Merit Scholarship but no honors program?

<p>Just wondering- I was accepted around a month ago to Tulane (yay!), and was awarded the Founder's scholarship (20K/year). I didn't receive any notification of admittance to the honor program, which I obviously take to mean that I wasn't accepted (how did those accepted to the honors program find out?). However- why the large scholarship then? I mean, if you're awarded a good sized merit scholarship, doesn't that put you in pretty good contention for the honors program? Or does Tulane simply give a lot of merit scholarships?</p>

<p>thanks :)</p>

<p>From what I’ve seen around this forum, almost all of the people who have gotten into the Honors program got the 22k or 25k scholarship. I’m fairly sure you can still apply to be admitted at the end of your freshman year, though!</p>

<p>rachelmk is right. Before this year all Presidential winners ($25,000) were automatically in the Honors Program and about half the Distinguished Scholar winners ($22,000) were invited, and that was it for freshman year participants. There have been a couple of people during this admission cycle that have reported being invited, yet have “only” received the Founders, but it seems pretty unusual. In any case, the Honors Program has some definite advantages, but in the end it is more of a formal way of categorizing that you are on track to graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude, which means graduating with at least a 3.6 or 3.8 respectively, plus fulfilling the other requirements such as a thesis project. So you are formally in the program after freshman year if you get at least a 3.6. Even if you are not in the program freshman year, you can still take any of the honors courses and probably live in Butler, especially if you find a roommate who is in the program that wants Butler. Later on, like in April or May, they will start a couple of roommate finding programs on Facebook and something called Roommate Click.</p>

<p>To answer your other question, Tulane is one of the most generous schools in the country regarding merit scholarships. Besides the ones already mentioned, they also have a $15,000 level and a $7,500 level.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info everyone. I hope I didn’t across as arrogant, having “only” received the Founder’s scholarship. I was thrilled when accepted to Tulane, and shocked when I learned about the scholarship. I was just interested the honors program, so it’s good to hear there is possibility of getting in later. </p>

<p>On a completely unrelated note, fallenchemist, you seem to frequent these boards quite a bit, so I was wondering if you could answer a separate question of mine. Could you tell me about the International Relations major at Tulane? I’ve heard it’s pretty strong- what makes it so? Are there any unique aspects to the program at Tulane that won’t be found at other schools? I’m still applying to other schools, and having a strong international relations program is high on my list, so I’d really appreciate any information you have on it! Thanks!</p>

<p>Hi finnah - You didn’t come across as arrogant or negative in any way. It was a perfectly legitimate question.</p>

<p>As far as IR, I am afraid I don’t know much more than you on that as far as Tulane is concerned, except that over the last few years I have seen a number of posts that support it is a strong major and people have been happy with it. I do know that in terms of particular countries or areas where Tulane has traditionally been strong are Latin America, Japan, and France. I have no doubt there are other strong areas and the major would be generally useful, I just happen to know those are places where they have long-standing ties.</p>

<p>Hopefully current majors and/or others with knowledge will post in reply to your inquiry.</p>

<p>Hi everyone- like finnah, I got the Founder’s Scholarship and am psyched about it, but I’m also really interested in the Honors program. I’ve also made a significantly higher GPA for 1st semester than my cumulative GPA. So, although I know it’s possible to get in after freshman year with a 3.6 GPA, I’m wondering if I can appeal to get into the program for freshman year when I send in my midyear report. Fallenchemist, you seem to be CC’s residential Tulane expert- do you (or anyone else with inside info) know if this is worth a try?</p>

<p>Yes, definitely. You can also see if they might raise your scholarship to the next level, it doesn’t hurt to ask. The person you probably want to contact about the Honors program is Dr. Luongo. He is head of the program.</p>

<p>Even if you don’t get in freshman year, you can pretty much do everything an Honors Program student does in terms of taking the same courses, living in Butler, etc as has been discussed in other current Tulane threads. That way when you do make your 3.6 after freshman year, you won’t have really missed out on anything.</p>