<p>I have been accepted to Tulane, University of St. Andrews (Scotland), and Occidental. I have not been much of a party guy in high school and I am worried tulane will be too overwhelming in that regard--maybe i could be fratty, i just don't know. Then, Occidental has amazing weather but after two years it may seem too small. St. Andrews is beautiful and has an amazing campus but it's cold. Which social scene is the best/friendliest? Any advice on choosing? I'm leaning towards St. Andrews</p>
<p>jazz1005 - Unfortunately this kind of question is impossible to answer directly. So much of what you are asking is subjective. For example, one person’s awesome party is another person’s hell. One student’s cozy school is another student’s claustrophobia. So how can one answer this?</p>
<p>What can be said is that at Tulane there is a lot to do besides frat parties, and lots of people to do them with. I would say about half the students or so are not into heavy partying, and I may be doing Tulane an injustice because I used the qualifier “heavy”. Depending on how you interpret that, it is a much smaller percentage that really get into the over-indulgent drinking on a frequent basis.</p>
<p>One of my best friends (American) has a daughter that went to St. Andrews and loved it. She ended up going to law school in London and remaining there. I don’t know enough about Oxy to comment at all, but just knowing someone that went to St. Andrews and enjoyed it doesn’t help much either.</p>
<p>So I think there is little that can be said to your question except go with your instincts. If you are leaning towards St. Andrews, there is probably a reason. Try to understand what it is that is pushing you in that direction, if you don’t already. Then evaluate that against the other schools, along with your other preferences like weather, etc. and try to balance those out. BTW, this is someplace you will be living for essentially 4 years. Considering aspects like weather, urban vs. rural, and other non-academic factors is not trivial. You want your overall quality of life to be as suitable to you as possible.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about St. Andrews or Oxy but I can tell you that many students and parents have expressed the same concerns about the “party scene” at Tulane and many students have replied that there is a place for non-partiers at Tulane. The academics are very demanding so it’s a balance of working hard and playing hard. There was a Tulane Admissions chat last night and this very question was brought up. One of the ad reps said there is a faction of students that “party hard” but for most Play hard doesn’t translate to party. There is always something happening on the campus- she gave the example of intramurals, concerts, guest speakers, a Zombie vs Humans game, art shows, trips, sports, etc. If you choose to party you can but there is much much more to do than party. </p>
<p>Also I an tell you that being located in New Orleans provides even more activities! There is a festival of some sort just about every weekend. There are art and history museums, concerts, jazz clubs, hundreds of music venues (Tipitina’s and Maple Leaf are fairly close to campus), parks, biking, golf, kayaking, fishing, Parades, a zoo and aquarium, river boat rides…beaches an hour away…and lots and lots of eating! …opportunities for non-drinking fun are everywhere!</p>
<p>I live a few miles from Occidental College. It is much smaller than Tulane…I believe only 2,000 students… it is a small LAC while Tulane is a mid size school. There is no grad school part of Occidental. It is in a very suburban area of the San Gabriel Valley. You really need a car there to get around. It excels in Political Science and has a good track record to get students into professional schools, but it does not have a broad program offering. Campus is beautiful though and well kept…</p>
<p>Obama went to Occidental for one year, but transferred then to Columbia.</p>
<p>thanks everyone, I’m actually now leaning towards Tulane haha I’m going to create a new thread more about tulane life, dorms, etc so I hope you will post on that other thread as well! thanks again!</p>
<p>There has been a lot posted already about the dorms, and Tulane life. But you can find the dorm stuff pretty easily by searching this forum and using a dorm name like Monroe. Here is a good thread for many of your questions as a starting point. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1574652-tulane-freshman-answering-any-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1574652-tulane-freshman-answering-any-questions.html</a> If you have more questions or want more complete answers to one that was there, then I suggest you start a thread. Not sure if the freshman will be doing CC during the winter break.</p>
<p>If I am not mistaken about St. Andrews, you have to declare your major (or, as they say, what subject you read) on the application and, unlike Tulane, this choice is binding, and you study almost exclusively that one field. It’s fine if you know what discipline you want to study as an undergrad from the onset, but that’s not always the case.</p>