Honors program--what is it really like

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>ClaySoul, </p>

<p>What is your major? Are you staying at Tulane next semester? Do you think classes in engineering majors will be better (smaller classes)? What is your opinion for the future of Tulane? Do you think the school will get better with your described problems over next year or so? </p>

<p>I am glad you are speaking up about these issues as it seems many people of this board have glanced over these problems at Tulane. </p>

<p>Another thing is that it seems no one is providing counter-arguments to your points. Hopefully, not all of it is true as I am definately considering it for next year. Let me ask you this, Tulane has a relatively low student:faculty ratio. I believe it is 9:1 which is very good compared to other schools. Why are your experiences not in line with that low student faculty ratio? </p>

<p>One thing is for sure, I am attending the online chat this Thursday asking about issues with the classes and honors program.</p>

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<p>I'm a neuroscience major. I may or may not be staying...I haven't recieved any decisions on my transfer applications. I think engineering classes are probably smaller, but depending on the type of engineering, they take intro chem, and orgo chem, and that kind of thing as well. I do not know much about engineering so that would be a great question to ask an engineer. Engineering here is very good and I"m not familiar enough with it to know its drawbacks. Most of my information is about Newcomb and Tulane colleges. </p>

<p>I think Tulane has HUGE potential. I think it could be an awesome school if certain problems were fixed. I don't know if things willl change drastically in one year.I think that if 4-10 years from now, if they go in the right direction (I'm not exactly sure they are now -- lol, if they followed MY preffered direction, they would :)), it could be one of the coolest schools in the country, because it also has new orelans, which is just wonderful. But for now it just has too many problems for me. If I could wait 10 years, I might love it here. But I don't have 10 years. I have 3, which is part of the reason I'm transferring. I'm going to start a thread about this, because it's something I feel strongly about, considering I think Tulane COULD be such a cool school if they fixed a lot of problems and I have grown attatched to this place:). Leaving will be hard, but I think it's the right thing to do for me. </p>

<p>For example: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>one of my problems with Tulane is that there is no University Center (which I think is part of the reason there is no community). But a new really nice one will be built within 1 or 2 years!</p></li>
<li><p>They are also building new dorms, one of which is a residential college (kind of like at Yale or Rice) which I think will be really cool.</p></li>
<li><p>Dr. Brady is working hard to expand the honors program and honors course selection -- but this does take time. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>But for me, by the time they are established, I'll be like in my senior year, and I don't want that. And there are other more intanagilbe problems that I think willl take a longer time to fix</p>

<p>Note to board: Another MAIN reason I'm transferring is that I would very much like to play a DI sport not offered here. </p>

<p>Faculty-student ratios can be very misleading. Even some huge state schools have ratios such as 15:1, which is on the small side. The problem is that not everyone teaches, or that they only teach one class or so. For whatever reason, Tulane chooses to keep their classes large. The liberal arts classes are small because you don't have the issue of research. What they don't tell you is science classes aren't, and since I'm a neuro major, that's what really matters to me.</p>

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<p>ClaySoul, </p>

<p>Your honesty is refreshing and valuable. Thank you. I certainly understand where you are coming from.</p>

<p>JoyJoy,</p>

<p>Actually, the future at Tulane is looks very good. My son is not going there, although he just loved the school (another school is just a better fit) but we looked at it closely. My husband did extensive checks on what is going on and what the future prospects are, and his information is that Tulane is establishing itself well. Someone on this board mentioned that the prior president had not done well by the university financially, and that appears to be the case. However, the current financial situation looks very good. As far as engineering is concerned, we were there for honors weekend and talked to several students in engineering. There was a definite passion for the school from these kids (not tour guides, just kids we met outside of class) and although one was negative about the problem with getting classes that are required, others were very positive about the engineering program, the professors and the curriculum.</p>

<p>I thought the dorms were more "aged" than other private schools, and I wondered about the impact of not having a student union building as a sort of hub for students. I thought the dining facilities and food could have been better, but then again, my son refused to apply to Duke based solely on his feelings that the food was below college-level par, not to mention that there is no air conditioning in the dorms at Duke.</p>

<p>So, all that said, there is still something very compelling about Tulane. The park across the road, the trolley, New Orleans...really great group of kids from what we saw. I am glad my son decided on a school closer to home, but with the generous scholarship Tulane offered, he might have been there, and we would have been pleased with that decision.</p>

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<p>I'm sure your honesty IS refreshing if such it is, but I don't need the hostility just now. Please stop using my name in your posts, and I will no longer respond to yours.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

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<p>I realize that I am a parent not attending Tulane, but I am college educated and I have taken it upon myself during my son's last two semesters to research the number of students in his classes. Yes, the intro classes are larger, and yes, the engineering classes are smaller. All of the information concerning class enrollment can be found on the registrar's page on the Tulane website. Just look under class availability and enrollment. (You'll need some numbers that should be available on the online catalog.) Some sections are more "popular", whether it is the prof or the convenience of the time offered and therefore have larger enrollment than other sections. The classes that listed top enrollment of 999 that my son was taking were TIDES classes required for engineering students - therefore there were no caps (to allow non-majors to take it as well). The first semester, the engineering tides had all 200+ engineering students. The EE/CE TIDES he had this semester had around 20 I believe.</p>

<p>A lot of time has been spent on this thread trashing parents and Tulane and venting anger at us by a couple of unhappy students seeking to transfer somewhere else. I will say my final word on this matter, but give me some credit for doing independent research. I have discovered things about Tulane online that my son didn't know and found helpful. As I said to my son last night while IM'ing, no school is perfect. The goal is to get an education, and part of that is finding out - if he already didn't know it - that the world isn't perfect and neither will his workplace be.</p>

<p>Rather than taking anyone's word on class size, I would heartily recommend that everyone look up the numbers for themselves. I find an intro class of 150 far more appealing than the 800+ lecture classes at our flagship u's. To each his own.</p>

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<p>I'm sorry Claysoul, I did not see your post with the link to the registrar's office. Here we have a difference of opinion. I don't think your classes look unduly large. However, I went to a Big 12 school.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I'm sorry Claysoul, I did not see your post with the link to the registrar's office. Here we have a difference of opinion. I don't think your classes look unduly large. However, I went to a Big 12 school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>well there you go.</p>

<p>You went to a big 12 school thus you have a different opinion of what is big and what is not. Most of the incoming students who wants a perspective view on tulane comes from a class room usually filled with 30 kids, thus to find out that the classes tulane promises to be small are actually 200+ is shocking. </p>

<p>As you have clearly admitted you came from a big 12 school and are used to big classes. Most students asking about tulane have never had a class with 200+ people, therefore your opinion on class size is not applicable and can give the wrong impression.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
100 level Chem II -- 80 people. Gee, I think my class was about 750. I thought that big until my DW told me that at her even larger state university the class was over 1,200 and taught via television in multiple auditoriums! I guess it's all in your perspective.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>again here is a classic example of parents who do not know what the heck they are talking about. How funny of you to not mention the other two sections. Great job. </p>

<p>The reason why no one took that class is because the professor is extremely hard. That is why everyone has clustered around the other two sections.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
although hnubi we have been down this road with you before and as I remember, it is not always what you have to say, but the manner in which you say it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>in what manner would you find pleasing? Would some suger frosting along with the truth please you?</p>

<p>I mean i find it ludicrus that you want me to state the truth in a manner that put tulane is a good light. I am just telling the hard facts. The op asked about the honors program and i posted the truth. </p>

<p>If the op were to ask about how tulane was progressing, i would state the truth: tulane is progressing in a good direction. See i can state good things about tulane.</p>

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<p>"I'm sorry Claysoul, I did not see your post with the link to the registrar's office. Here we have a difference of opinion. I don't think your classes look unduly large. However, I went to a Big 12 school."</p>

<p>I think its far less of a difference of opinion and far more a difference of situation. You went to a large state school (I'm guessing 20,000?). We go to a small private school. These two types should provide different services. Small private schools should provide much smaller classes than large ones. We were led to believe that Tulane had small classes when, compared to institutions of their size and price, they simply don't. </p>

<ol>
<li>Many of the intro classes are closer to 200 people. </li>
<li>My problem is that they upper level classes are <em>also</em> very large. We were told that once we got past bio 101, we would be in small classes, and we're not. I understand that bio 101 may have a lot of people and that's fine. </li>
</ol>

<p>We go to a small school and pay for small classes but simply don't get them.</p>

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<p>" I'm sure your honesty IS refreshing if such it is, but I don't need the hostility just now. Please stop using my name in your posts, and I will no longer respond to yours.</p>

<p>Thank you. "</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Please stop questioning my honesty! I'm not sure why this is happening so abundantly. </p></li>
<li><p>The "hostility" does not seem to be one sided. My mention of your name in your posts (which is not an inherently hostile thing) was in response to you condescnedingly questioning the validity of my statements simply because I used the words never etc after I spent about an hour writing up a lot of honest information for you. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>"A lot of time has been spent on this thread trashing parents and Tulane and venting anger at us by a couple of unhappy students seeking to transfer somewhere else. "</p>

<p>We are unhappy for a reason -- Tulane has problems. People ask questions about Tulane and we want to make sure they know some real answers, not just information in brochures, websites, and proud parents. A desire to transfer in no way lessens our credibility. We go here, and our view is just as real as any other students. </p>

<p>Of course you have the right to speak. But think about the repercussions -- how reliable can a forum be when 3/4 of the posters answering questions about Tulane on this thread don't even go there? I hope your readers like Tulane, because your glazed over version of it is what they will expect. </p>

<p>No one is angry at anybody. I'd say that Hnbui and I were tired of seeing a lot of misinformation being thrown around by people who don't go to Tulane -- and that happened to be parents in many cases, and we were frustrated with people. I don't want prospective students recieving misinformation only to come here, be dissatisfied, and leave.</p>

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<p>As the person who started this thread, I would like to thank both the students and parents for their input. Both have raised points that are valuable and appreciated.</p>

<p>The students comments on this thread are very helpful in that they bring up concerns that not all is rosy at Tulane. Although one might question the tone of the comments, the students are angry and it appears with good reason. No college is perfect and hopefully Tulane improves. Cowen has a tough job. It is not easy to manage a tweaking in culture and improve academics with limited funds. He seems to be an excellent person for the job, but it takes time.</p>

<p>We have found the parents comments on the Tulane CC threads very informative. You have been terrific, especially for us rookies who live far away. The information provided is very much appreciated and we hope the parents will continue with their valuable input. </p>

<p>In case anyone is curious, this week our daughter decided to go to Tulane. In part, it was based on her two multi-day visits to Tulane, various conversations she had with students and staff, several classes she attended and the overnight hosting experience. She went with her instinct. Given our daughter's situation, Tulane would not have been my wife nor my first choice (or second choice) college for her. In part, it is because we have similar concerns as those raised by the students plus some other issues. But, it is her life experience and we hope her Tulane experience turns out for the best.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your feedback, happy, but I won't be making any further comments, for obvious reasons. My family would be happy to answer private messages.</p>

<p>I wish your daughter the best.</p>

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<p>Obvious reasons? If you think you're being personally attacked, I say, respectfully, that you're taking things too seriously. Can you offer examples?</p>

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<p>this program looks awesome, especially the colloquia</p>

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<p>i can' speak to the honors program right now. you have revamped a very old thread. I do know that there were plusses and minuses to the program at tulane when i was there, but it was more a function of 1. a lack of honors classes actually being offered (despite their presence in the catalog) and 2. tulane itself that caused problems with my satisfaction there. i liked the honors program but that only goes so far if you dont like tulane</p>

<p>so, from experience, i am saying i have no idea what it's like now, but that brochures can be misleading. find some real current satisfied and dissatisfied students to ask what the real deal is.</p>

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<p>where did you end up claysoul?</p>

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<p>Brown tenchar</p>

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<p>Haha great. Tell him the school he wants to go to most lol.</p>

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<p>:D lol hey ellie</p>