Loyola University New Orleans

I first came to Loyola in 2003, and returned in 2011 to work on another degree. Since then, tuition has almost doubled, and is on par with Princeton. But unlike Princeton, Loyola has harsh grading policies that do nothing to benefit its students’ GPAs. One such policy they added since last time was to start giving minus letter grades, so instead of getting a C that’s worth 2.0, you get a C– worth 1.67, or a B– for 2.67 instead of a B for 3.0. This also diminishes the value plus grades used to have. Before the minuses, a + gave you and extra half point (e.g. C+=2.5 or B+=3.5) where as now, pluses only add ¹⁄₃ a point over the flat letter grade. And don’t think that As and Bs are just given out here. If you do all your assignments on time and show up to class, that might get you a C+, and for many classes, and A is out of reach without going the extra mile. And not giving out As wouldn’t be so bad, because that’s how it should be in my opinion, but that’s not how other schools grade. What gets you a C+ here would get you an A at most other universities, particularly ones that charge as much, like Princeton. And what that means for the student is that you don’t graduate on equal footing with students from other universities. My roommate has friends studying physics at other universities, and they don’t know half what we do, yet have near straight As, while we have ended up with Bs or worse spending as many as 20 hours a week on some classes. So if you plan on going to graduate school after getting your undergraduate degree, this school will make your application far weaker than those you will be competing with. And the real problem is that other schools automatically assume that Loyola normally gives out As, and Bs for okay work, like the other schools, and if you get a C, they will think you are a screwup. I could’ve gone to UNO for the same degree, paid less, and for the same work, made straight As the whole time. Most universities aren’t trying to hurt their students’ GPAs, and therefore, don’t have policies like plus and minus that harm their GPA. Most schools have solid letter grades, and are much more lenient in grading. Loyola University literally grades the way a Jesuit High School does, and since it’s a Jesuit university, maybe that has something to do with it.
The school gets props for it’s aesthetics, and I saw one reviewer praise it for looking so much better than UNO. But they waste WAY TOO MUCH MONEY trying to have a pretty campus, and lack the things that make them academically pleasing, as well as functionally. UNO may not have the prettiest campus, but it has MILLIONS OF DOLLARS worth of equipment for the students to use and learn with (for physics, multiple AFMs and SEMs, while Loyola has MILLIONS worth of contemporary artwork and crap for idiots who only care about a pretty campus.
Please, don’t get me wrong. I love this school. The positive environment and emphasis on morals and ethics is one of the biggest reasons for me choosing to come here. But some of the policies, particularly with grading and spending money on worthless art, make me think they don’t have the students’ futures at heart. It’s easier to go somewhere else and spend less and get good grades that allow you to better compete to get into a good grad school, than to spend so much money for hostile grading policies, when grad schools will assume you were graded as lightly as everyone coming from other private schools that charge a fortune. Someone who didn’t go here once told me, «Oh, Loyola, pay your fees and get your Bs,» which goes to show how people from other places think this school gives grades for the high cost, like everywhere else that cost a fortune. My roommate, for instance. would’ve had a 4.0 at any other school and gotten into the grad school of his choice, if not for this school giving him the first C he ever got in his life. I know I’ve spent a lot of time complaining about the grading procedure, but it’s because it really is that important. It will be a major determining factor in the rest of your academic life. If you want to go to the grad school of your choice, you should probably look elsewhere. They charge as much as Princeton, but Loyola doesn’t provide nearly what Princeton does in any way. I’m pretty sure that’s a big reason why enrollment has dropped considerably in recent years. Most of the degrees they offer are worthless next to what you will earn afterwards (if you want a BA), and at around $ 40,000/year, if you need student loans, you will be in debt most of your life. Unless you’re going for one of the science degrees (with the underfunded departments), or don’t mind being a pauper the rest of your life, Loyola costs way too much. They don’t understand ‘quid pro quo,’ because for twice the tuition of 10 years ago they haven’t really given anything new or better since then, except for art and aesthetics.
So that’s about it. Go here if you don’t care about having a good academic career after.

Being the product of another Loyola, how could I go to New Orleans and not see this Loyola, both to see the physical plant and to see if I could deduce its vibe? If Loyola was in Kenner or a further out suburb of NOLA, then I could have passed. However, with it being in a walkable cluster with adjacent Tulane and Audubon Park across the street, it was an easy thing to do.
Let’s start with 3 stars for A-​OK. The campus is pleasant, with its nicely crafted buildings and green spaces, but it’s very compact and not exactly scenic. The vibe was tough to deduce because it was between sessions and few students were around. However, staff people were friendly and eager to inform you of their specific Loyola campus. In fact, I was walking toward Tulane and asked someone how to get over to the Tulane property more linearly (read: efficiently). Inside a parking structure, this person enthusiastically gesticulated and very clearly pointed the way. I thought this person was a rank and file staff member. This person was a professor, and not in a lightweight area. That made for a very good impression. For that matter, I struck up a conversation with a recent Loyola grad working in New Orleans and he told me how much he liked it and how laid back it was.
Let’s be real about some things, though. As far as Catholic universities in the U.S. go, only a few are ridiculously competitive places in the admissions game, with those being Georgetown and Notre Dame. Boston College may also qualify as of late. However, none of the others are that hard to get into. One of them admitted me! With Loyola Marymount (LMU) being in an in-​demand megalopolis like L.A., they are the toughest of the others to get into at this time, while the other Loyolas, including this one, are not overly competitive. In defense of this situation, there will always be bright students who could have gone to much better universities who will end up at a Loyola. That’s typically because they excelled in their parochial high schools and wanted to continue in the same vein in terms of a college education while others absolutely did not because they couldn’t stand the nuns in grammar school and having to take religion during every term in high school.
Also, there are FOUR Loyolas — Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. I always thought there were three, not knowing about Baltimore, which has the smallest undergraduate enrollment. That said, Loyola New Orleans is the penultimate in terms of the smallness of its undergraduate enrollment. Four thousand students means you’ll get plenty of personal attention, but that would also feel like a high school on steroids. Also, this Loyola does not have a school of engineering. Neither does Chicago, which is the largest. Engineering is only offered in Los Angeles and, surprisingly, in Baltimore.
It’s time to wrap this up. In Loyola of New Orleans, you’ve got the opportunity to get a personalized quality education, go to school in a city like New Orleans which will clobber you over the head with the realities of life, earn a respected degree for getting into grad school, get a nod in New Orleans and the general area because they look favorably at the South’s largest Catholic university, and not have to go to school with what are termed «Chicago meat heads» or «Orange County douche bags.» I had friends from Orange County at LMU, but they hadn’t imbibed that Kool Aid. Also, the recent alum who helped me at a merchant in town and who went to Loyola of New Orleans, from California no less, confirmed that there was no «Orange County factor» at this campus, so they get a bump up to a solid 3 stars vis a vis LMU. He spoke in glowing terms about the good atmosphere there. That’s important.
So, if you want Catholic, cozy, pricey, not overly difficult, good enough, laid back, and can do without an engineering department in your university, Loyola of New Orleans could be A-​OK for you.

If you are at all considering whether or not to attend Loyola University in New Orleans… don’t. In fact, RUN… fast to any of the other offers you got from any other university.
My experiences at Loyola were the most unusual of any school I have ever looked into attending, and I mean that in the worst way possible. They are massively flaky and non-​professional. When you go on to complain to the various Deans, you see why exactly the university is so flaky, because it comes from the top. They are completely unwilling to do anything at all about it. They tell you they will, and then they do absolutely nothing.
This school is a joke. It reminds me of one of those for-​profits that keep popping up all over the place these days. Don’t be fooled. Go to a real school.
My financial aid was supposed to have been completed months before school started. I found out the day of orientation that I was supposed to be a part of the Honors Program. I was hoping to be a part of it, because in my opinion, the general student body is not that smart. That really turned me off. I had planned my own schedule thinking I was not in the HP. When I found out I was admitted without even receiving a letter of acceptance, I went to the orientation. Dr. Yavneh was the most clueless person and didn’t even know what time the thing started. We went around in a circle several times saying our name, where we were from, and our majors like we were in junior high school. Then, nothing about the program. It was bizarre! The orientation was supposed to be over two hours long and lasted only a few minutes. Don’t even waste your time. I thought HP would make going to a lesser school worth it. It was not. It was the most disorganized bunch of nonsense and a total waste of time. I would rather have stayed home with my dogs. The conversation would have been more intellectually stimulating. That is for certain!
Then on to the lovely Financial Aid Department. What a bigger joke. michelle schott is so rude and has been rude to me on numerous occasions. She is also completely clueless about academia and her own jobin general, which is even more bizarre. She dropped the ball and refused to process my finaid because I would not falsify legal IRS documents. Seriously??? If you are seriously going to go to this «school», and I use that term very loosely, then photograph, make several copies amd date everything. Also, michelle schott does not ever respond to questions, emails or phone messages, what she does do I haven’t any idea at all other than bore you to tears with her personal life. You have to feel sorry for the little girl. I totally do, I just don’t think she should be processing any documents, especially NOT any of your personal financial ones. As I said before, RUN… fast.
I went on to speak to Roberta Kaskel after being reffered there by the President’s secretary. Trying to get in to see the President was much harder than trying to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Good luck with that. Roberta Kaskel had told me she would look into it, never to hear from her again. These people are the nuttiest people. I can not believe they have a job.
This school is a sad little place where nothing is run the way it should be and where the people who could change things are well hidden behind their guard dogs.
Nope, I am not going to Loyola after having moved 2,500 miles to do so. Nope, I am applying to the rather more prestigious university right next door where students are selected on their academic capabilities, and it shows. I love walking around Tulane’s campus and actually hearing real lucid arguments and English well-​spoken. If you can’t get into Tulane, do yourself a favor, go to a state school or some other private school that has a reputation. One that is authentic and has not been amped up artificially the way Loyola’s reputation has been.
This school is a joke, and it us run by comedians. RUN… fast! Your degree from Loyola will be worth nothing. You might as well stay home and start your own business. If you are going to get an education, then get a real one from the very best school you can get into. Best of luck to you!

My dealing with Loyola come not as a student but as the boyfriend of a student, which means dealing with things like visitor parking, an unfamiliar campus, etc.
While parking is a hassle the campus is gorgeous, much prettier than my alma mater UNO. The students here are generally cheerful, outgoing, and helpful if you need to find something in particular.
Now that my sweetheart has her Bachelors and is working on her Masters my trips here are more often to see her perform. The Roussel Performance Hall space is great; there are no bad seats.
Overall a great university with a great location having one side on St. Charles across from the park.

Compared to Spring Hill College, where I spent my first 2 years of undergrad, this place is AWESOME!
I feel like I belong here, unlike SHC. I felt so out of place. But here, you truly are accepted no matter what. Everyone is so free spirited, the professors really go out of their way to make sure you do alright and they care.
Some of my Tulane friends have even transferred over here or elsewhere, saying it’s too politically run over there.
I’ve learned a lot here to help with my career and for that I am grateful and very thankful to have been a part of this community.

Best college in New Orleans. Go Wolkpack!

Oh how I miss my old stomping grounds. The wolf pack howls. The quad. The Greek life. UPB. The friends. The teachers. The experiences.
I couldn’t imagine having gone anywhere else. I started fresh and became the man I am today because of what I learned here. College is so much more than just 4 years of reading books, it’s interacting with the city you live in. It’s befriending your teachers so that you not only «know» what they teach you — you actually learn it.
Of course there is the social life of New Orleans, and that’s a part of going through college, but the history here is AMAZING! Take advantage of it.
We almost lost the city once — don’t let time go bye without experiencing everything the city has to offer. We may not have NOLA forever!

I gradu-​macated from Loyola back in the 80s. It was a place to go because it was small enough to recognize most of the other full-​time students by sight, but big enough that you didn’t feel everyone was in your business.
I have very fond memories of many of my professors to this day.

I found that I didn’t really learn much here other than intolerance is a 2 way street, and Swiller Night was the best drinking deal around.

My undergrad institution, Tulane, had a consortium program where you could enroll for up to two classes to next door Loyola University — New Orleans and it would appear on your transcript. Their communication building is beautiful and I was entranced enough to cross-​enroll in an advertising class and a mass communication law class. They were honestly challenging. I worked hard, and got Bs in them, which disproves Tulane classes are harder :) Their new library is so new with comfortable seats and if I remember correctly FREE printing (yesss! So it beats our Howard-​Tilton by miles). But their food options in their student center are lacking (flimsy Pizza Hut (hm) and Smoothie King (yay): but is that it?). Professor Terri Henley is a bit too absorbed in talking about herself to her class if you ask me, but the students I met were 99% nice here (besides like one that was all uppity and thought I overpaid for Tulane). And they had a warm, welcoming Catholic service on Sunday evenings that I actually appreciated in my undergrad days (and I’m a rare churchgoer).

Well, since I go to school here you may think, oh, you’re lying about the 5 stars. But I’m not. This place is great. I mean, every college has it’s lousy professors, but I believe the majority of Loyola’s are anything but lousy. Every professional I have met on campus has so much to offer in his/​her specific field of knowledge. Plus, the people here are awesome and really inviting. And the small class sizes makes it easy for your professors to get to know you. It’s really just my preference not be 1 in 900 during class (ahem– notion to LSU). I think the biggest class I’ve had so far may have been 30 people. And though Loyola is a Catholic school, it’s really not ‘super Catholic’. It’s really liberal for a Catholic university and that’s something it has to offer.

Chad C said waht i said before i said it, so i’ll say this:
Loyola kids, on the whole, are better behaved and more intelligent on the whole than Tulane kids. Would i send my kids to either of them? Not with UNO available. The University of New Orleans will kick your ass, educationally speaking.

Thanks to Loyola I can name most of the Catholic Popes, I know absolutely everybody’s business in the class of 2005 and vice versa. The teachers kicked my ass and I definately feel more «educated». However I feel that it’s poorely managed, and thanks to Katrina we lost some of the best teachers that school has ever seen. Would I send my kids there? probably not…

A bastion of Liberal Catholicism in the South. What more can you ask for?