When the raging flood-waters of Hurricane Katrina swept away the campuses, and plans, of Gulf Coast college students, they could have spent their semesters waiting and wallowing. But, for the 25 Tulane students who took refuge at Harvard this semester, the setback became an opportunity for an unusual adventure.

From the House system and nightlife to advising and academic competition, Harvard was, for these students, a far cry from their school in the Big Easy. Almost all 25 students are set to return to Tulane this week, taking with them mixed impressions of their semesters in Cambridge.

Of the 10 Tulane freshmen at Harvard, most say they would have stayed at the College if they could have.

For these first-year students, Harvard has been the only college experience they have known. The Tulane upperclassmen, on the other hand, had already had a taste of college life and had made a home for themselves in New Orleans. From their vantage point, Harvard was more of an interruption than a new beginning.

Comparisons between Harvard and Tulane’s structure and culture were inevitable.

But, for all of the Tulane students, time spent at Harvard was marked by a sense of impermanence and unfamiliarity.

“The biggest thing that’s plagued us all—well, for me—is a sense of uncertainty,” says Sarah M. Hattier, a visiting sophomore. “This is a semester of my college life…I only have eight and I want to make the most of this one, but it’s hard because I know I’m not a permanent member of this community.”

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Housing the Gulf Coast students was a challenge for Harvard, where space for undergraduates is already tight.

Most Tulane freshmen were housed in Yard and Union dorms with other freshmen, but older Tulane students lived with one another in Apley Court and Claverly Hall, residences that had been partially vacated due to construction noise from the Hasty Pudding Theater renovations.

Despite the housing set-up, many of the Tulane veterans say they were impressed by the sense of community that Harvard’s House system seemed to foster.

Hattier says that she has made most of her Harvard friends by eating in the Lowell House dining hall.

“At Tulane I hated going to the dining hall,” she says. “[Here] I feel this sense of community even though I don’t have that many friends. It’s just really a safe, nice place.”

Senior Sarah M. Miller and her friends often went to Lowell’s Stein Clubs and attended the House’s Yule ball, which she says was “so much fun.”

Christopher M. Ordoyne, a Tulane sophomore, even served on Lowell’s House Committee (HoCo) this semester.

“One of the things I enjoy is the housing system,” he says. “It keeps a lot of people together throughout your whole time here.”

Hattier says she also saw benefits in Harvard’s tradition of on-campus housing.

“At Tulane, most people move off campus, and if you haven’t, your social life is going to be based off campus,” Hattier says.

But even when they started to feel at home at Harvard, the Tulane students were often deflated by the recollection that it was a home they would soon have to leave.

“I was reading about the UC candidates…and then I was like, I’m not going to be voting for this,” says Hattier. “And I find that happening a lot”.

STAYING OUT (TU)LATE

Tulane upperclassmen, who lived apart from their Harvard peers and were separated from the social circles they knew at Tulane, say they found it harder to integrate into the Harvard social scene than their freshmen counterparts.

“I don’t know that many Harvard students,” Hattier says. “With the exception of a few of us, we stick together.”

Visiting junior Joshua D. Miller says that many Tulane students “clung to each other” because “we were put in same dorm…[and] have all had the same experience.”

This shared experience often eliminated the pressure and fatigue of being an object of curiosity. Joshua Miller says that, among Harvard students, he is “always introduced as that kid from Tulane…sometimes you just want to be a normal student, without any special label.”

“You get asked the same questions over and over,” he adds. “It gets really tiring after a while.”

Many Tulane students say they found that Harvard’s social life and late night scene were not particularly inclusive, especially when compared to Tulane, which they say has a more open social atmosphere marked by an active Greek life and campus-wide party opportunities.

“Your final club parties are fun,” says Joshua Miller, “but they’re ridiculously closed off. At frats, maybe it’s because they’re outside, but they’re like huge community parties.”

“The students do go out here, but it’s behind closed doors…you have to know people,” says Hattier. “At Tulane…everyone gets a piece of it.”

“Here it seems like a lot of students want to do stuff but they don’t necessarily have access,” she adds.

Other Tulane students also found Harvard’s rules for parties somewhat restrictive.

“It’s a lot more regulated,” Sarah Miller says of the “subdued” social scene. “But I’ve had some really good times here.”

“We thought people were joking when they told us they were going to shut down a registered room party at 2 [a.m.],” Joshua Miller says.

Some Tulane students also noticed an unusual air of independence—or perhaps self-absorption—around Harvard students.

“I’m not saying people are opposed to making new friends,” Hattier says. “They’re just more focused on what they’re doing.”

But, she added, this kind of attitude actually may have helped her in her day-to-day life.

“It’s not weird for me to walk around here and be by myself,” says Hattier. “The students here don’t walk around in groups…at Tulane it was kind of cliquish.”

ACADEMIC ANTAGONISMS

Although Tulane students say they found Harvard’s curriculum to be more approachable than its parties, Harvard students still managed to unsettle them in the classroom—not with brilliant comments, but with their competitive attitudes.

“Academically I definitely feel that any Tulane student could stay here and hold their own,” says Joshua Miller, “but, for me personally, it’s way too serious….Tulane has a friendlier atmosphere.”

Ordoyne, too, says that Harvard is “not harder, but more competitive.”

“There’s a sense of always trying to one-up the person next to you…more so than I thought there would be,” he says.

William “Zach” Wyatt, a Tulane senior who had originally enrolled at Duke University for the semester before he found out he had been accepted by Harvard, decided to come to Harvard because, he said, “it was a good opportunity to see if I could compete.”

While he says he was able to keep up in the classroom, Wyatt adds that he felt the flip-side of this competition when it came to job applications this fall.

Wyatt recounts one incident in which a firm representative looked at his resume and said, “You’re just a charity case,” before throwing it on the ground. The recruiters, he says, were here for Harvard students.

Competition aside, many Tulane students say they were impressed by the broad range of academic resources available to them at Harvard.

Sarah Miller, who has been writing her economics thesis, while at Harvard, on the industrial organization of the Internet and price dispersion, praises the economics department’s tutorial program.

“You get a lot of feedback from other students,” she says. “I think it’s a really great system.”

“I feel like there is a lot more supplemental-learning activity here,” Sarah Miller says. “Almost all classes have an optional additional class...whether extra section...or lunch with the professor.”

KEEPING BUSY

Their status as unanticipated visitors left the Tulane students without many extracurricular options. With such a short stint at the College, there was little time to become involved in the activities that, for Harvard students, often define the college experience.

Ordoyne was one exception: he petitioned his way into a special seat on the Lowell House Committee and even looked into joining the Undergraduate Council during his four months at Harvard.

“I have always been one of those students who tried to get involved,” Ordoyne says. “I felt like I had to do something more than classes.”

Some who had originally intended to participate in extracurriculars at Harvard found that their semester flew by faster than anticipated.

“I really meant to,” says Sarah Miller, “but they had a lot of stuff planned for us to do...and getting used to the new situation...took up a lot of time.”

The Tulane students ate dinner with their mutual academic advisor, University Hall administrator Inge-Lise Ameer, once a week, and also went on organized shopping trips and cultural excursions into Boston.

Others welcomed this semester as a rest from their hectic Tulane schedules.

Joshua Miller says he and his fellow Tulane students took advantage of Boston’s colder climate. “We just all went sledding on kitchen trays down Linden Street,” he says. “A bunch of kids from Louisiana had never seen snow.”

“[Being at Harvard has] been sort of nice for me because at Tulane I do a crapload of stuff,” Joshua Miller says. “Here…I have time to sit and play my guitar and relax.”

But, even if they didn’t directly participate, students say they have valued their exposure to Harvard’s vast extracurricular sphere.

“Being here has given me a very strange feeling about my own place and what I’ve wanted to do with my life,” Hattier says. “I had this set plan on what I was going to do based on being at Tulane.”

At Harvard, she says, “there are so many opportunities…clubs, activities.”

BACK TO THE BIG EASY

Overall, Harvard’s Tulane visitors say they leave Cambridge with happy memories and a broadened perspective.

“This semester couldn’t have played out any better,” says Ordoyne, “I met tons of Harvard students I know I’ll be friends with for years to come.”

“I have a couple friends here…who have been so kind to me I’ve invited them to come down and partake in our Mardi Gras,” says Joshua Miller.

“I’m really happy that I got to be here,” says Hattier, “and I hope that people who do go here…take advantage of it. I was really surprised that there were people here that were less than thrilled to be here.”

Although New Orleans is still in the early stages of recovery, Harvard’s Tulane students say they are eager to dive headfirst into its reconstruction.

“There is so much we can take back from all the colleges across the country to help rebuild Tulane,” Ordoyne says of his imminent return to New Orleans.

Wyatt—who ultimately secured a job—says he plans to take on community service projects in the region.

“We will have a better out-of-the-classroom learning opportunity than anywhere else in they country,” he says.

Josh Miller and Wyatt say they are also excited by rumors of celebrities that may make appearances at Tulane in the coming semester. In fact, word has it that the flooded school may be able to offer them what Harvard could not: Snoop Dogg.

—Staff writer Nina L. Vizcarrondo can be reached at nvizcarr@fas.harvard.edu