<p>Regarding post 13- Jocjarmom - as you said New Orleans is like any other city. The city has pockets of crime as well as very safe areas. As Fallenchemist said, NOPD and TUPD have various safety measures in place. Obviously I can not comment on the safety here in the 80’s but I would assume it has only improved since then. </p>
<p>Tulane is located in the Uptown area of the city known as the Garden District. The school is surrounded by mansions and is right next to the beautiful Audubon park. The area around Tulane is patrolled by NOPD as well as TUPD. </p>
<p>With that being said, as with any college campus or town, I would not go walking around random streets alone at night. As long as you use some common sense you can stay pretty safe. The police presence on campus and specifically on Broadway (where all the Fraternities and local bars are located) is extremely noticeable. Although many parents may cringe to hear it, many students will walk around these areas alone and feel very safe. As you mentioned in your post, however, New Orleans is an interesting city in terms of its neighborhoods. One street in the uptown area will have mansions and a few blocks away is a much “sketchier area.” But students here quickly learn what areas to avoid. As long as you are in a group you are relatively safe. I will not say that incidents do not happen. Crime does occasionally occur as with any college or city. However, these crimes are not usually violent (i.e. bike thefts, the rare mugging). </p>
<p>To directly answer your questions: I feel extremely safe at Tulane. Walking around the campus alone I always feel safe. When students venture off campus, as long as you are with a friend and using common sense, you are relatively safe. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you do feel unsafe, TUPD has safety measures in place such as Safe Ride (a bus that will pick you up free of charge in a mile radius of campus), Raveguardian (a personal escort app) as well as personal escorts. The rare crime would never deter me from coming to school here. It is not something that is on the mind of most Tulane students. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Fallenchemist-did you attend Tulane yourself? Anyone know how long the drive from NYC to Tulane is? We try to fly as we do not do well with long car rides. BY LAC I mean she will take a liberal arts curriculum. Thanks for helpful info. Such nice people-one of the benefits of Tulane I’m sure.</p>
<p>Many thanks, TulaneFreshman. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this… ever since that acquaintance told my daughter that “Tulane isn’t safe,” I have been trying to assuage her (and my) concerns with info like this. Hope you have a great weekend!</p>
<p>I did attend Tulane, and my D will be graduating in about 6 weeks.</p>
<p>The drive from NYC is indeed a long one. Give or take, 1300 miles and 20 hours if you could somehow do it without stopping except for gas and drive-thru food.</p>
<p>As far as the LAC, that actually isn’t a factor one way or the other regarding doing a thesis. She can get Latin honors without doing a thesis no matter her major, under the new rules. As I said earlier though, it may be that for departmental honors she would have to do one.</p>
<p>So for example, a student could graduate magna cum laude from the School of Liberal Arts with a degree in English, and not do a thesis. They would only need the minimum GPA, which for people graduating in May would be a 3.8. Or they can graduate magna cum laude from the School of Liberal Arts with honors in English by doing a thesis. The same would be true for someone graduating with a degree in chemistry or with a degree in business. So Latin honors are distinct in their requirement from departmental honors. You also need a minimum GPA (usually 3.5 I believe) in your major(s) to get departmental honors, but if someone is graduating with Latin honors I am sure it would be the rare case indeed that they didn’t meet the requirement for their major as well. Of course, it is also possible to graduate with departmental honors and not with Latin honors.</p>
<p>jocjarmom - while this apprehension is completely understandable given the notoriety of New Orleans regarding this topic, I think you should take comfort in the fact that many of us on here have daughters there, mine for 3.5 years (with 1.5 of those off campus, although admittedly very close to campus) and some now have a second daughter there. We certainly love our children, and wouldn’t stand for them being somewhere where the risk was extraordinarily higher than somewhere else they could be. One cannot predict or control these things. Just to repeat an example in another thread, Chapel Hill NC seems like a nearly idyllic place, yet a female student was randomly killed there during a robbery, I think it was. Might be off on the last part, but the point is the same. Some might even argue that at any school in a city, the students are more likely to not let down their guard, nor abandon their common sense.</p>
<p>We usually fly, but we did the drive this summer. We drove about 13 hours the first day (We are in the Scranton area of PA) and made it to Tuscaloosa. Then it was another 5 hours the next day to get to NOLA. For Spring Break last year my students and I drove straight through and it was about 18 hours…Getting through VA is the worst part! That’s one huge state!</p>
<p>I totally get what you mean, Fallenchemist… I think I remember who that girl was at UNC. I think all of these comments do make me feel a lot better. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Fallenchemist-Thanks for clarifying! I thought Latin Honors was for Latin Majors-but from what you say it is a type of honors! That is why I was confused! Thanks for taking the time to clarify. What I think-for those of you who care-is that Tulane is a top tier university that doesn’t seem as good as it is due to Katrina throwing its numbers off. You get the bonus of being in NOLA which is a cultural/historical education in of itself-and the value of that aspect is enormous. Plus, no real winters for four years. Finally, for those of us lucky ones-the scholarships. WHAT DO YOU THINK?</p>
<p>LOL, sorry momwantstoknow. I have been doing this for long enough I sometimes forget not everyone knows the lingo. But you do have it correct now. In fact, as I understand it *summa sum laude<a href=“with%20highest%20honor”>/I</a> and *magna cum laude<a href=“with%20great%20honor”>/I</a> are often referred to as “high Latin honors” while *cum laude<a href=“with%20honor”>/I</a> is not included in that designation, but that’s just trivia. Summa is pretty tough to achieve, not that magna is a picnic, especially now that they have raised the GPA required to achieve it considerably.</p>
<p>Tulane’s shift to using GPA exclusively is more in line with most of the schools considered the best in the country. I don’t know if that was the reason, but it will allow a lot of kids that previously just did not want to do a research thesis yet had spectacular grades to be recognized for that.</p>
<p>Do you think D with upper 5%, 2100 SAT. good EC’s. friendly, but shy at first-independent, easily bored, into the arts and theatre will do well/like Tulane?</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the arts/theatre program at Tulane, but she will love New Orleans! Such a great city for art lovers! Creativity abounds! If you are ever bored in NOLA, you aren’t doing it right! Art galleries, museums, concerts, plays, movies being filmed, artists on Jackson Square, art markets and so much more!</p>
<p>The arts/theater program at Tulane is very good, a very strong area for the school. Plus there are Tulane grads (and others) doing high quality theater in New Orleans, and as dolphnlvr says, the arts in general are prolific. I would think Tulane will provide a dynamic environment for her without being overwhelming. Clearly I would never compare the theater scene there to NYC and NYU, or LA/USC, as examples, but it still provides a lot for any student to enjoy, without being quite so huge and competitive as those.</p>
<p>I am a current freshman at Tulane who is likely to be transferring at the conclusion of this academic year. If any perspective families and/or students have any questions regarding what factors led to this decision, or if you would like any authentic perceptions of the school (I will try to be as unbiased as possible), please feel free to posit any questions.</p>
<p>Hey, I posted this on my own thread but I thought TulaneFreshman may be able to offer some good advice:</p>
<p>Hey everyone! I am choosing between Tulane, Occidental, and St. Andrews (Scotland). I feel as though Occidental may be nice the first year, but after a while the resources/school spirit may feel limited. So it’s really between St. Andrews and Tulane haha two very different schools. But let’s focus on Tulane:</p>
<p>I go to a new england boarding school so I have never been to a high school party (since I live at school). I’m outgoing and would probably go to parties if I went to a regular high school, but I am not a party animal. I imagine that in college, I will want to party and drink sometimes but definitely not all the time. I want to be able to party WHEN I WANT TO and not feel like I will be left out if I choose not to party. If I don’t join a frat, will I feel left out to some extent? Is Tulane frat-dominated/ is it a big part of the culture? </p>
<p>As for dorms, I feel like I will probably want either Monroe or Sharp. It sounds like these are the most social dorms. I fear that the other dorms are less “cool”. Anyways, I don’t want to be in a dorm where I will feel lame for studying instead of partying at times. And I don’t want to feel pressured into drugs or drinking when I don’t want to (I am not into drugs at all). Will I fit in at Monroe or Sharp? I’m really into music, jazz especially, and I just want to be around chill, fun people, but I feel like I’d want to be in Sharp or Monroe for the experience. Can anyone offer any advice?</p>
<p>Fallenchemist’s perspective is pretty spot on but I will try to add a little more information. To your first point that you went to a boarding school, and may not be “familiar” with the whole “party scene” - many people that I have met came from small private high schools, because of this many Tulane students have not experienced larger parties with crowds of people. Therefore, you are not alone in having not gone to a “crazy” hs party. Although Tulane has a reputation as a party school, students also have a work hard, play hard mentality (as cliche as that may sound). Of course you will always find the people that go out every night - if you want to party you can find a party - but if you want to stay in on a Friday/Saturday night to study, watch a movie, play some video games - no one will judge you.</p>
<p>As for fraternity life: (my perspective is limited on this as I have only been at school a few months) But I think Greek life is perfectly balanced at Tulane. Frats at Tulane have a presence on campus but not an overwhelming presence. Greeks are friends with non-greeks and vice versa. On the weekends you will always be able to find a fraternity throwing a party, and unlike some other schools, the parties are not usually exclusive - meaning anyone can get in. Although participating in Greek life is a great way to make friends and connections, if you do not think fraternity life is for you, your social life will not suffer by any means.</p>
<p>To your last point about being pressured into drugs and alcohol: I live in Monroe, a “social dorm” and I have honestly not seen any serious instances of peer pressure. With that being said, of course it goes on to some degree. This is college and people are just looking to have fun. If you walk into a party and someone hands you a beer, this shouldn’t be mistaken for peer pressure (and by a beer I mean root beer of course). If someone tries to pressure you into drugs/alcohol, then quiet honestly these are not people you want to be friends with. Any person that is able to get into Tulane has the mental capacity to say no to drugs/alcohol. Basically, if you do not want to drink no one will think any lesser of you.</p>
<p>Hope this helps! If you have any questions feel free to post or dm me
-TF</p>
<p>Any current Tulane students: Can I get an honest answer of how hard the work is? Do you think Emory is harder? There’s nothing wrong with saying it’s not that hard, in fact, I don’t want to go to a school with serious grade deflation</p>