<p>To all you parents who say be a pioneer: unless you yourself are a minority you don't know what it's like to be in a room full of whites and be the only minority. There's a huge difference in perspective. Als, with all due respect to you concerneddad, and I really do mean this, most Jews are still white. When people look at you they don't see your religion. It's very difficult to be the lone minority on campus ( 3.5% Hispanic isn't anything to cheer about)</p>
<p>Alongfortheride, I gave you many different sources as to what perpetuates the " Tulane" stereotype." You may feel differently, but the opinions are difficult to overcome. Of course there are deviations from this stereotype. To Miguel, you should lighten up a little. Races of people, while still playing a role in our society, shouldn't be your deciding factor in attending a school because you'll never find a school with complete diversity reflective of our population. You have a different perspective and so do they. Find a school whose student body is open minded and try to get to know them.</p>
<p>miguel, I know you are speaking with respect. I would point out that when I lived in the Project of NYC I WAS in the same boat you find yourself: all of my friends were Black or Puerto Rican. I was the ONLY white kid living in Refern. So, I do know what you are experiencing. The only difference is that I had no choice in where I lived, and you do have a choice in where you attend school. And, for the record, I am not advocating that you attend any school that you would not be comfortable at.</p>
<p>We spend a lot of time on these boards talking about "fit." If the "fit" at Tulane is not right for you, so be it. I know many "pale" schools that wish they could change the numbers, Tulane included. But I would not urge you to go outside of your comfort zone.</p>
<p>Good luck to you, and I really mean that.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>Thank you CD. I respect you tremendously for what you do on this board and for the way you help kids even though I may disagree with you from time to time. Part of my post really was out of frustration after my visit to the school. I appreciate your advice.</p>
<p>I got bad news for you miguel you are going to be a minority in America for a long long time so you might as well learn to deal with it. Hispanics are what - maybe 12% of the population now? And Hispanic takes in groups as culturally diverse as Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Hispanics whose families have been in the USA for hundreds of years, South American immigrants including a bunch who do not even speak Spanish, and Mexican and Central American immigrants both legal and illegal. You might even find yourself to be a minority within a minority.</p>
<p>If you want to not go someplace because you don't want to be a minority that is of course your choice. On the other hand if you want to go someplace to study the history, culture, politics, anthropology, archaeology and economics of Latin America then Tulane is probably THE very best place in the country bar none. It has the Stone Center for Latin American Studies <a href="http://www.tulane.edu/%7Eclas/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tulane.edu/~clas/</a>, the Middle American Research Institute <a href="http://www.tulane.edu/%7Emari/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tulane.edu/~mari/</a>, and a Latin American Library <a href="http://lal.tulane.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://lal.tulane.edu/</a> with a collection of over 420,ooo volumes and extensive rare books, manuscripts, photos, and other documents. It also has a very good Romance languages department. How many places can you study Haitian Creole?</p>
<p>The Amistad Research Center is also housed on campus for anybody interested in the history of slavery in the New World. </p>
<p>you are welcome Miguel. And what patuxent said is true, the Latin American studies program at Tulane is perhaps the best program in the nation. Further, the school of tropical medicine has had a long-standing Latin America outlook.</p>
<p>In any event, let us know where you decide to attend, I would be interested to know.</p>
<p>I came back from my trip to Tulane. It's an incredibly beautiful campus (the weather was perfect). The students were nice. Street cars were amusing. The interior of the buildings were equally impressive (at least the ones we went in). Got free food and 2 free t-shirts. Did I mention the campus is beautiful? Everything was perfect, externally. Then, all of a sudden,</p>
<p><em>GASP</em></p>
<p>the associate dean of engineering confessed to all that he flunked out of UT-Austin and went to serve the military. Considering UT is one of my top choice right now, that didn't really impress me.
Also, he talked about how he wants Tulane to show the world that America has its share of excellent engineers. I don't think that was a smart thing to say in front of an international.</p>
<p>Well, that guy turned me off. <em>grumbles</em></p>
<p>Oh, there were a couple of asians there too, and a couple of indians, and a bunch of white people. Didn't see any latin student. But it was only a three hour campus tour and orientation.... </p>
<p>Ack! my ankles hurt... I need cruise control.</p>
<p>Anyway, Tulane is one gorgeous school and I'll probably attend if it wasn't for that dean... then again, i'll probably attend anyways. Color seems irrelevant here. Edit: I meant "Color seems irrelevant there."</p>
<p>Bmod, it would be a shame for you to turn away from a school you like so much because of the associate dean. He would not be the first person to attend college, leave to mature and get his head on straight and then return to a career of academic excellence.</p>
<p>Also, you must understand that Tulane is a U.S. university and that there has been a drop in enrollment in certain engineering disciplines at schools in the U.S. because of outsourcing and the resulting fears concerning employment post graduation and maintaining our "edge" in the engineering world. As an international, that probably hasn't been the foremost thought in your mind. Many departments in the engineering school have a very international teaching staff. </p>
<p>My son's final choice was between UT and Tulane so I understand your draw to both schools. However, if you hang around the halls of any university long enough, you will hear statements from profs and assoc. deans and more than a few may make you shake your head in disagreement. Good luck to you BMod.</p>
<p>Just a word of advice - your are better off going to a barber college than getting a degree in computer science in this country. There aren't going to be any jobs when you graduate and the ones there are will be filled with contract labor from India on H1b visas or people on "temporary" assignment to the home offices. </p>
<p>Everything except government classified work is heading to Bangalore or China or South America. The wages are less than you pay the janitorial staff stateside. Pick a career where the work has to be done stateside if you want to work in the USA.</p>
<p>thats why I want to be a doctor and politician.... you cant outsource a quadruple bypass....</p>
<p>Yea... I'll be an electrical engineer working for samsung in korea.</p>
<p>"Also, he talked about how he wants Tulane to show the world that America has its share of excellent engineers. I don't think that was a smart thing to say in front of an international."</p>
<p>"Yea... I'll be an electrical engineer working for samsung in korea."</p>
<p>I have to ask what is the problem with America wanting to show the world it has it's share of excellent engineers? You are quick to criticize American pride, but you want to study at one of our excellent engineering schools and then return home. Careful Bmod, you won't win many people over in the engineering school with such statements.</p>
<p>Hmm...It's been a while since I posted something last time...Good to be back again. Miguel, I feel you shouldn't be preoccupied with the notion that ethnic diversity should be the single determining factor in choosing college. I've been at Tulane for almost a year and I feel I should voice my opinion. First of all, yes, Tulane is predominantly white. I think minorities make up like 17% of the student body, which is a decent proportion. So you see, there is still a considerable amount of minority population on campus. I myself am Asian, but I don't feel uncomfortable being here. Most people here are open-minded and accepting if you are willing to open up yourself. It's all about fitting in. In my perspective, fitting in is an active term, not passive. It's about opening up yourself and adapting to the environment instead of letting others adapt to you. If you take on the initiative to actively merge, there is no way that you couldn't find a group of people with whom you feel comfortable around. I can prove to you how diverse Tulane is. I'm from Hong Kong myself. I have two friends from Saudi Arabia and last semester an exchange student from France became my close pal here. I have two other friends who are from New Orleans and they are both Asian American. My calculus professor for last semester is a humorous French guy who can make us all chuckle in class and said "Thank you" in Mandarin when I turn in my test paper. My microeconomics professor for last semester is Chinese and my honors macro professor this semester is Korean. My chemistry teacher is a German who has interesting stories to tell and gives sweet curve......It could go on and on. I learned in my psychology class that everybody has stereotypes about particular things but if you want to get a clear view of certain things, you need to dive in and get closer to its core. Miguel, I truly hope you can come down and spend a night in a student's dorm and see the dynamic and diverse Tulane unveil. I'm sure you'll like it. But before you do that, please withhold your bitter sarcasm and don't let your biased opinion predominate your decision that might change you forever. I wish you had a fruitful senior year and good luck with your college selection process.</p>
<p>hey...well I admire that Dean actually. he's forthright and honest, and doesnt give a s*** about impressing people. So he flunked out...people make mistakes...he served his country, got some discipline out of it, and went on to be very successful. It shows his raw intelligence that he can flunk out of school and still be successful in life. making something out of nothing (i.e. flunking out) is really impressive. It's the quuntessential American dream story...the man literally worked his way up and obviously has a lot of talent, initiative, drive, and ambition.</p>
<p>zhou (and others),</p>
<p>While no one should make racial diversity the single determining factor, it is undeniably an important consideration for may candidates - - as well it should. I probably would have discouraged by daughter from attending Amherst, Dartmouth or Williams at the dawn of co-education because being a pioneer or significantly in the minority can be lonely - - even if you get a lot of dates b/c of the male/female ratio. And in the case of URMs you don't even get the benefit of that favorabe dating ratio.</p>
<p>Also, attending college as a foreign student is a totally different affair. You are subject to a different set of expectations. And, having chosen to study abroad, you come with a different set of expectations than native-born minority students.</p>
<p>The fact remains that most colleges have a terrible record on diversity. (Tulane is doing better than some and worse than others.) And the lack of color can be a bitter pill to swallow - - especially with a pricetag upwards of $40K. Even at a lesser price, there's no reason URMs shouldn't want and voice their dissatisfaction at not getting, the same type of social experience offered the majority population. That is, an opportunity to make friends with people who share your interests - - a reasonable number of whom share your racial/cultural/economic background and other who are from different backgrounds. </p>
<p>The absence of racial diversity was certainly a factor in my D declining an offer from a boarding school with a number of black foreign students, but only one African-American student - - almost all of whom were female. The absence of an in-race dating pool was more a consideration that cultural dis/similarity. Often, however, the two are related, and since the dating is a significant part of the social life on any campus and the prospect of no (or very few) date for the next four years is enought to scare almost any boarding school or college applicant.</p>
<p>In short, just because URMs enroll at Tulane and other nationally ranked colleges or universities for the top-drawer academics doesn't mean that their non-academic concerns ought to be dismissed.</p>
<p>Thank you nyc. No need to repeat what you've said because you're exactly right. I went back to Tulane last Friday with some friends and at this particular accepted students reception there were four minorities. Me, this black guy and two asians. That's pretty disparaging. But, I've decided to give Tulane a shot partially because I did take this tour with more of an opened mind and partially because of what concerneddad said to me on this forum. I'm not doing this to breaak barriers or to pave the way for other minorities. I shouldn't have to or be expected to. It's 2005. I am doing this because Tulane and New Orleans are great places whereI wouldn't mind living for four years. ( Yoiu can't beat the merit based scholarship/ mom's advice either)</p>
<p>miguel: I am glad that you kept an open mind and visted N.O. again, and I hope that you find everything you are looking for at Tulane and New Orleans. If there is anything I can do to help you, just let me know.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>I would agree with Miguel a lot on the race issue because there is NO racial diversity at Tulane. The only African Americans you see on campus are on the Football or Basketball teams and you can tell because they only where their team sweats. I would say that the Asian population is of decent size and most come from California. The Tulane racial statistics are not a good indicator because of University College(Tulane's part time and night school that contains a few Undergrad majors like Sports Medecine). If you look at all Tulane statistics Cowen uses UC to throw everything off. The African American percentages looks high because of all of the people who go to night school at Tulane(New Orleans has a high African American population if you didnt know). However when finding the interquartile range for SAT's UC students are not included because, well they are not very good. We do have a fair amount of international students, especially from the middle east. Living with someone from Saudi Arabia has been truly enlightening and helpful.</p>
<p>And...</p>
<p>The Jewish question. Yes Tulane is referred to by all students as Jewlane because 40% of the student body is Jewish(We have at least three Jewish fraternities). I dont really have a problem with this, but it is true that the majority of them are well off and do flaunt there money. One of the reasons I dont mind is that they pay the ridiculous full price of admission so that others like me, dont have to. Way to go scholarships. I will say that for the first time in my life being Christian has made me feel like a minority. I dont view that as a bad experience, but all of the Hillel and Shabbat quickies do get in your face(This is coming from a New Yorker who has been to more bar/bat mitzvahs then I can count). The ironic part is that the majority of the jews here have not been to temple is several years. There is also some religious tension with extremely catholic Loyola next door.</p>
<p>I find the timing of this post hillarious because on campus this past week we have had a pro-diversity campaign going on. The campaign has been about accepting that we are not racially diverse and must find diverse things about us like liberal vs. conservative or alcoholic vs. coke head.</p>
<p>Shalom Y'all</p>
<p>PS-The Stone Center for Latin American Studies is great, take some classes and study abroad with them if you get the chance.</p>
<p>Well GoPack, keep in mind that for Jews (and I am one), it is a rare experience to actually feel like you are the majority -- although by your own stats, 60% of Tulane is not Jewish.</p>
<p>Hey GoPack,</p>
<p>I'd read a little history before I felt free to use such phrases as "The Jewish Question."</p>
<p>And why don't we consider it worth talking about when a campus is 40% Any-Other-Ethnic-Group? (Like Caucasion Protestant, fr'instance?) Is it any MORE worthy of discussion if Tulane IS 40% Jewish? Might a Gentile going there, like my son, actually learn something new? Like what Yom Kippur means (pretty cool Holy Day, if you ask me) Horrors!</p>
<p>I'd just ask that you think for a moment about why you made any statement at all about "not minding" that there are so many Jews at Tulane. Why should it matter to you? Would you feel equally free to "not mind" if there were "too many" African-Americans there, or would that be too un-PC?</p>
<p>I don't mean to be TOO abrasive about this. I just don't like to see such statements go unchallenged, therefore, un-thought-about.</p>