<p>if you have any insight, please share. We will be attending Honors Weekend in April with DS if he is accepted in this program (won't find out until late March) and wins the Paul Tulane Award. (he has been offered $27k per year in merit scholarship</p>
<p>over 100 views but zero respond??</p>
<p>This is a relatively new program - I think this year may have been the first group of Altman scholars - and given that it is such a small program, there may be no one on CC that has any firsthand experience and/or knowledge with it. It looks like a fabulous opportunity, but also a big commitment. I am sure it is a first class program though.</p>
<p>kreativekat is exactly right, there is no real history yet. You have probably read everything on the Tulane website that we could know. I can only add that I happened to sit next to a couple of parents going back to the hotel on the streetcar this last August during move-in. Their child was a freshman accepted to the Altman program and it is what tipped the scale to Tulane. Their child (I think daughter but cannot remember for sure) had already been through an extended orientation for the program and was really pumped about it. I do remember that this kid had near Ivy level stats. 1480 SAT, 3.95 GPA, valedictorian. I always try to find out that kind of stuff when I find out people are in selective programs. Oh, and her language was Portuguese.</p>
<p>So while there is no empirical data yet, the program certainly sounds ideal for today’s business realities, which is of course the whole idea.</p>
<p>We are in the same boat. The Altman Program seems perfect for my daughter (speaks Eng, French, Japanese, 3.99 GPA, 30 ACT, rank 1 in class), but we are still waiting to hear about the Dean’s Scholarship. (wonderful $25,000 already awarded)</p>
<p>Hello alikat33: My son hasn’t submitted his essay yet, it is due soon. (4 years of Spanish in HS, 3.90 GPA, 2340 SAT, rank top 5% in a large public HS in CA). i am pretty sure he will choose Chinese as his 1st choice for the Altman Program, although i was told by the program administrator that they might not have Chinese as an option. waiting to hear about the Paul Tulane Award. Without it, Tulane is more expensive than UC. Also not sure new orlean is the right fit for a native Californian 
we will see if honors weekend in April will provide some answer.</p>
<p>myboy123: there are tons of Californians at Tulane!</p>
<p>Indeed! California is extremely well represented at Tulane. Of the 300+ students in the freshman class this year from the Pacific Coast area, I think I am on firm ground in saying that probably 80% are from California. Tulane has gotten really hot there in the last 5 years or so, it is one of the fastest growing geographies for Tulane, if I heard right from listening to admissions.</p>
<p>I really would be surprised if they don’t have Chinese as an option. Tulane certainly offers it, my D is a China Studies major. Right now they offer 7 semesters of Chinese language (not sure why they don’t have the 8th) and I know from some discussions I had with a B school administrator Tulane is continuing to strengthen relationships with Chinese universities, especially in the accounting area but I think in general. So that statement surprises me a bit.</p>
<p>myboby123 - A timely update to the topic of Chinese studies at Tulane! [Tulane</a> University - Tulane University to open Confucius Institute this summer](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/releases/pr01292013.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/releases/pr01292013.cfm)</p>
<p>They actually announced this partnership with the Confucius Institute about 2-3 years ago, so something obviously got delayed. But now it appears to be a reality.</p>
<p>fallenchemist: thank you so much for that link and the info your provided in the prior post. i am going to have my son follow up with Natalia Porto who is the program coordinator. I believe she was the person that i talked to a few weeks back. since college doesn’t like to hear from parents, i will stay in the background from a distance from now now.</p>
<p>Hi… I’m actually in the Altman Program currently and I really like it! It’s a pretty big commitment, but I believe it will pay off in the end. You need 150 credit hours in 4 years as opposed to 120, plan on spending a year abroad, and becoming fluent in at least one language. There are two head directors of the program, a coordinator, and we all have the same academic advisor who is trained to know the Altman curriculum… all of these people are ALWAYS happy to help out on anything you need. It also really helps getting into classes that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into. You have a rigid schedule for 4 years, but if you know international business and relations interests you, I couldn’t think of something that would better prepare you!! I’m a political economy and finance major with my language being Spanish-- I encourage you all to apply to the Altman Program and Tulane!!</p>
<p>Hello everybody, I am part of the Altman Program here at Tulane as well and cannot speak more highly of it. Yes, as megmcall previously said, the program is very rigorous, but as long as you come in with the suggested amount of college level credits, I have found that it is more than manageable. As I had learned as I went through my college process, and am now reminded of again today, college confidential, while it may be a good start, should in no way help shape your, or your child’s, college decision. Keep in mind that the best source of information is always a direct source so I therefore recommend doing some research on the Altman website and contacting the Altman Program coordinators and advisors to learn more and answer any of your concerns. With that being said, I could not stress more that the student is the one researching and making contact, as it is there college decision.</p>
<p>As a member of the Altman Program, I can say this is one of the most wonderful programs offered at Tulane. If anyone is thinking about doing it I highly recommend that you apply. Though it is quite time consuming (any good program is) it is so very worth the effort. The curriculum and the staff are incredible, and no one cares more about the student’s success than Mrs. Porto and the professors. However, I agree with goldie16 that the students should be the ones researching their college decision. Best of luck to everyone applying!</p>
<p>Just to be clear as to the 150 hours, it is because you actually earn two degrees. You come out with both a B.A. from the School of Liberal Arts and a B.S. in Management from Freeman. That is not the same as a double major, which still “only” requires 120 hours. Every student at Tulane in all schools (except maybe architecture, since that is a masters program and also very structured) is free to pursue two degrees, although for obvious reasons few do. 150 hours is tough to get in 4 years unless, as Goldie says, you come in with a fair number of credits already from AP or other sources. This program has the advantage of being very structured so as to make that more doable.</p>
<p>I am a little unsure as to what Goldie meant that CC should “in no way” shape a college decision. I think any source of information is potentially valuable, although I think I know what she(?) meant. Certainly CC is only one source of information as well as impressions, and megmcall, Goldie and mswans have excellently provided both.</p>
<p>I would also agree that ultimately the student is the one that has to make a decision as to what path to take academically, but I hope Goldie also understands that parents have a role in the process. The extent of that role varies within each family, but certainly for any number of reasons it makes sense for parents to be fully informed about schools and programs their child is seriously considering. Not only do many children actually value their parents’ input, but in the vast majority of cases the parents are the ones paying the bills. Some may do it differently, but I sure wouldn’t just give my child $30,000 or whatever amount and say “here, go buy whatever car you want”. I would hope it would be a collaborative decision.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for your input. When or if my son receives an acceptance letter from the Altman Program, will the number of hours he had earned thru AP be state on it? is this something that we could find out during campus visit? Since the total amount of the scholarship is fixed, we would need to know this info in order to get a sense of our total out of pocket expense at Tulane.</p>
<p>You can determine how many credits he will be awarded by comparing his AP scores to the chart on this page. [Tulane</a> Admission: Advanced Placement](<a href=“http://admission.tulane.edu/academics/ap.php]Tulane”>http://admission.tulane.edu/academics/ap.php) I assume he is taking some more tests this May (or whenever the AP tests are this year) so presumably he might get even more credits. I doubt it will be stated on any offer of acceptance, he will have to check with the Registrar (or it probably will show up on his Gibson page) after he enrolls at Tulane to make sure what they have him down for matches what you all think he is entitled to. You can certainly talk to people at Tulane about the number of credits he should get, but you ought to be able to figure it out based on that chart.</p>
<p>Reading the FAQs, I saw that they want you to continue the language you’ve already been learning instead of beginning a new one. Is there any way your target language could be one in which you have no prior knowledge?</p>
<p>It seems to me they make it pretty clear that this is not possible, except for changing to Portuguese if you already know Spanish.</p>
<p>you can find out his credit hours on your own using the tulane website and see what APs count at tulane and the score you need to receive credit and the number of credit hours that it will get you. for most APs you need a 4 and they give you 3 credit hours!</p>
<p>Just a note for everyone who expects to get AP credits: you should use the chart and follow up on the AP credits your student receives in the fall. The information is available on Gibson as I recall. While it is rare, things do sometimes slip through the cracks. My son’s scores were sent to Tulane, but were not entered into the system his freshman year. So make sure that the credits are recorded on their academic record.</p>