Question about changing majors!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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Hi, everyone! I am so happy to report that I’ve been accepted to Tulane with a Distinguished Scholar scholarship, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve been looking more and more into Tulane and am so incredibly impressed and excited.

All that being said, I had a quick question about my major. I applied as a Communication major, but now am thinking I’d might want to double major in Public Relations and Digital Media Production. What should I do about this? Am I supposed to contact Tulane about my decision, or does it not matter right now? I’m just worried about it affecting the classes I sign up for if I do end up attending Tulane in the fall (which is a very likely possibility!).

Also, upon further investigation, I see that Public Relations is offered in the School of Continuing Studies - does that mean I can still major in it if I want to? A tad confused about this whole process.

On another note, does anyone know of any examples of internships/jobs people have had by majoring in Public Relations, Communication, and/or Digital Media Production at Tulane? I haven’t been on a tour of the university yet so I haven’t gotten to ask the admissions office, but I will come March (going to Destination Tulane)!

So, in summary, these are my questions:

  • Is it possible to double major in Public Relations and Digital Media Production as a freshman? If so, should I tell someone at Tulane that I want to do this, or does it not matter right now?
  • Does anyone know of any examples of internships/jobs students have had through the Public Relations, Communication, and/or Digital Media Production majors at Tulane?

Thanks so much for your help!

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@evto97‌

First and probably most important, you don’t have to do anything about what you put down on your application as a major. Tulane doesn’t make application decisions based on that. You were accepted to Newcomb-Tulane College, which contains all five schools of the undergraduate structure. That’s Business, Liberal Arts, Architecture, Science & Engineering, and Public Health/Tropical Medicine. So someone could have thought they were coming in as a chemistry major, decide over the summer that they want to be a double major in history and Latin American studies, and they wouldn’t have to submit any paperwork or anything like that. The only change would be that they would be assigned a new advisor, probably, that works with those majors. You don’t actually have to declare a major until sometime in your 4th semester. But it isn’t like a lot of universities where you are accepted into a (relatively) narrowly defined school within the university and you have to formally transfer to another school within the university.

But the School of Continuing Studies is not part of Newcomb-Tulane College, although students in N-T are able to take classes offered by the SCS fairly freely. There are a few rules about that, but I think they don’t end up affecting most people. You will have to check with an advisor at Tulane about that. Same for exactly how you major in a subject offered by the SCS, but I know people do it all the time. For example, I was just talking to a current N-T student that is majoring in Homeland Security, which is also only through the SCS. The biggest hassle she mentioned is that the classes are all in the evening. That makes sense, of course, because the whole point of the SCS is to cater to “non-traditional” students, which is the term for those coming back to school later in life, and they usually have jobs.

I have seen a number of students comment in the past that they have gotten local internships in various roles related to communications, such as at the local TV stations, in city govt., in local businesses within their PR area, etc. While New Orleans is certainly a smaller market than New York, Chicago, LA, etc. you also are not competing against students from more than a dozen other universities. So that is a plus. Also Tulane does have connections with some people in leading positions in relevant industries in New York and LA at least, and I am sure other key locations.

Double majoring should not be a problem, I wouldn’t think, but just to reiterate you don’t have to do anything until you visit the school, at which time you can arrange to speak with someone in advising if you choose. Or if you are planning to attend Orientation in June, that is an ideal time to work with an advisor on your schedule. It is part of the scheduled activities at that event.

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@fallenchemist That’s great news that it’s an option, thanks for the valuable information! I’ll definitely talk to someone in advising either in March when I visit or in June. Maybe they’ll be able to give me examples of class times for classes in the PR major and see if it would be a huge inconvenience to take those classes, as opposed to just majoring in Communication. Thanks again, I am so excited!