<p>Got the email today from the Academic Advisor with all the links to the core curriculum, TIDES, etc.</p>
<p>Does my son need to make any decisions before we get there for Orientation, or do they pretty much walk them through the process?</p>
<p>He should probably look at the schedule of classes and come up with a tentative list of courses he might want to take first semester to fulfill some of his core curriculum requirements. It’s not actually necessary, but if he is interested in specific teachers or class times it might be helpful. I think it’s hard to accomplish that in the time frame allotted at orientation without thinking a little about it beforehand.</p>
<p>It’s similar to working off a first draft instead of staring at a blank piece of paper. Most freshmen tend to take about 3 courses that start to get some basic requirements and pre-reqs out of the way (English, math, foreign language) and a couple that are in their intended major. And of course the TIDES is automatic. It all depends on if they are planning on a major that has a pretty set course schedule (engineering, architecture), have selected a major (at least to start) that has more flexibility, or are still exploring.</p>
<p>As kreative says, they*will walk him through it if he doesn’t get around to making some selections ahead of time. And of course once he sees how it all works, he can make changes online, subject to availability.</p>
<p>Great, thanks both. It’s tough to get him into the academic head right now (serious senioritis going on here). But I will encourage him to at least review the course list and since we’re arriving in NOLA a few days in advance, that might be the best time to do it.</p>
<p>Right now he’s not sure if he should be looking at the BSE curriculum or undeclared science major ones. I will also try to encourage him to ask questions of the advisor prior to our arrival.</p>
<p>My son has started poking around in the class listings, etc. He completed the Foreign Language Placement questionnaire and was placed at the 3150 level in French. Not sure if he will get placed higher once his AP results come in or not.</p>
<p>3150 is pretty high. Might not be a bad place to start no matter what his AP results are. There is an honors section of this course being taught by Beth Poe, one of Tulane’s great faculty members. <a href=“https://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/2001/faculty_award_winners.cfm?RenderForPrint=1[/url]”>https://tulane.edu/news/releases/archive/2001/faculty_award_winners.cfm?RenderForPrint=1</a> (for graduate school but I think she also won this for undergrad teaching)</p>
<p>[Tulane</a> University - School of Liberal Arts - sla_awards2012](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/news/sla_awards2012.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/news/sla_awards2012.cfm)</p>
<p>And this slide show with sound track about her “Katrina class”. [Tulane</a> University - A Katrina Class Story: Class Reunion](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/051509_poe.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/051509_poe.cfm)</p>
<p>Thank you FC! I think you are right, 3150 is a good starting point. His intent is to dual major in International Relations and French. Though now he’s trying to figure out how to throw some sports oriented classes in there at a school that doesn’t have a sports management program! I told him to get through graduation first and talk to his adviser at Orientation! :-)</p>
<p>OK, I don’t know how this works at the undergrad level exactly, but Tulane has one of the top sports lawyers in the country teaching at the law school. Gabe Feldman has been the go-to guy for a lot of the media during all the big sports stories involving lock-outs, court cases, etc. Maybe there is something your son can take advantage of at the law school, but I don’t have specifics on what or how. Just an area to explore.</p>
<p>[Tulane</a> University - NFL Lockout 101 With Gabe Feldman](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/072711_nfl.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/072711_nfl.cfm)</p>
<p>[Tulane</a> University Law School - News Item Detail](<a href=“Tulane Law School |”>Tulane Law School |)</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://tulane.edu/administration/president/tulane_talk/tt_040513.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/administration/president/tulane_talk/tt_040513.cfm]Tulane</a> University - Best Commencement Ever?<a href=“another%20teaching%20award%20winner”>/url</a></p>
<p>We saw that in some of our research!! I also think he needs to get in touch with the basketball coach and let him know that he’d have an interest in helping out with the team. He managed the Exeter boys team this year because he was in France during tryouts and was unable to play.</p>
<p>@ExeterMama: FYI: there is a sports law class through the Legal Studies Department in the B-school. Of course, it is just one class and there are pre-reqs that must be taken beforehand, but it is something to consider for the future.</p>
<p>My S just took the foreign language questionnaire - how does a student know what level to take because it gave no results? Are they contacted at some point or do they find out at orientation?</p>
<p>Bloomy, he will receive an email with his placement.</p>
<p>Yes, and if there is anything unique about his answers on the questionnaire, they will ask to meet/call/skype to determine what level is appropriate like my D has to do. I’m interested in seeing what they decide since I have no clue how good her Spanish is.</p>
<p>Just to weigh in a little on this, it also isn’t an immutable decision, wherever they first think you should be placed. If a student gets into a class and decides it is too far above them, they can easily drop down in the first couple of weeks without missing much. Conversely, if they or the instructor think the class is too easy, they can move up.</p>
<p>I don’t recall my D taking a French placement exam, and it wasn’t important at first because she started her Chinese courses at Tulane her first semester. I am not sure how she decided which French course to start with once she got back to taking those as well. I only remember that her Chinese course and French course were back to back, and she said it was very odd to go right from one to the other.</p>
<p>FC - it was just a questionnaire - not any kind of a test, It will be interesting to see where he is placed based on his answers. If a student places out of a level, do they still need to do 2 semesters or just 1? I am not sure what the requirement is regarding level…</p>
<p>My S put together a tentative schedule online - he goes to orientation in 2 weeks (13+14th). With the TIDES courses (freshman + business), how many credits should a student have in total? I looked at his schedule + he planned for 14.5 credits - I told him that he needed 1 more class…is this correct? A friend of his at Tulane advised him to “overbook” so he can drop a class + still have a full load - anybody want to weigh in on this??</p>
<p>12 credits is the minimum for full time status. Most students take 5 courses (not counting TIDES) which makes their total hours range from 15-17 (16-18 with TIDES), but there is certainly nothing wrong with 14. Where does the half credit come from? I am not familiar with that. As far as booking another class to have some flexibility, it is a moderately common practice, but definitely not ubiquitous. It is up to him, there is no right answer on that one, except to say that if he is under 15 hours he would have a real problem if he really struggled in one class, since he wouldn’t be able to drop it. Many students have 17 hours their first semester because they often take 4 classes that are 3 hours each (English, history, math, that kind of thing), a 4 hour foreign language course, and the 1 hour TIDES course. Many end up with 18 if they also have a 1 hour science lab that goes along with freshman chemistry, for example. </p>
<p>Now that you mention the foreign language thing as a questionnaire, I do recall her filling that out. I had forgotten until you jogged my memory on that.</p>
<p>If I am reading the requirement correctly, as long as he passes a language course at the 203 level or higher, that fulfills the requirement.</p>
<p>S1 at Tulane took 17 hours his first semester and it was totally manageable. S2 is signed up for 17.5. I think it’s wise to sign up for a heavier load at the beginning. As S2 and many of his friends have found as they get deeper into their majors, the course difficulty and work load increases in many cases compared to the classes they took freshman year. It is good to get ahead a bit so you have the ability to lighten your load later on if you have a particularly tough course load in a later semester. Those are just my thoughts based on the experience of S1’s and his friends’ comments.</p>
<p>FC: The extra .5 credits probably comes from Tides which is 1.5 credits.</p>
<p>Ah, OK. I never noticed that the business TIDES are 1.5 credits. As far as I know, the non-business TIDES are all 1 credit.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback - I will encourage S to take another class - that seems to be common practice. I like the idea KK that you bulk up early on because courses get harder later…makes complete sense.</p>
<p>Just to present the other side of that argument, there is another popular school of thought that taking a bit of a lighter schedule the first semester allows students to adapt more easily, to get used to what is required and expected at the college level. Still, for the reasons already mentioned, I wouldn’t take below 15 hours.</p>