I think about it that way, in most ways the current Honors Program is more like things were back then, but with more resources to assist students with their academic goals in life.</p>
<p>Momwantstoknow- I’ve heard from other parents that you can also go online to Bed, Bath and Beyond and order online and pick up at the New Orleans location so that would help with shipping costs of supplies. We plan on driving down for Orientation and loading up our vehicle with everything we can cram in it and in the roof cargo carrier. Then there is also a linen service where you can purchase most the needed dorm room items. I haven’t really compared their prices to BB&B or Target so I can’t say if it’s a good option. Maybe others on here have and can say [College</a> Dorm Room Bedding & Twin XL Sheets by RHL](<a href=“http://www.rhl.org/tln]College”>http://www.rhl.org/tln)</p>
<p>jocjarmom - I think TulaneFreshman’s viewpoint will be very valuable here. I will only say that I was there in the 70’s and frequently walked everywhere and never had a hint of trouble, my D has been there 4 years and can say the same, and 60% or so of the students at Tulane are female and do not seem to have issues that are out of line with almost any other major university. Tulane and NOPD have added numerous safety features since the 80’s and quite a few even in the last 3 years or so. Also if you search this forum you will find numerous discussions, although you do have to do a little digging since the terms used are fairly common. So I won’t rehash it all here. But if there were major issues, you wouldn’t see parents sending their kids to Tulane in record numbers.</p>
<p>dolphnlvr - Good catch on the BB&B. I totally forgot to mention that. Makes the most sense if you are getting new sheets anyway. I have heard from other parents that getting sheets there is a better deal overall, especially when you take quality into account.</p>
<p>I am a little confused when you say you are going to cram the car full when you come down for Orientation. Do you mean Move-in Day? Because you cannot leave stuff at Tulane after the Orientation session. You could rent storage space off-site, of course.</p>
<p>This may be over generalizing but Tulane seems about as safe (or unsafe) as virtually almost any other college, regarding on campus and just off campus crimes. On campus burglary is probably the biggest concern anywhere. Check out this link from US Department of Education: </p>
<p>Sorry for falling behind on some of the posts so I will try to catch up. </p>
<p>Momwantstoknow - Fallenchemist thoroughly answered most of you’re questions. I know the honors program is changing so I am not completely sure about the details. However, besides applying separately and having to maintain a certain GPA there is no “con” to being in the honors program. If anything it can only look good to graduate with honors. Also, if your daughter does not want to be in the honors program freshman year, I believe (unless this has changed), she just has to maintain a fairly high GPA throughout her freshman and sophomore year. Also, depending on her major, there are some classes reserved for honors students in each respective major. These classes are usually taken as an upperclassmen and are often smaller, more in-depth classes. </p>
<p>In terms of getting “dorm” things down to Tulane from the northeast, the easiest thing to do is the Pack and Hold program through Bed Bath and Beyond. You can buy all your essentials (bedding, under the bed boxes, etc) and all of the items will be waiting for you at the Bed Bath in Metairie (about 15 minutes away from campus). In terms of getting clothes and other items down to Tulane, the easiest option is ship some of it (bulkier items such as shoes) and pack the rest of the clothes to check at the airport. Move in day at Tulane is extremely well organized. Fed-ex trucks are waiting with all your shipped items, and teams of ROTC kids and volunteers are waiting to unload your car and carry items to your room</p>