Ask a Current Student Questions!

<p>The only thing I know about it is that Tulane has a 3+2 program in cooperation with both Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt. If your goal is to also get a degree in Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, then you can major in Engineering Physics at Tulane for 3 years, transfer to one of those schools, and in two years you will have a degree in Physics from Tulane and a degree in Whatever Engineering from the other school.</p>

<p>How challenging is it to graduate from Tulane and go to MIT, Stanford, or UC Berkeley for Grad school?</p>

<p>Also, how good is the biomedical program?</p>

<p>Lastly, would an Asian male be able to socialize well?
I’m from Alabama and most of my friends are whites and Asians. I’m afraid I’d be racially segregated somehow.</p>

<p>I hope some current students answer the last part, although I know my D (white) is majoring in China Studies and she certainly socializes with all kinds of people. I think it is more up to you and how outgoing you are rather than any inherent prejudice or segregation that would occur. The only thing she has mentioned is that international students tend to self-segregate some, but I hear that about every school. I think it is natural at first because it is such a new environment and sometimes they are self-conscious about their English. It gets less pronounced as time goes on and they acclimate.</p>

<p>With respect to graduate school, of course you can get into any of those schools after being an undergrad at Tulane. I was a chem major and got into a top 5 PhD program. That one anecdote aside, I know that grad schools look far more at your grades, the depth of your undergrad study, your GRE score, and your research interests than where you went undergrad. Tulane sends students to top grad programs all the time. The key is to do very well in your courses, especially in your major, take as many upper level courses as you can, and get involved in research and learn who are the leading people in the field.</p>

<p>I’m white and 75% of my friends at Tulane are Asian. LOL. As far as I can tell, there isn’t any racial segregation here.</p>

<p>Hey, guys, I’m a long-time CC lurker with a strong interest in Tulane. I’ve got a couple of quick questions:
What do students think of the honors program at Tulane? I’m intrigued by the program, but its website is rather nebulous regarding information. The course offerings seem to be limited, but it appears the program is slowly growing. What benefits does being an honors student at Tulane provide?
How strong are the humanities–particularly English and creative writing–at Tulane? Most posts in this forum seem to be directed toward the maths and sciences. Are the humanities also alive and well at Tulane?
Thanks in advance for your help and input.</p>

<p>grammarfreak - The Honors Program is indeed getting more attention. Currently the advantages are priority for honors classes, priority for Butler housing if that is your desire, extra advising especially as regards making sure you are on track for prestigious and important post-graduate fellowships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater, etc., and making sure you stay on track to graduate with honors such as summa cum laude. I know they are considering adding more honors sections of courses as well as more special programs. It’s not as different as being in an Honors College at a public university, where you are literally in a separate division of the school, but that is to be expected at a private school that is already highly selective in admissions.</p>

<p>It is rather ironic that you perceive by the posts that Tulane might be more math/science oriented. I can see how one could come to that conclusion based on CC, but in fact if anything the opposite is true. Tulane is one of the more humanities/social “science” oriented schools of its peers. My D is a double major and a minor in 3 humanities areas, one of them is English/creative writing. She is very pleased with her courses and is very excited she will be in the advanced writing workshop as a sophomore. Tulane is strong in a long list of humanities areas, so I don’t think you will be disappointed in the least.</p>

<p>grammarfreak- The Honors Program is no big deal, imo. FC listed a few of the perks, although they aren’t something you should freak out about not getting. You can always get into the Honors Program later on if you have a 3.6+ GPA. I’m in the Honors Program, although I probably won’t stay in it long-term just because I don’t think it’s worth it. I made a 4.0 GPA for the fall semester and am on track for staying in, but I don’t necessarily want to do an Honors Thesis (I’d rather study abroad).</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say Tulane is more math/science oriented, but I will admit that a LARGE portion of this year’s freshman class is pre-med and very science-y. I think that this number will be dramatically reduced by the end of the year, though.</p>

<p>Tulane has awesome humanities and great English Profs!!</p>

<p>Obviously tulane14’s decision is her own and I am not posting this to comment on that specifically. I just wanted to point out that one can study abroad junior year and still do an honors thesis. In fact, with some planning one can use the study abroad time to do research on the thesis. This is exactly what my D will do when she spends next year in China. Some people do study abroad for a semester, others for the whole year. She is planning on the latter. But even without spending any of your time abroad focusing on the thesis, it is quite possible to get one done just during your senior year.</p>

<p>Tulane14 - It’s rather peculiar to state “I don’t necessarily want to do an Honors Thesis (I’d rather study abroad)” since it is not a choice one needs to make. It not only is possible, it is quite prevalent for honors students to study abroad junior year.</p>

<p>I think it’s great that you voice your opinions on everything, but I think you have to be careful when you make too many blanket statements. Since, like me, you’ve only been a student at Tulane for a mere four months, it is not possible to be an authority on everything, or anything, for that matter.</p>

<p>@Tulane14: I will be studying abroad next fall and most likely doing my Honors Thesis while abroad. If not, I will have plenty of time to do it when I return</p>

<p>gabby- I’m not making “blanket statements.” I don’t claim to be an authority on everything-Tulane related. </p>

<p>My intention was to show that every individual has a unique academic path and that there are almost too many opportunities at Tulane. Thus, it is necessary to pick and choose what things someone might be interested in pursuing. Study abroad isn’t feasible for me junior year at this point, but it is something that I really would like to take part in. </p>

<p>My other point was to show that many Honors students choose not to do the program. At the same time, many non-Honors students work really hard to get into the program. For some, it is a really cool opportunity, but for some it just isn’t worth it. For me, I will have been doing independent research projects since my freshman year and really don’t think a thesis is worth doing. Some of my friends who won’t be doing theses are just too lazy. Lol. Like I said, some of my friends worked really really hard to get high GPAs and be competitive applicants to the program. To each, his own, i guess…</p>

<p>Question: How are the internship opportunities at Tulane? Better yet how is the Career Services Center at Tulane? Are they excellent at placing you in an internship any where in the nation if they have it?</p>

<p>Tulane14 - Post after post you make blanket statements or unsubstantiated claims. “Some of the departments here really shine (poli sci, buisness, latin am studies, etc), and some are horrible (chem, math, etc).” “The math dept isn’t THAT bad overall, but it is def one of Tulane’s weaker depts.” Where exactly are the facts supporting these claims? I feel that you rattling off these speculative facts is doing a great disservice to potential students.</p>

<p>Possibly when you were giving your opinion on the honors program, it would been more beneficial to state that, with your schedule, it’s not possible to be able to do your thesis and still be able to study abroad. Instead it came across as you can do either one or the other. But then again, your latter post stated that study abroad isn’t feasible for you anyway, so I don’t really know what your original post was all about.</p>

<p>I think it could be very helpful to potential students to share our opinions and limited experiences as freshmen starting our second semester, not speculation and heresay…</p>

<p>gabby- I completely disagree, but I’m not really looking to argue, so I’ll keep this short. I’m just trying to help out prospective students. Based on the PMs I’ve been getting, I know that I have at least helped out some people. I used this site a ton when I was going through the college search process and am going to continue to give back and inform students and parents in the best way I know possible.</p>

<p>I’m confused what you meant about study abroad…It wasn’t something I was originally planning on doing, but I’ve been recently looking into it and trying to make it feasible without sacrificing my other activities and interests.</p>

<p>How exactly do you suggest the strength of departments be measured? Rankings? If anyone knows how strong a department is, **at least on the basis of teaching, I think it would be current students.</p>

<p>I give up, this is pointless. Best of luck to you</p>

<p>“Comm and history? <em>stars in eyes</em> That’s exactly what I would like to study, TulaneGreg. What has your experience with those departments been?”</p>

<p>-History department was GREAT. If you can test out of lower level classes w/ APs/IBs do it. Once you get to the 3000 level courses your classes are small and the professors are experts on the topics. Lots and lots of reading and essay writing.</p>

<p>-Comm: depends on your interests. For my professional career, the comm dept was mainly lacking in my interests. However, the program is expanding to include digital media production as an area of focus. The Film studies and general comm major are much more theory than practical skill based - however, there are certain professors (PM me if you choose to enroll and want advice!) than can become great mentors and contacts to securing internships, jobs, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks so much! I’m mostly interested in journalism in terms of comm, I think (though I’m sure my interests will change at some point.) That’s great to hear about the history department. Reading/essays is exactly what I like to hear. :)</p>