[OT] a whiney Tulane student rant

[KeithK]

I wouldn't get too worked up about this.  He obviously had a less than stellar experience in his semester at Cornell and in a fashion not atypical of college writers has written a snarky account displaying his relative dissatisfaction.  Keep in mind that this is primarily directed at Tulane folks, not Cornellians.  Some of the folks here would probably get a chuckle out of a similar tale in the Sun describing a Cornellian's experience at Harvard.

[Trotsky]

I hear Tulane was offered a spot in the Ivies but turned it down. ;-)

We've all bitched about the winters and the hills.  As for the rest, what can you expect?  Everybody will always respond to claims of academic strength by maintaining that their own school is "really" the best, as they can then tacitly claim to have been admitted and graduated from the best university and thus be a Master of the Universe.  Ho hum.  The real lesson is, if you're trying to compare schools as monoliths on an academic measure, you have already Missed the Point: variation within was, is, and always shall be greater than variation between.

[jaybert]

Its also good to know that Tulane values their sports programs more than their academic ones.  

They are cutting 80% of the engineering school, while still keeping sports such as football, men and women's basketball, baseball, women's volleyball, and women's track.

Students have until May 2007 in those engineering programs to graduate or else they have to switch majors or change schools.

http://www.thehullabaloo.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/12/11/439c685f7aa4c

[Liz '05]

[Q]Jason L Wrote:

 Its also good to know that Tulane values their sports programs more than their academic ones.  

They are cutting 80% of the engineering school, while still keeping sports such as football, men and women's basketball, baseball, women's volleyball, and women's track.

Students have until May 2007 in those engineering programs to graduate or else they have to switch majors or change schools.

[/q]

They've cut a bunch of sports programs too.  I can understand their desire to keep football and basketball - it keeps their name out on the national scene, even if it does cost a lot of money.  Think of it as an investment in their future.

On the other hand, that sucks that they're ditching engineering.

[mgl11]

"He can't do that to our pledges...Only we can do that to our pledges."

[jaybert]

i understand that..but dont they have more of a commitment towards the students who are currently attending Tulane for an engineering degree to allow them to finish?  I can understand them not accepting any new students into the program, but how about at least giving current freshmen 4 years to finish the program?  If I was a freshman trying to decide between returning to Tulane in the fall or finding another school....after this, there is no way I am going to come back to Tulane.  Returning to Tulane would mean that in a year, I would have to transfer AGAIN.  I hear alot about Tulane, and their need for student loyalty and having them return instead of transfering....so how about some loyalty from the school to the students for those who want to return and get a degree from there?

[Q]Liz '05 Wrote:

 [Q2]Jason L Wrote:

 Its also good to know that Tulane values their sports programs more than their academic ones.  

They are cutting 80% of the engineering school, while still keeping sports such as football, men and women's basketball, baseball, women's volleyball, and women's track.

Students have until May 2007 in those engineering programs to graduate or else they have to switch majors or change schools.

[/Q]
They've cut a bunch of sports programs too.  I can understand their desire to keep football and basketball - it keeps their name out on the national scene, even if it does cost a lot of money.  Think of it as an investment in their future.

On the other hand, that sucks that they're ditching engineering.[/q]

[Beeeej]

And this is what I'm talking about:  ::rolleyes::

[q]Hey, douchebag, you seem to forget that Cornell did take in YOUR sorry ass along with 200 other Tulane students. It seems to me that they admitted 1 too many students. How about instead of being ungrateful, making huge generalizations about 1 experience over the course of 1 semester (in which the professors even took it easy on you to help you adjust after being uprooted in the fashion you were), and complaining about walking up hills, you take a moment to thank us; its not so much to ask, you know.[/q]

He did thank us.  Douchebag.

Beeeej

[MattR]

I think the author let his expectations about how hard Cornell was going to be warp his perception of the reality of the difficulty of the coursework. As others have already stated, if a Cornell student visited Harvard or Yale, I'd be willing to wager they'd have just about the same thing to say about the courses at those "academically superior institutions." Tulane is a good school, the students who came from Tulane are probably some of their better students, and this being the case, these kids shouldn't be overwhelmed by the coursework/difficulty of Cornell.  

As for Cornell students not liking Cornell, come on. Nearly every student that I met while in school had a love/hate relationship with the university. That is part of the experience of being there, and this kid just doesn't get that.

In the end, it is just a trite "we are as smart as those Ivy Leagurs" article. Talk to any graduate student about how much harder their undergraduate course work was than the undergraduate work is at the school they are currently at and you'll get something similar to this article.

[RichH]

The most interesting part for me was the first comment by another Tulaner (Tulanian?  Tulanee?) who claims to be an architecture student and complained about the lack of work and studio work.  Isn't the general reputation of CU arch. that of LIVING in the studio for 5 years?  Perhaps this suggests that the faculty didn't know what to DO with these students who they knew were only going to be around for one semester.

[Q]Not only was there hardly any school (or studio) work to do, but there was nothing fun to do either. At least, if there was- I never heard about it.[/Q]

I think this is at the heart of what seperates people who are successful at the Cornell/Ithaca life experience and those who fail at it and have a unsatisfying time.  There's a plethora of fun and regionally unique things to do, but you can't sit in your home and wait to "hear about it."  You have to be proactive and seek things out.  You can either lead yourself to activities and people or wait to be led.  You'll probably be miserable in Ithaca if you do the latter.

Providing some perspective, I'm sure people who are used to the society of cities like NYC, New Orleans, Las Vegas, etc. where parties and events are plopped in your lap, have a difficult time adjusting.  It's probably the case here.

[KeithK]

[q]I think this is at the heart of what seperates people who are successful at the Cornell/Ithaca life experience and those who fail at it and have a unsatisfying time. There's a plethora of fun and regionally unique things to do, but you can't sit in your home and wait to "hear about it." You have to be proactive and seek things out. You can either lead yourself to activities and people or wait to be led. You'll probably be miserable in Ithaca if you do the latter. [/q]In fairness, it's probably a lot harder to adjust when you're dropped in on short notice for one semester.  Being proactive and finding fun things is easier when you have an established social network to build upon.

[KeithK]

[q]In the end, it is just a trite "we are as smart as those Ivy Leagurs" article. Talk to any graduate student about how much harder their undergraduate course work was than the undergraduate work is at the school they are currently at and you'll get something similar to this article.[/q]As a grad student I was more likely to tell people how easy undergrad was.  Especially when it was my students bitching about their homework, etc.  

KeithK '93 '96 '98

[RichH]

[Q]Jason L Wrote:

 Its also good to know that Tulane values their sports programs more than their academic ones.  
[/q]

To be fair, Tulane's president, Scott Cowen has been an advocate for reform of intercollegiate athletics and how the professionalization of "big time" colligiate sports is incongruous with the values of higher education institutions.  While this opinion seems to focus on the BCS system, it is an admirable stance.

I refer you to this page, where there is a link to President Cowen's opinion piece that ran in the NY Times in 2003.

http://feedback.tulane.edu/

[Rich S]

[Q]RichH Wrote:


I think this is at the heart of what seperates people who are successful at the Cornell/Ithaca life experience and those who fail at it and have a unsatisfying time.  There's a plethora of fun and regionally unique things to do, but you can't sit in your home and wait to "hear about it."  You have to be proactive and seek things out.  You can either lead yourself to activities and people or wait to be led.  You'll probably be miserable in Ithaca if you do the latter.

Providing some perspective, I'm sure people who are used to the society of cities like NYC, New Orleans, Las Vegas, etc. where parties and events are plopped in your lap, have a difficult time adjusting.  It's probably the case here.




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12/14/05 01:58PM by RichH.[/q]

Well said.  That's what I've often said about life in the North Country, the home to Clarkson and St. Lawrence.  It's interesting to hear Cornellians have the same response when someone from another region is critical of the social environment of their area.

Ineteresting largely because a lot of Cornell folk routinely belittle the North Country environment on this forum.

Bottom line is that the environment is largely what you choose to make of it.  Anywhere.

[ursusminor]

A similar article by a Tulane student who spent the semester at Brown: http://www.thehullabaloo.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/12/02/43908a649216c?in_archive=1

[redhair34]

[Q]ursaminor Wrote:

 A similar article by a Tulane student who spent the semester at Brown: [/q]

It only took the author 3 sentences to make an inaccurate statement:

[Q] As an Ivy League school Brown, by definition, predates the American Revolution and has enjoyed a great history of distinction and tradition since 1764. [/Q]