I really appreciate your response @surfinbird34 . I like your description of engaged and passionate students … that’s the vibe we got when we toured the first time, and one of the things that my DD really liked. I think it will reassure her quite a bit that you see things the same way. 
Hello! Prospective TU student here
I am planning to follow the pre-med track in college, and in doing so, I definitely want to get a lot of research experience to help prepare me for medical school. How does one go about finding research opportunities? Is there a database of projects? Do you just go and ask a professor for help? Also, I have no previous research experience, so will it be harder for me to find opportunities?
Thanks again for replying to our questions!
I too am a prospective TU student and very excited! I did not receive any merit aid however. My parents let me apply as it seems a majority of students receive a generous amount - including almost all on this board. Can you explain the parameters to receive merit aid? I am not qualified for need based financial aid
@sona7662 Tulane is definitely a really awesome place to do undergrad research. We pride ourselves on the fact that our undergrads can get involved from day one. Usually it is about approaching a professor about their research and explaining how you are directly interested in what they are doing. BE SPECIFIC! Professors will not always respond, so I always encourage people to reach out to other people that work in labs. Also understand that it may be a lot of cleaning beakers and working under a graduate student at first, but most labs have students that work as undergrads in them, truly it just depends on the professor and how they run their individual lab.
@sebound2022 Thank you for your question! This year was our most competitive year on record and unfortunately we are not able to award merit aid to all students that apply. Although there is no “parameters” for Merit-Based aid, it really depends a lot on how competitive our class is and on the holistic review of all our your application materials. That’s why its hard to nail down individual things that award students aid: it really is based on the application as a whole. That doesn’t mean that you didn’t have an amazing application, it just shows how competitive our class was this year.
I don’t know if you have an answer to this, but I have not received my financial aid yet. On the Gibson portal, it says “received review pending” so I was just wondering if you know how long it will take for me to be told my aid.
@IvyLeaguer225 Thank you for your question as well. We have been seeing this for some students who may not have an admissions decision yet. If this is the case, they will most likely not release a financial aid decision until you have your final admissions status. If you have already been admitted, it sounds like they have received all of your materials and may just be in the process of the review. You will absolutely have a decision before you have to make your enrollment deposit (May 1st) so hang tight if that is the case!
You can also feel free to reach out to them directly at finaid@tulane.edu and they may have a little more insight into your specific situation.
Hi, again. Just noticed the CAST information on the Tulane website. With D attending the honors weekend, and registering for classes, is CAST ok to miss and do online instead? Looks like a slightly different set up from last year. Thanks!
Hi @proudmama2016 CAST is a new program this summer that will have some presentations about campus resources and then students will be able to register for classes. The main benefit is registering for classes, and your student will do that at honors weekend so she should be good! CAST isn’t mandatory, just an additional option for students!
@IvyLeaguer225, I was getting anxious about when we’d get my daughter’s financial aid package so I called the financial aid office and was put in touch with her counselor. Long story short, we received the package info about 5 hours later via the Gibson portal. Her counselor said they were running a bit behind on getting the packages out. I should also mention my daughter had applied EA so she already had her acceptance. You didn’t mention if you applied EA or RD.
Thanks, @HazelnutorFootball. Glad to know that she won’t miss something big in June. She’s already reviewing the course catalog from this year. Any recommendations for profs for bio or chem for first year classes? THANKS!
HI! I have a question about housing. I want to live in Monroe or Sharp when I attend Tulane. When I fill out the housing application can I tell them my preference? If I fill out housing earlier am I more likely to get in Monroe or Sharp? Also, if I don’t have a roommate yet but I find one in June (after I fill out housing) can I request them? One last thing… do I have to be committed to do the hosing application?
@sss111222 This year you will not be able to preference regular dorms on the housing application, you will only be able to preference RLC’s. RLC’s, or Residential Learning Communities, are living communities that are centered around certain topics. For example, everyone living in the Health Wave RLC lives together and participates in activities about health and wellness. Another RLC, Spark, is centered around women’s leadership, and there are tons of other options! Housing will let you know all about these RLC options before the housing and RLC application opens up! You can preference to be in one of these RLC’s, but I wouldn’t recommend preffing an RLC based on what dorm it is in because sometimes they change locations based on how much interest/space is available.
The housing application will open March 1st and will be open until well after the deposit deadline. You will have access to the application after you deposit, but your housing doesn’t change based on when you apply so no rush! Roommate selection happens from June 4th-15th so you have plenty of time to meet people on the facebook group before filling out the roommate application. Going random is also a really common option!
@proudmama2016 honestly they are really very similar. I always recommend that students go look at ratemyprofessor.com and see what reviews other students have given them. Take these with a grain of salt, but they are usually pretty accurate.
@sss111222 This year is working a tad different, and you unfortunately don’t get to put preferences of the dorms you want to live as a freshman. Truthfully you will have the same experience in every dorm on campus, so it really wont make or break your experience. Because of this you aren’t any more likely to get one dorm if you fill out earlier (because it is a lottery). You don’t have to fill out housing until the middle of June, so you’ll have time if you find a roommate (and you can always make changes directly through housing) and yes, you do have to submit your deposit in order to fill out your housing forms.
I understand that academics come first, and Tulane has been my top choice since my junior year. But now I’m having second thoughts because of the obvious gender disparity I witnessed this weekend at Destination Tulane. For me, dating new guys is an important part of the college experience. However, the ratio this weekend was something like 80-90% female. I met a few reallly nice guys, but they were openly gay (please don’t judge me, I am a big supporter of the LGBT community). I just want to make sure it won’t be like going to an all girls college. Help me please. I thought I loved Tulane, but now I’m all stressed out.
@Choicesarehard No need to worry! Tulane is about 42% male which is pretty consistent across all college campuses ! You will definitely be able to meet all different types of people across different genders, sexualities, backgrounds, etc!
Just a note about the FB group for Tulane Parents. We will not accept new members of Freshmen students until June. It’s an agreement we have with the Office of Parent Programming that all information for parents will come from their office until that time to avoid confusion and misinformation; And to decrease the chance of admitting parents whose students will end up not attending Tulane.
Good info from @dolphnlvr6 . Also note that, once new parents are able to join the Tulane Parents’ Facebook group, they will find that many FAQ’s (ranging from “Who delivers birthday cakes to campus?” to “Can anyone recommend an orthodontist?”) can be found by searching the thread. And you’ll save the sanity of the mothers and fathers who have already been around a few years by not asking again … especially the birthday cake question. 
I have a question about Freshman housing; I heard from someone that in the Fall of 2017, all of the ED admitted women were put into the all female dorm, regardless of whether they had requested it or not; can anyone speak to this?
@DBB6599 That one is definitely not true! What they were probably talking about is that in previous years students have been able to indicate their top dorm preferences and then housing does their best to accommodate accordingly. Sometimes students get placed in dorms they did not preference if there is not enough space in the dorms that they did preference, especially if they only requested Monroe and Sharp! However, this year students will not be able to indicate their housing preferences, so everyone will be randomly assigned!
What is the dating scene honestly like for a straight girl at Tulane? When I visited recently, it seemed like the ratio of females to straight men was very, very high. I guess a great place if you’re one of those guys. But what about for the rest of us?