<p>I know this is a long way off...but it coincides with family vacation plans so we need to make some decisions relatively soon.</p>
<p>DD was invited to join the honors college in conjunction with her acceptance. She really likes Tulane and would like to attend the honors weekend in the spring. However, she has conflicts on both of the dates, and it would take some signifigant juggling for her to attend.</p>
<p>How enlightening have students found this weekend? Is it significantly better than just going for a second visit at some other time? What has been particularly useful? Is it still worth going if she would have to leave midday Sunday to catch a plane?</p>
<p>I will speak for my D since she is in Beijing. She liked going to the Honors Weekend for a number of reasons. It was her second visit to Tulane also, having seen the campus April of her junior year of high school. She met a lot of her future dorm mates there (although not her roommate, who she found via either Facebook or Roommate Click, I forget which), got to register for classes, meet with various departments, and of course it seemed much more real to her in that she had pretty much decided on Tulane by that time.</p>
<p>However, having said all that it I think she would also say it is certainly not critical to attend. You can get the registration information from admissions anyway and still register early, or visit any other weekend after the first Honors Weekend (maybe even a bit before if admissions can make sure she can preregister for classes) and just let admissions and the advising center know you are coming and they can essentially help her get it done while she is there. She obviously doesn’t really need the tour at this point, and she can always arrange to sit in on a class or two easily enough, if that is something she would like. Especially since she would have to leave midday Sunday, she really would miss half the program. I would think better to go when she could really spend some quality time getting the above things done and getting to know the surrounding area.</p>
<p>Obviously the best thing about going during the scheduled dates is that she would be with a lot of other likely Tulane attendees, but in the end that will be a relatively small matter. I think having more than 24 hours in New Orleans and on campus outweighs everything else.</p>
<p>They have not announced them yet. Usually one is in mid-late March, and the other in late March or early April. Certainly you can e-mail the office of the Honors Program and ask if they have set them yet.</p>
<p>Thanks kc. Lots of people will be happy to have those dates. I will add that the weather that time of year, especially the March date, is usually excellent.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I don’t think I can attend either of those weekends. I could consider going to the April one but I would miss 3 school days in a row for it and would have to fly to get there and back. I’ll be visiting Tulane with my parents in January and hopefully that will be good. However if I get the DHS…it would seal my choice and make the flight worth it.</p>
<p>Question: Are we required to register for classes during this weekend?</p>
<p>No, absolutely not. It is a perk, but you don’t have to at all. If you cannot attend (and I would say missing 3 days of school your last semester of high school isn’t that big a deal, but I don’t know what that might affect for you), then after the first honors weekend contact admissions or the honors program office (not sure which) and you can get a passcode that will let you get on the Tulane system and register. If you do end up going in January you can check with Tulane then and get the details, as well as talk to an advisor regarding which classes you should consider. If the advisors are not there because Tulane is on break, then you can do an advising session by phone. There are always ways to get this done so you get to take advantage of being in the Honors Program.</p>
<p>Iterry, not sure why you would have to miss so much school? The April dates are Sunday/Monday. When DD and I went, we flew in on a Saturday and flew home Monday afternoon. Went off with out a hitch and DD felt Honors weekend was a great experience. She even met her future roommate there.</p>
<p>I have a conference for one of my extracurriculars that requires me being absent the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the weekend. So its actually 4 days in a row. And I’m really not sure how hard my classes will be in the spring (I’m on block scheduling so I’ll have a different set of classes). Thank you for telling me about the advising/registering opportunities. </p>
<p>Another question, what if I were to come in for Sunday and fly home after the activities Sunday night? Would it be worth it?</p>
<p>Attending Honors weekend was a big help for my S. He had lunch with chemistry faculty , spent the time chatting about their research, and later toured their labs, with an offer to meet again after he completed the core chem classes to arrange lab research opportunities (which he did). Not saying these kidns of things cant be arranged on another vist- but it was a very powerful experience for my s.</p>
<p>Lterry - If you could be there from the start of activities on Saturday (used to start with Registration at 10 I think and kicked off at 11) and be there for all of that day and Sunday, then it would be worth it. Monday is mostly for sitting in on classes and doing things like jym mentions. Good to be able to do of course, but I seem to remember that the advising and informational sessions were all on Saturday and Sunday. You can probably get a preliminary copy of the schedule, or last year’s schedule and ask them if it is likely to be the same. Then you can decide for yourself.</p>
<p>Fallen, Honors weekends are a Sunday/Monday event. If I remember correctly (Tulane 14 help me out here), Sunday kicked off with a Jazz brunch, followed by various information sessions for parents and students. I believe the group lunch with reps from different departments was on Sunday also. Sunday session lasts until late afternoon when the kids meet up with their overnight hosts for those staying on campus. Parents leave at this point. Monday morning is registration time and ability to sit in on classes you may be interested in. There might have been more activities on Monday, but we had to go to the airport shortly after lunch to catch our flight home.<br>
My D did not actually register for classes on that Monday as she was not committed to Tulane at that point. Advisors gave some advice about which classes to pick, being pre-med, etc. She ended up registering without problems sometime later in the late spring/early summer.</p>
<p>I must have it mixed up with something else, (or just a brain malfunction) but I am sure you must be right. It was just one night in the dorm, wasn’t it. So most people arrive on Saturday, stay in a hotel, and then everything kicks off Sunday, you are quite correct. I guess I would still recommend trying to stay for the Monday session if possible, but I suppose only being to attend for the Sunday activities would be OK if they could fly home fairly late. If the flight was at 5:00 which means leaving Tulane no later than 3:00, then hard to imagine it would be worth it.</p>
<p>I do know for sure you can register even if you haven’t decided on Tulane 100% yet. If they don’t get your deposit by May 1 they just drop you from the registration roles and the spots open up for students attending orientation in June. Although in fact my D did it the same way yours did, waiting until later. But that was for different reasons (i.e. being stubborn).</p>
<p>This has definitely been enlightening. If April rolls around and I’m very serious about Tulane then (and have won a DHS<em>fingers crossed</em>), I’ll definitely brave a late night sunday flight to come to part of honors weekend.</p>
<p>OP here. Hard to believe this is just around the corner now. DD will attend but needs to leave by Monday noon. Is there any way to see in advance what classes she might have an option to sit in on early Monday AM?</p>
<p>Sure. Go to [Tulane</a> University - Class Schedule](<a href=“http://classschedule.tulane.edu/flex/ClassSchedule.html]Tulane”>http://classschedule.tulane.edu/flex/ClassSchedule.html) Make sure to change the default selection for “Term” (top right corner) to Spring 2012. Then use the search filters at the bottom to make it so you only see classes that start between 8:00 and 9:01 AM. A 9:00 class will get out at 9:50 and if you leave immediately for the airport you should be OK. Leave the days boxes blank and just visually filter out the ones that don’t actually meet on Mondays is the easiest, I think. She can narrow it down a lot if she picks some subject areas she knows she will like, such as English or History. She should look for courses numbered in the 1000’s or 2000’s, as these are freshman/sophomore level. Once she has a few to choose from, she should write to the professor asking permission to sit in. It is not only the polite thing to do, but also they can tell her if they were planning an exam that day or something else is happening that would make it unproductive for her to choose that one.</p>