Uni in the USA: A British Guide to American Universities and Colleges > All New: Colleges and Universities Added in 2009 > Tulane (new review!)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Undergrads: 6,750
Grads: 4,400
How many Tulane students does it take to change a light bulb?
1000s – Think of all the relief workers and money from charitable donations! But certainly no help from the Bush administration.
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Tulane has everything going for it – excellent academics, fun students and awesome social life, all set on a beautiful campus in one of the coolest towns in the country. Interested? You should be. Tulane is considered a Southern Ivy, complete with top-fifty rankings and nation-wide recognition. If this all sounds too good to be true, then you should take a trip to New Orleans and see for yourself – even if you don’t like the university you’ll be guaranteed a great time in America’s most fun-lovin’, trumpet-totin’, seafood-eatin’ and hurricane-fearin’ city.
The Campus
Set in the St. Charles Street mansion district of New Orleans, the impressive colonial architecture of Tulane looks as if it was barely scathed by Hurricane Katrina. It remains resplendent in its particular bend of the Mississippi, adjacent to the famous Audubon Park (great for jogging) and Loyola University, and 30 minutes by streetcar from the notorious French Quarter (15 minutes by normal car).
In fact, Katrina had a major impact on the university, forcing students to leave the city for at least a whole semester and ripping big holes in the budget. The recovery efforts are widely praised, and many students continue to help out in some of the worst-hit parts of the city.
The grounds are spacious and filled with lawns and trees, but the university is small enough for everything to be pleasantly walkable. Although most buildings are modern, there are very few eye-sores and the main old-fashioned French-style mansions at the front attract tourists who aren’t even thinking about what goes on in them. During term-time, the lawns throng with dense crowds of students bustling about on their way to whatever activity that awaits them, or simply sunbathing on the grass.
Students speak well of the campus, with one or two mentioning a lack of decent work-space as the only drawback. Facilities are otherwise top-notch, with the incredibly large omni-functional sports centre being particularly impressive (and probably the only ugly building on campus). There is always new construction underway, as the current President feels it is important to prevent the campus from stagnating.
All freshman and almost all sophomores live on campus, in generally praiseworthy dorms, while the older kids tend to move out into the nearby student-dominated neighbourhood, where the housing is “more fun” and barely more expensive.
The Tulane Student
Tulane is famously full of students from the affluent Northeast, many of whom are looking for the high quality education of that region of the country, but without the climate or the attitude. Unfortunately, their overwhelming influx into the university means that Tulane is often seen as little more than a Northern school that happens to be in the South, and indeed the student body as a whole is generally mainstream.
Although they are perfectly friendly, you’re not going to find much “Southern courtesy” among the students here, and the small number of Louisiana locals complain of a certain “pushy” feel. Having said that, the prevailing atmosphere on campus tends more towards the laid-back end of the spectrum rather than the stressful urgency more typical of the North. Preppy trends among the largely caucasian student body are mostly dissipated by the large number of students on financial aid.
Tulane enjoys a “cohesive campus culture”, which seems to be a polite way of saying that most people are conformist and there is not a massive variety of personalities. It is interesting to compare the student body of Tulane to that of next-door Loyola, which is said to be more “artsy”, while Tulane is “smarter, richer and smaller.” The two universities get on very well, and there is a reasonable amount of cross-campus interaction.
It should be noted that the tight cohesion of the student body masks an unexpected diversity, geographically at least: 75-80% hail from 500 miles away or more. Although the international community is not huge, students tell us that overseas undergrads would find very little obstacle to smooth integration, and Brits especially will be loved for their accent. “Everyone will have a chance to shine here”, enthused one student.
Hitting the Books
Though they may not be as intense as some colleges, students generally love the academics at Tulane. Professors are high-flying (two Nobel Laureates on faculty), but also “accommodating, passionate and not outrageous in their demands.” Students praise the way that all the courses, no matter how good, are “taught in a way that you’ll really enjoy.” Class sizes vary, but are generally a comfortable 20-30 pupils per class.
The work ethic at Tulane is hard to pin down. Students talk about a “spectrum” of attitudes, though they usually are quick to point out that it’s “more good than bad”. What’s great is that, as one student put it, “if you want to work hard, you really will excel”. Nevertheless “on the whole, people do what they have to do” and not too much more. As always, certain departments tend to foster a harder-working attitude than others.
Tulane is sciences top-heavy, with psychology the most popular major and generous funding for a new bioenvironmental research facility provided by a Louisiana Senator. Still, the finance and business schools are excellent, as are the departments for Latin-American studies and foreign languages (especially Spanish and French). Architecture and medical schools are famously good as well.
Social Life
Ranked among the top party schools in the country, they certainly know how to have fun at Tulane. The big Greek life, which includes about 30% of the student body, is disproportionately influential over Tulane’s social life, hosted hundreds of crazy parties, especially in the autumn, and is much more inclusive than Greek life at other schools. As well as fraternity events, students spend a large portion of their time at the surfeit of bars near the campus, and there are occasional house parties too.
On campus, there are even more social events (though perhaps not as frenzied), as well as huge numbers of student organisations of every kind (Rubik’s Cube club, anyone?). Water-based activities such as sailing and fishing are popular, and there is top-level baseball played in the spring, but otherwise sports are mostly of an informal nature. For the more creative students, the music and art scenes are flourishing and provide plenty of opportunities. Students note that it is perfectly possible not to get involved with any of the many things to do, but such cases are rare.
Many students complain about the “disorganised” and joy-killing administration, which they believe has targeted some of the social life, especially the fraternities, in a negative way. Interaction with the administration can be strained and painfully slow, we hear.
Outside Those Ivory Walls
Tulane students “don’t go downtown as much as you might think,” but they have a good relationship with New Orleans, and who doesn’t? When asked to name their favourite aspect of the school, they frequently say that the opportunity to study in such an incredible city is unsurpassable.
Rich in history and culture, New Orleans was the capital of both French and Spanish colonies, leaving it with a distinctly exotic flavor that gives it the unofficial title of northernmost Caribbean city. Although it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and large parts are still recovering, the essential flavor of the city was left intact, and most of the famous parts, including the whole French Quarter, are as thriving and energetic as they always were.
With a reputation spanning centuries for debauchery and merriment, New Orleans is home to many of the oldest and best festivals and parties in the country. Couple this with a funky music scene and art galleries, great shopping, museums, and sublime Cajun seafood cuisine, and it’s hard to think of a more exciting place to live in America.
The one complaint that students occasionally raise is that in its efforts to preserve its awesome traditions and history, New Orleans is not a very modernised town. The public transport system, for example, is geared totally towards tourists, and thus is terrible for practical use.
Getting In
Unsurprisingly, Tulane is very competitive, and also expensive. British applicants will be familiar with the UCAS-esque personal statement part of the process, but otherwise there is nothing untoward about the rigorous demands. Competition for places is getting considerably tougher in recent years, as the university selects ever-more capable students. In 2009 the application success rate fell under 20%.
Tulane is well-endowed and even provides needs-based aid for international students, though not as much as for US citizens, apparently awarding up to $18,000 for the most needy, and more for merit (academic or athletic) scholarships.
Famous Grads
Newt Gingrich – right-wing US Congressman, Speaker of the House and leader of the “Republican Revolution”
Jerry Springer – Mayor of Cincinnati (Ohio) and world-famous TV personality
David Filo – co-founder of Yahoo!