My D, who has been accepted for the Class of 2019, just returned from the Tulane Scholars Weekend and was very impressed. A few thoughts and questions.
My D has been accepted into the Honors Program. Honors seems to mean different things at different schools. In fact, some of the information characterizes the Tulane program as largely honorific (e.g., early registration and an optional honors dorm), while other information suggests that it is more substantive (e.g., special classes, more faculty contact). Can anyone provide more insight on the question?
Tulane seems to be transitioning from an Honors Program to something called Tulane Scholars. Will my daughter be part of this new program? Does she need to be applying for something now? What benefits would she receive as a Tulane Scholar that she does not get as an Honors Program student?
More than any other school my D is considering, Tulane has done the best job of recruiting we have seen. The school has pushed all of the right buttons at the right time and has made quite an impression on all of us. As a result, Tulane has climbed way up the list of schools under consideration. Whoever is behind the post-admission recruiting program should be recognized for a job well done.
The prior point raises the question of how much of the tender loving care she has received to date is the school's personality showing, or if it is a recruiting tactic. Anyone have any thoughts to calm a cynical mind.
Right now, D is looking at Tulane and several other schools. Some of those other schools carry more "prestige" or higher US News rankings, but Tulane is offering scholarship help which makes it substantially better economically. Since my D is likely headed for some form of post-graduate school, dollars are likely to matter at some point. But, post-graduate opportunities might be better with a degree from a bigger "name" school. Anyone got any ideas on how to evaluate the trade-off? (Of course, we know that the quality of the undergraduate education depends upon many things other than the school attended.)
Hi @Lostinmd I will do my best to answer your questions.
Your observation is quite correct, and I think for the most part what you trying to differentiate is an Honors Program like Tulane’s versus an Honors College, which have been created by many of the state schools and some other institutions. They are different things and I think you nailed it pretty well. But let’s look at why they exist.
At a typical state school, the average student population is, well, just that. Average to somewhat above the national average of a typical college student. They were losing all their best high school seniors to the private schools, because the peer groups were of higher caliber and because the class sizes tended to be a lot smaller, with more attention from profs. So they created the Honors Colleges within their universities to try and give those brightest students an option that would keep them coming to the state school. But in essence, then, all they have done is create a modest facsimile of what already existed at the private school, albeit at a much lower price in many cases. Put another way, schools like Tulane and Vandy and others are already honors colleges in their entirety because the average student at those schools is, in fact, well above average compared to the national college attending population. Their peer group in pretty uniformly of the caliber that would be at a state school Honors College.
So the Honors Program at Tulane is essentially a program to even more finely differentiate those students who are looking for an even more “pure” academic experience, those that might be looking ahead to graduate school and/or prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes. On a day to day basis, there is really no difference in the Tulane experience between a person in the Honors Program and someone that is not, at least no difference due to the program itself. The difference becomes relevant when that honors student looks for advising on those post graduate opportunities. That path is generally laid out for them from the beginning, should they want it. And of course the little perks like earlier registration and the honors dorm if they want that, although again that last is a “soft” benefit. Many honors students choose a non-honors dorm, and many residents of the honors dorm are not honors program students, but they prefer that environment.
Tulane Scholars requires that she apply for that program after she arrives at Tulane. It is, currently, about 75 students per class that have decided they definitely want to do high level research, be mentored closely by a prof in their field, and in general get the absolute most out of their 4 years at Tulane academically that they can. There are other benefits such as some extra funding for summer internships and/or other research. It is new and probably still evolving somewhat, but that is the basics of it. You can find more information in the section of the Tulane web site devoted to the Honors Program. http://honors.tulane.edu/web/default.asp?id=Scholars She should also look at a program called Newcomb Scholars. http://tulane.edu/newcomb/scholars/ I don’t think it is associated with the Honors Program, but instead with the Newcomb Institute. But it is similar in nature and has been around for 6-7 years now. I think both are very impressive and the completely right direction for a school like Tulane. They also help the most academically oriented students find their peer group more rapidly.
I think this is not cynical at all but a completely valid question. And I do think that the relationship between Tulane students and the faculty is one of Tulane’s greatest strengths. Tulane is much more undergraduate oriented than grad student oriented, yet it still carries out very high level research. It is rather remarkable in that regard, and the undergrads play a large role in that. I can anecdotally tell you that my D had wonderful relationships with several faculty members that played key roles in her winning a full scholarship from the Chinese government to study in Beijing for a year, and in her getting into all the top grad schools in her field such as Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley (she is at Stanford now), and in her being chosen for an internship at the US Department of State, which took her to DC last summer and will be taking her to Taipei this summer. Of course her own talents and drive had a lot to do it, but the faculty were really there for her not just in recommendations but in helping her through the various processes, introducing her to key visiting speakers and faculty, and in general just spending time with her as mentors and friends so that she was able to gain a glimpse into how that world works. I can also tell you it was exactly the same way for me many years before that, and I can also tell you that hundreds of students over the last 7 years or so that I have been active in this have said much the same thing. If a student makes even a little effort to interact with the faculty, they will be responsive.
I understand what you are saying, but I reject your part of the premise that post-grad opportunities are better from a bigger “name” school. My D, again, is but one of hundreds of examples of Tulane students that have gotten into the best grad schools for their field, as well as top med schools and law schools. Tulane is very highly regarded and a high GPA, good research, and great recommendations will get her wherever she wants to go. It definitely is more about what you do than where you do it, and Tulane provides those opportunities to accomplish what grad schools are looking for in spades. And you are totally right about saving the money, although many grad programs carry full scholarships/grants, depending on her overall ambitions and what field she is pursuing. My D’s scholarship at Stanford covers everything and even a little spending money. But saving money is always a good thing, even if she gets a full grant for grad school. You can buy her a nice car with the difference, or she can use it towards a house when the time comes. Better to have it than not, right?
So I know that is a lot to read, but feel free to come back with any other questions or requests for clarifications. I hope it helped a little.