Thinking About Attending College in New Orleans?

Last week your college counselors were down in New Orleans for the NACAC Conference - try to imagine 6,000 college counselors and college admissions officers talking about the exciting world of college admissions. It's actually a very interesting conference and a great opportunity for us to learn about colleges. We made a point to slip out of the convention center and round the clock meetings to visit the wonderful students and admissions officers at Loyola and Tulane.

We were charmed by New Orleans from the very beginning! We stayed at the Marriott on Canal Street in the French Quarter and  had a wonderful time exploring the boutiques and amazing restaurants in the French Quarter. To get to Tulane and Loyola (located in uptown New Orleans in the gorgeous Garden District), we hopped on the San Francisco style streetcar to take a 15 minute ride to the universities. There were several families on the streetcar who were headed to these campuses to take the admissions tour so it was fun to chat with them about their college process. Obviously we just love to talk about college admissions!

We hopped off the streetcar and were standing directly in front of Loyola's main entrance. Loyola and Tulane are located right next door to each other, and both boast stately main entrances that face  the main thoroughfare and offer a big southern welcome. Directly across the street from both campuses is an enormous park, full of green space for exercising and socializing. There were lots of joggers out and about, and the moderate weather means lots of outdoor time year round.

We visited both campuses at a very early hour on Saturday morning so there weren't many students walking around either campus, but we certainly felt the Jesuit influence and wonderful spirit of Loyola in architecture, art, and statues around campus. It is certainly a special place! The beautiful green campuses of both universities flow seamlessly into one another. In the midst of  walking around one campus, you can easily find yourself on the other campus. As one Tulane student said, “the new dining hall at Loyola is amazing with floor to ceiling glass and the food is so fantastic that we eat there regularly.” The two schools share more than eating quarters as you can take classes at Tulane and have them transfer to Loyola and vice versa.  Speaking of dining halls… it was not lost on us that in Tulane’s student center features not only fantastic dining options and Frank Lloyd Wright style indoor waterfalls, but also an Aveda salon! Where were these things when we were in college?!

We also took a tour of Tulane's athletic center, which is an amazing facility that has something for everyone. They offer everything from Zumba to squash, and to reward yourself for finding the fitness center on a Saturday morning there is a smoothie bar in the lobby.

Here are a few pictures from our visits:

Loyola:

The Aveda salon in Tulane's student center:

Computer lab in Loyola's library:

Tulane:

Fun times in the French Quarter:

Published by:SKC and TSM