I honestly don’t know. He wouldn’t let us see any of his essays. It’s OK though because he probably wasn’t strong in his DI, because he has other schools that he is more interested in. So we aren’t too broken up about it, he has other acceptances. Just thought I would share stats in hopes of helping others navigate all of this.
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My guess is your student had no or low demonstrated interest. Tulane thought your kid was never going to attend. Which seems to be the case. Perhaps the counselor tipped them off to that. Like other schools Tulane wants to keep its acceptance rate artificially low. Why waste an admit when they are pretty sure the student doesn’t want to attend? I know it sounds harsh. My student got accepted to 2 Ivies, UCLA, Duke, Georgetown, USC…but UC Davis rejected my student!!! They knew our student did not fit the profile of someone who was interested and would attend.
Note: from what I understand Tulane really values the “why Tulane” essay. I know my student wrote something that made it VERY clear there was a strong interest in attending Tulane and loved New Orleans.
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yeah, that makes total sense. I was just posting the info for information’s sake. He is OK since he has other acceptances at this point.
DS is accepted to Macalester, Carleton, and Tulane. Still waiting on Emory, Hamilton, and Vanderbilt. If the news today for those 3 is rejection, then there is some deep thinking to be done. DS also loves USM which is close enough to visit home and NOLA, with Honors College and Luckyday scholarships. Did anybody else have similar choices? I am from the South but DS was raised in Washington State primarily. He, as most kids, keeps switching majors, in his case between IT, computer science, and business. I have read that Carleton can be depressing out in the country but its computer science program is wonderful. He is not a partying boy but his minor and major passion is theater. For lower middle class families who chose Tulane, is there a big component of snobbiness or are folks friendly as I remember when I went to University of New Orleans? Any comments on any of those 3 schools are welcome!
My D is a sophomore at Tulane on generous FA, so I guess that makes us lower middle class 
. People are very friendly and I don’t think she has ever mentioned snobbiness. But she was initially caught off guard by the extent of wealth most of her friends come from. But most are non snobby and down to earth, a good group of girls.
Tulane is great for undecided students and unusual major combinations. I think one of D’s friends is double majoring in engineering and theatre or dance…
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I would agree with this statement. Son is a Freshman there and we might be the next tier up from lower middle class (middle-middle?) but far from wealthy. I don’t think he’s run into any above average level of snobbiness and it’s not present on the parent FB page either… but there’s an evident level of wealth with many of the kids.
If your kid typically has a lot of FOMO anxiety then it’s something to be aware of. If they’re fine understanding they might not always be able to do the things some of their friends are doing, shouldn’t be a problem.
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Glad to hear that. Been worried as the general talk about Tulane is that it’s for the rich. We are definitely lower middle class and minority and Tulane is affordable due to the scholarships and merit aid.
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Something to be aware of is that a substantial % of Tulane’s females join sororities (for some reason the fraternity scene isn’t quite as strong). There are apparently additional costs for kids that take that path - dues, clothes, activities, etc. and I recall seeing on the FB Parents page some parents taking issue with the $$'s.
Hmmmm, maybe that’s new? Neither my daughter-in-law nor any of her friends, nor my cousins daughter (who ultimately transferred elsewhere), were in or even interested in sororities at Tulane
That thread is from 2015. No, I don’t think it’s anything new in at least the last 10-20 years. I agree with most of the sentiments in that thread though that while it’s an evident thing on campus there didn’t seem to be a tremendous pressure (at least for my son) to pledge. With Tulane being 40/60 Male/Female and ~50% of Females belonging to a sorority it’s definitely a sizeable population.
It probably never came up to you because of the women in your life simply not being interested in it.
The amount of angst on the FB page was palpable about daughters not getting picked for the houses they wanted, etc etc. I guess it’s one of those things that if you’re into it you’re VERY into it, and if you’re not it never comes up. I steer towards the latter but can understand where it might be a draw for some students.
I’ll ask my dau in law her thoughts. (She and my son and all their friends were there several years ago, but before the quote you posted ). I don’t think she, or any of her friends were involved in Greek life at Tulane. It’s an additional Social outlet at any school. But I don’t think it dominates at Tulane.
Correct - I don’t think it “dominates life” for the students but when you have 50% of a gender belonging to one it’s certainly something many participate in. From what I understand the houses aren’t generally lived in, they’re provided as a place to gather (different from many where the members often live in the houses). I didn’t get any sense from my son that there’s pressure to join but he’s also coming at it from a male perspective. I was putting out out there simply as a potential cost for anyone that might be trying to assess.
Correct. They aren’t for housing. More for partying, but they are right near the Boot.
Macalester has some famous actors and Hollywood types among its alumni - Danai Gurira, Peter Berg, Ari Emmanuel, Carl Lumbly, etc. Also having access to the Twin Cities, which has a vibrant theatre scene (second only to NYC in per capita ticket sales to theatre productions), could be a big plus.
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Am I correct in understanding that first-year students admitted for Fall 2024 will now be expected to live in the dorms for three years, or do I have that wrong? Does anyone with kids at Tulane have any feelings as to whether the live-in requirement is a pro or a con?
Yes, you are correct. Kids that started this past Fall are the first cohort that will be required to be in the dorms 3 years.
The parents facebook page is semi-mixed on it. Some want the increased independence and potentially nicer space that moving off campus can afford. Some are thankful for the ease of the dorm living and not having to deal with leases, sublets, roomates that dont pay their bills, etc. Add in random flooding, potential boil advisories, etc. Of course still becomes a thing for senior year. Being way OOS, I probably fall more in the latter.
While the cost of the dorms and mealplan are on the pricey side its pretty comparable to what I’ve seen for rents.
The freshmen dorms are pretty old school but options get better in years 2+.
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I’ll add a little more context now that I’m at a computer and not typing on my phone. 
Tulane is in a very residential area. As it’s was explained to us, this has led to a situation over the years that developers have bought up a lot of what were single family homes in the neighborhoods around campus - and cut them up into student housing. I’m sure some of the kids were perfectly well behaved neighbors but for those that weren’t it’s led to friction with the neighbors and the police so there has been a push for some years to get Tulane to contain the kids more - at least geographically.
For students that study abroad in their 5th semester, they are absolved from the requirement to live in the dorm for the 6th semester.
They razed a dorm last year and are set to open 2 new buildings next summer. It’s not clear what total school capacity will be at that point and how much it might impact the ability of a seniors ability to stay on campus if they want to.
There’s also a lot of chatter on the FB page about what this might do to rent rates in the surrounding area since it will shift up to 2K kids back to campus leaving a lot of vacancies in the surrounding homes.
Lots of moving pieces.
Thanks for the feedback – very helpful. Our son has an interesting choice between Tulane, where students are expected to live in the dorms for 2-3 years, and the Business School at Univ. of Washington, where fraternity rush occurs over the summer, and first year students are expected to move into the fraternity house immediately upon arrival at campus. I think he sees potential upsides and downsides to both. I honestly had not heard of EITHER of these models until digging in further on these two schools.
I have a current Sophomore at Tulane and am sorry that she does not fall under the three year living on campus requirement. Securing off campus housing was quite stressful since we are not willing or able to pay $1500 per month or more. Luckily she and her friends all got on the same page and secured affordable close to campus housing with an allegedly good landlord. But not everybody is that lucky.
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The old norm was that kids would live on campus for two years and then off for two. There are pros and cons to both. Ultimately, I think the three year in dorm requirement will help to facilitate a more campus-focused and tighter Tulane community. As it was, most juniors and seniors (and some sophomores) were dispersed throughout the Uptown neighborhood and visited campus as needed. My personal preference is for a more connected and cohesive campus community and this requirement is likely a step in that direction.
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