<p>My D has a 32 ACT and 4.5 weighted gpa, she's been in an elite and pretty well known honors program throughout high school, and I'm a little surprised she wasn't invited to the honors program.</p>
<p>Just curious about what factors Tulane considers before offering honors. And I think she would get a few more bucks as well if accepted into honors.</p>
<p>TIA</p>
<p>There is no absolute criteria. Certainly the ACT score seems strong enough. The GPA is harder to say because you don’t say what scale it is on. Easier if you say what UW is and list AP/honors courses. Still, assuming that is a 4.0 scale with the extra point for AP/honors courses, it does seem a bit surprising.</p>
<p>In the past I have suggested that if first semester grades come in strong, then have those transcripts sent right away to Tulane, then have her follow up with an e-mail shortly afterwards to the admissions counselor. She should point out the updated stats and ask if a reconsideration of her merit award and admission to the honors program is possible. In the past this has been successful for many that we’re borderline and had strong first semesters and/or raised their test score significantly.</p>
<p>Thank you, that’s an excellent suggestion. I worry that the money will be all gone by the start of second semester though!</p>
<p>First quarter grades were all As, and she really is a serious student who thrives in honors environment. And yes it is a 4.0 scale with extra points for honors, AP, and her specific program (which is actually categorized higher than both honors and APs at the school).</p>
<p>In the past there has not been an issue with the “money being gone” at that point. Especially since you are talking about a bump from $22,000 per year to $25,000 in your tuition discount. Which is really what the scholarship is, of course. It isn’t like they actually cut you a check for that amount.</p>
<p>I can’t speak about the financial aspect, but being vs. not being in the Honors Program here isn’t a big deal. Most kids I know in the Honors Program have already or are planning to drop the program because they don’t want to complete the requirements (4 Honors Classes + A Thesis).</p>
<p>If you are dead set on Honors, though, you can try to get in after freshman year if your GPA is high enough (a 3.6, I believe).</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>As tulane14 says, the HP isn’t for everyone. Let’s be clear on the main aspects of what it is really about, which is graduating with Latin honors (magna cum laude, graduating GPA 3.60-3.79 or summa cum laude, graduating GPA 3.80-4.00. In order to graduate with those distinctions, in addition to the GPA you must complete a senior thesis, and take the 4 honors classes. The last is really no big deal at all since the thesis course counts as one, I think, and even if it doesn’t any class can be made into an honors class by filling out a form and working with the prof to make it an honors designation for that student. For my D in one class that just meant doing an extra research paper and meeting with the prof a few extra times, although the research paper was not just busy work, it was a challenging bit of work. Anyway, the other distinguishing characteristic of the program is special attention and help if the student thinks they would want to apply for post-graduate awards like the Rhodes, Goldwaters, Trumans, Fulbrights, etc.</p>
<p>For the students that have all these goals, who probably fall more heavily in the liberal arts side (just my intuitive guess), the HP is important. Those for whom these issues become less important would not care so much about the HP. As far as living in Butler and taking predesignated honors courses, one can almost always do that even if not officially in the program.</p>
<p>I agree with FC that the Honors Program is probably more geared towards those in liberal arts. I discussed the benefits of doing an Honors Thesis with the pre-med advisor, my major advisor, and one of my favorite professors and they all said that doing an honors thesis isn’t necessary for those looking to go to medical school. Instead, they said time could be better spent getting more data in a research lab, volunteering, improving MCAT scores, etc. I can see where it would be a valuable experience for those looking to go to graduate school in the sciences or in liberal arts, however.</p>
<p>I think you can still graduate cum laude without doing an honors thesis, but I’m not entirely sure. </p>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<p>I think you are right about cum laude, tulane14. I believe anything at or above a 3.4 qualifies, and if you don’t do a thesis I guess that even a 4.0 would be cum laude, although I haven’t researched that at all.</p>
<p>Just a little indefinite update, the admissions counselor advised my D that once honors offers are made, that’s usually it. However she agreed to look at the application again and maybe they’ll reconsider. </p>
<p>My D is always pushing herself, so I don’t know that she would find it too much work. And shes a little daunted by the party reputation i think too, so theres some comfort in"honors" as having a slight edge on the seriousness level! </p>
<p>I think she’d also like to try visiting during an honors weekend so it would help to have an idea before we start booking flights. If anyone knows when that is scheduled for this april, and wants to share, I’d happily accept the info!</p>
<p>The information we received is that the Honors Weekends are March 25 & 26 or April 15 & 16. My son and I plan on attending in March. He is very excited about having been accepted and is looking forward to that visit!</p>
<p>Since you were all so nice, wanted to share that my D got invited to the Honors Program today! Don’t know if it’ll mean any more money LOL but that wasn’t the goal so just happy for her, it’s a great boost to her self-confidence. We are coming down to visit for Crawfest, wish we could do an honors weekend but we had to make plans before we knew SO hopefully someone with knowledge about the HP will be available our weekend and we’ll all have a grand time.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone.</p>
<p>That’s great, sujormik. It really was nice for my D to be able to go Honors Weekend, but it isn’t critical by any means. However, since you will be going after the Honors Weekends, be sure to arrange with the Honors Office to pick up the packet she would have gotten, which also includes the information required for her to be able to register for classes earlier than other freshmen. It doesn’t mean she has to attend Tulane, of course, but if she does decide to go it is great to have that jump on things.</p>
<p>I would suggest making an appointment with either of the following people:</p>
<p>F. Thomas Luongo, Ph. D<br>
Associate Dean, Director of the Honors Program
Eva-Lou Joffrion Edwards Newcomb Associate Professor of History
Phone: (504) 865-5517
Email: <a href=“mailto:tluongo@tulane.edu”>tluongo@tulane.edu</a></p>
<p>Scott W. Pentzer, Ph.D.<br>
Associate Director
Phone: (504) 314-2717
Email: <a href=“mailto:spentzer@tulane.edu”>spentzer@tulane.edu</a></p>
<p>They can provide good insight into the current program opportunities and what is being planned for the near future.</p>
<p>I would also recommend that she see someone in the advising center after picking up her package. You can confirm that with Pentzer, but I think that is the correct step to take. The advising center can help her complete her class registration. Should she decide on Tulane, she can always change her schedule online as she has time to explore the course offerings in more detail and/or if she simply changes her mind about something, but it is always better to have a schedule in the system rather than nothing. If she doesn’t end up making a deposit with Tulane by May 1, they will simply take her out of the system and open the space in those classes to someone else.</p>
<p>Good luck and have fun!</p>
<p>Do you have to apply for honors to be accepted, or do they issue invitations?
Also, is 27k the absolute highest merit award available short of the Dean’s award (which D missed the deadline for).</p>
<p>TV4- 27K is the highest merit award that doesn’t require a separate application. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t offer more non-loan based money in the need-based FA package, assuming you are applying for need based aid.</p>
<p>Invitations to the Honors Program are based on the general application. For incoming freshmen there is no separate application. The invitation is included in the hard copy acceptance letter. It is not indicated when you see the admission decision online. If not invited upon entering Tulane, one can apply to be in the program after freshman year if a 3.6+ GPA is achieved.</p>
<p>With $27,000 being the highest awarded, why is the Tulane website still showing under merit scholarships up to $25,000. The same with their mailings. Of all the universities applied to, Tulane does an outstanding job of communicatings - however, this is strange that they haven’t updated their website to show maximum being $27,000.</p>
<p>I am not sure why that would be the case, but if you could copy the url of the pages still showing $25,000 and e-mail them to admissions, I am sure they would appreciate the heads up. There are a lot of new web pages out there, they obviously just missed either deleting or revising these. I have seen that in the past, where new sites are created (as admissions did this year with a complete overhaul of their portion of the Tulane site) but someone neglects to render the old pages inoperative and they still show up on a Google search. Or the simpler explanation, someone just forgot to do the edits!</p>