Dean's Honor Scholarship

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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We will have to agree to disagree about that email last year. According to others that received the email and posted last year in direct response to your past post about this:

So both of you inferred something that simply was not there to be inferred, although clearly it did lead Tulane to be even more careful this year. And in the post right after that:

Well, as we both already said, Tulane did do something differently to eliminate any trace of doubt, apparently. But all water under the bridge now, and things do progress.

A 4.0 at Tulane is good enough for the HP, as I said. And the HP is now fully loaded as a research oriented program geared towards that subset of students who are most interested in the highest academic achievements such as post-graduate fellowships and scholarships, getting published for their research, and possibly moving on to the finest graduate schools in order to obtain the highest degree in their field. Not to mention more easily finding and socializing with like-minded students. Read the Honors Program page, but they reconsider after the freshman year. Although as I have said elsewhere, if she talks to the people at the HP directly, especially now that she should be through midterms I think, or right at them, and can demonstrate her GPA is continuing at or near that level, she could be put “on the list” now in order to insure her housing next year.

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@momofc I find it interesting to note that all of YOUR emails have been ignored! Has your daughter addressed this issue? She is in college, now is the time for her to advocate for herself.

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She should invite Dr. Luongo to lunch in the LBC sometime soon, let him describe his thinking and hopes for the HP directly. Or see him during an office hour. I don’t think you have to be in one of his classes to see him then.

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Hello @momofc and @fallenchemist. I recently posted on another thread regarding my daughter’s concerns about Tulane having a kind of tiered system with respect to academic status. I realize that honors programs exist at many large universities - but not always at places of Tulane’s high caliber.

Like many Tulane applicants, my daughter has excellent stats and was offered a terrific merit award, but no place in the HP. This has concerned her (and to be candid, maybe me even more than my daughter) in terms of potentially being relegated to a lower kind of academic status on campus. But I was happy to read other experienced posters’ assertions that any kind of honors distinction, housing preference, etc. was nearly invisible on campus and that no Tulane student was ever made to feel marginalized as a result of not being accepted into the HP (or similar program). I was also informed that academic prowess in the freshman year at Tulane could result in acceptance into the program.

I admit that momofc’s post has me concerned again. I realize that everyone has a bias (subtle or not) and that parental impressions are not always accurate reflections of their student’s true experience, but I sense some real pain from momofc. I wonder if you (momofc) could offer any specific examples of how your student was impacted or if you could let me know how receptive the faculty/staff (Tom Luongo) have been in response to your student’s inquiries regarding HP admission in the 2nd year. And please feel free to offer insight on other aspects of your child’s experience. With that GPA, your student must be doing quite a few good things at Tulane! Thanks so much.

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Thank you FriendofMax for your kind words. It has taken me this long to construct a reply to your question. In the interim, my daughter has successfully transferred from Tulane to an Ivy school. She completed her Freshman year with a 4.0 average and 39 credit hours. She worked hard under a lot of adversity and we couldn’t be more proud. She will miss New Orleans terribly, and as parents we truly enjoyed the growth that she experienced in being a “city girl” for a year. About the “tiered system”: here is our experience: My daughter was named as a member of the Honors College at Tulane. Aside from allowing her to take courses designated as Honors, she found little of value in that designation. So she applied for the select programs. She was not granted an interview for Tulane Scholars. She was interviewed by the Newcomb Scholars but was not offered membership. She daily worked with the Scholars in various Honors classes, but was not one of them. Essentially, they were getting an entirely different (and I think better) education than my daughter although she clearly was academically their equal. There was most definitely an insider/outsider feeling among the best students. We just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t get anywhere based on merit - there was always a sorority-like “you’re in, you’re not” selection process. My daughter is also not a party girl. She is not inclined towards Greek life and what that means at Tulane. She experienced an entirely different sense of otherness because of the emphasis on the party culture on campus. She was assigned to room with a young lady who was on academic probation and regularly stayed out at night and skipped classes to sleep during the day. She experienced “otherness” almost everywhere she turned. She applied to an Honors Fraternity and was not offered membership. I do not wish to lead anyone to believe that my daughter is socially awkward - quite the opposite is true. There is just a system of choosing between people at Tulane that she could not understand. We are not wealthy - we are public school teachers, but we are also not poor. My daughter is friendly, well-dressed, polite, funny, talented and smart. She just couldn’t get a break at Tulane. This was emotionally very difficult for our entire family. That said, the true reason for her transfer had more to do with her major course of study. I still think that Tulane is a wonderful school if a student wants to study medicine, public health, architecture, business, etc. My daughter’s major fell under the Liberal Arts umbrella. Far too many times courses in her major were taught by professors from other departments who were “forced” to teach these classes outside of their field of study. Several of them expressed their displeasure at having to teach these courses. Ultimately, we thought and she thought she could do better. It was sad for all of us because it just was not what we expected. I would be remiss if I did not say how welcoming and nurturing the Music Department was for my daughter - it was a friendly haven on campus. Onward!

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I spoke with an acquaintance yesterday whose daughter, I heard, had gotten a “full ride” to Tulane. So the mom proceeds to tell me her daughter had gotten the DHS, which is a “full ride” (her description), “everything.” I asked if she had gotten the Hainkel, and the mom said, “Oh no, you have to put Tulane down as your no. 1 choice to get that.” I don’t know what the student is getting, and maybe the mom doesn’t exactly know either. Also, I didn’t quite get that – how do you put Tulane down as “your no. 1 choice”? So, exactly how does that work if your child applies for the DHS? I understand that the Hainkel and Stamps are drawn from that pool, correct? Does the applicant have to say they are interested in those scholarships, or does the committee pull from the pool? Thanks for the info!

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@luckymama64

Hi there. That mother is very confused, and mostly inaccurate. So let’s just forget (mostly) what she said and I will lay it out.

First, in order to get either the DHS or the Paul Tulane, you have to apply EA or, starting this year, ED. That is probably what she kinda meant by #1 choice. But since around half of the DHS winners don’t end up attending Tulane, clearly it wasn’t their first choice. And Tulane builds that into the budget model, btw. I think they would have a heart attack if all or most of the DHS winners selected Tulane, at least as far as the budget allocation. Not get overly detailed, but I believe that the money for the DHS comes from the earnings on an specific endowment, a healthy portion of which was a $30 million donation by one of the co-founders of Yahoo. Let’s say Tulane earns 5% on that money, just to make it easy. That’s $1,500,000. If tuition is $50,000, that represents 30 DHS scholarships. Now I think the endowment for that scholarship is a little larger, and Tulane probably beats 5% most years. But that gives you the idea of why they award 75 DHS scholarships and expect to have about 30-40 actually attend.

As you say, the Stamps and Hainkel potential winners have to have applied for the DHS. The application is identical. I don’t think you have to say as you submit it “I want to be considered for the Stamps as well as the DHS”, it is automatic. I mean, who wouldn’t want the Stamps rather than the DHS? And to be ultra clear, the Hainkel is for Louisiana residents only. The Stamps is open to all. So I believe, but I am not 100% sure, that after the 75 DHS winners are selected (internally, before they are announced), about 10 of them are selected to interview for the Stamps, and 2 are awarded the Hainkel, assuming there are 2 from Louisiana that year, although I imagine that is rarely an issue, if ever. Then usually 5 are selected for the Stamps after the interviews, although I think they did 6 or 7 last year because of the 5 awarded the year before, only one selected Tulane. Remember, these are the best of the best and many receive similar scholarships at other schools, even Stamps from other schools.

So when it is all said and done, I think what you end up with, more or less, are 50 Paul Tulane Award winners, 68 DHS winners, 5 Stamps winners, and 2 Hainkel winners. Now the PTA and DHS are full tuition plus fees, and the Stamps and Hainkel are true full rides, even including stipends for travel and/or research during the summers.

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So what happens if the kid is fortunate enough to get the DHS? Does she get notified of that, along with a “PS, we are now considering you for the Stamps or Hainkel”? Thanks for all your info!

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Ah I see you are in Louisiana. OK then, the Hainkel is in play, potentially. I am not really sure if there is an interview process for the Hainkel or if they just decide to “upgrade” one or two students at the time the are deciding on the DHS winners. I think for the Hainkel and the Stamps if you win they give you a call. I know with the Stamps, you don’t actually “win” the DHS first, you are told you are a Stamps finalist and then you interview for that. If you win, you kind of skip the DHS altogether in terms of any formal notice. If you don’t win at that stage, I guess they award you the DHS at that point. I imagine it is the same for the Hainkel, except they might just tell the people that win that award when they are telling the DHS winners about their awards, because as I said I don’t think there is an extra interview for the Hainkel. But I could be completely wrong about that. But I am sure you don’t win the DHS first and then the Stamps, at least not formally. They don’t do it that way, or at least they haven’t so far.

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@momofc Sounds to me like your daughter made the right decision. While you can look at a school’s statistics and descriptions of programs all you want from afar, if DD is there and something doesn’t feel right, and DD made efforts to address perceived problems but it still doesn’t seem right, move on, don’t look back.

My DD just finished her freshman year in honors, got into the final Tulane Scholar’s group, is at Tulane because a DHS made it affordable, and is going to do some sort of Liberal Arts major. Funny thing is, she complained about being IN all the things that your DD complained about being OUT of. Her complaints ranged from what a meaningless empty suit the honors program was, how Tulane Scholars was almost a bait and switch this year and was directionless, that the Honors dorm was the crappiest on campus. My DD would likely agree that there were some complete fools freshman year who went too crazy (I told her to encourage them to go to the Boot the night before the final in any class graded on a curve). But she joined a lot of clubs, and had lots of interactions with other students in all different years from all around the country without knowing or caring what Honors/Tulane/Newcomb/Greek groups they were part of. We asked her if she ever felt an “us” versus “them” mentality on campus, she said except for some financial awkwardness when students with vastly different financial backgrounds discussed money, none were really present in her experience.

I’m pretty sure DD should eventually land in some job with “Critic” in the job title, but at the end of any gripe session DD would agree her glass is more full than empty at Tulane, and while she would unlikely be “happy” anywhere, she is happiest that she picked Tulane out of all of her options.

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Thanks, @Bigmacattack. It sounds like your daughter has made her peace with Tulane and its ups and downs - best wishes for three more successful and happy years.