The Tulane University of Louisiana

I spent one year at Tulane before transferring out. To be honest, after meeting a lot of other transfers at my current school I realized that I didn't have as bad of an experience as I originally thought, however I did realize that I was definitely misisng out.

Academics: My classes were probably my favorite thing about Tulane. My classes were overall fairly small and I found the Poli Sci professors to be very accessible. In addition, there aren't a lot of core requirements so you have a lot of room to take different classes. I found my classes overall to be fairly easy. I worked hard but was able to get all A's whereas at my current schoool I have to work even harder to get B's. My only complaint about academics is that there weren't many options to get involved in things outside of the classroom. Research opportunities were far and few between and I felt like exploring academics outside of the classroom wasn't really encouraged.

Social Life: Coming to Tulane, the city of New Orleans was definitely a huge draw and definitely lived up to its hype. The city has a strong culture, vibrant nightlife and is unlike anywhere else in the US. If my current school could be placed in NOLA it would be the perfect place. Unfortunately, while New Orleans offered a great social scene, Tulane did not. While you will never be unable to find a party to go to, the Tulane social scene pretty much consists of drunken frat parties and hot,sweaty bars which makes it pretty difficult to actually meet people. It seemed like all the conversation always revolved around how drunk people were the night before or how much they were planning on drinking that night. While the party lifestyle is fun for the first month or two it definitely gets old fast.

The People: I met a lot of great people at Tulane and still keep in touch with a lot of them. However, these down to earth, intelligent, and open-minded people can be hard to find as I often felt overwhelmed by the jock frat stars and jappy sorority girls who were more concerned about what they were wearing for their upcoming mixer than about going to class. The people were probably the most frustrating and disappointing part about Tulane for me. I found few people actually cared about their academics besides just figuring out how to work the system to get an A and there was little social activism on campus. Most students (though not all) were very apathetic and unaware of the world around them which was really hard to deal with. Additionally, I found a lot of the kids to be unfriendly and very superficial which also got tiresome.OVERALL: New Orleans is an awesome city. If you're pre-med or business Tulane might be for you as it seems like a good place for pre-professionals. Also if you can handle the greek life you might also want to look into Tulane. Butif you want to go to a school full of friendly, intellectually-curious students I would suggest looking elsewhere.

1st Year Male -- Class 2014

Faculty Accessibility: A, Education Quality: F

To preface this review, I am a freshman at Tulane in the Honors Program double-majoring in Finance and Economics. I have taken some classes within and outside of the business school, so I am familiar with the range of academics here. (As an aside, I am not entirely sure this constitutes a "negative" review, as I have enjoyed a good portion of my experience here, but I have applied to transfer nonetheless, if that validates my opinion on the school as a whole.)

1) Academics. The coursework has been my biggest source of satisfaction here at Tulane. I took 17.5+ credit semesters this year, and I spent a significant amount of time doing work for those courses to do well. All of my professors are well-qualified, accommodating, and clear in their expectations. Pre-professional programs (particularly pre-med) are strong here. Moreover, the Finance program here is also top-notch, although the Freeman School of Biz. is largely populated by idiotic marketing majors. If you want a Finance program where you'll get recognition as an Honors student and have the potential to take applied, relevant trading courses, Tulane is a great option. That being said, the engineering program here is EXTREMELY WEAK, despite the caliber of its students. Academics are really what you make of it here; you can challenge yourself as much as you please.

2) Social Scene. Despite the wondrous city that is New Orleans, Tulane offers a social scene that falls way short of its expectations. Certainly, there are frat parties and bars, but the people who attend such parties are by and large moronic, snobby, jappy students. Then again, I am particular about these sorts of things, and if you are capable of ignoring the hordes of drunk & belligerent Westchester kids, you'll probably find the party scene enjoyable. Off campus, the nightlife is absurd; the City offers diversions all night, every night. (FYI, not many people go downtown more than 4-5 times during the year, so these opportunities aren't utilized.)

3) Reputation. This is BY FAR my biggest complaint. I was initially swayed to attend Tulane because of the large scholarship I received & overall ignorance during the application process. This consideration, of course, depends on your field, but for those wanting to study Engineering or go into Investment Banking (that's me), the reputation falls awfully short. In these departments, you cannot compensate for Tulane's mediocre reputation.

All in all, I would say Tulane is what you make of it. There is a pretty diverse group of students here, and one has little trouble finding his or her own group. The academic program similarly offers a broad range of coursework for those willing to challenge themselves. My transfer is largely due to a weak reputation in my program of interest and its incompatibility with the competitive field I wish to enter after graduating.

1st Year Male -- Class 2015

Surrounding City: A+, University Resource Use/ spending: D-