questioning the head of the engineering department??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>The Distinguished Scholar was $25,000 last year, and the Founders was $22,000 so the latter would the the closest to Case. Too soon to know if they are changing them this year, but it seems unlikely.</p>

<p>The award form Case was very generous. Usually someone with your stats would not get that much from Tulane, but as you say if you can get your SAT score up, anything is possible. jym is 100% correct that you should apply EA or SCEA. Not so much because of the DHS (at your current stat level it would be a waste of time to apply for it) but because your chances of getting in are higher. Tulane is very much about how much you want to go there and why. You seem to really want it, so make that very clear and have very good reasons. That will help you a lot.</p>

22

<p>What about applying, getting in, and taking the SAT later in the year? Do you think they will rethink my scholarship money if I send my SAT around RD time? Or will it be too late? Im still gunna take it in november, but do you think i should take it in oct, even though that might not be enough prep time? How would you recommend prepping for it during the next 2 months, since im not really involved in anything right now? Do you think my race, state of residence, and ECs might have had something to do with my scholarship at CWR?</p>

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<p>I cannot speak to CWR’s policies.</p>

<p>Yes, if there is a significant change in your stats Tulane will usually reconsider the merit award. As far as prepping, I am no expert for that but I think doing as many practice tests and their online questions of the day is about as good as anything.</p>

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<p>Does anyone think I’ll benefit from applying undecided and switch to BME later?</p>

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<p>No. Tulane doesn’t much care what major you say you are planning to have. They know most undergrads change. It is much more based on your record, interest shown, that kind of thing.</p>

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<p>BMEPREMEDgirl: Case Western Reserve Univ (CWRU) and Tulane are about the same in terms of the Tuition Fee, Cost of Living, etc. They are both are $56,000 to $60,000 for two semesters (One Year of schooling-summer does not count). So, if Case - CWRU only gives you $25,000 then you have to find the other $25K to $30K for 2 semesters. Now, based on the experience of my friend’s son, he was given the scholarship ($25,000) but they (CWRU) did not give much on merit aids, grants, etc…instead Case gave him LOANS to be paid after graduation. The total of loans and family contribution were $30,000. Therefore, he did not go there and attended state college.</p>

<p>Anyhow, basically Scholarship of $25K or $27K means nothing if you are not given merit aids, grants, etc…Some universities are Very Stingy and they will give you LOANS to make up the differences. And this loan to be paid after graduation. </p>

<p>Imagine if the loan is $15,000 to $20,000 per year THEN upon graduation, you will carry debts of $60K…yes, around $60,000 or more.</p>

<p>Now, Tulane is much better than Case since Tulane is very generous in terms of Scholarship + Grants + Merit aids, etc…and that’s what they have offered my S…and my S when he will get his undergradute from Tulane in BME, he will carry loans only for around $15K to $20K total for 4 years, to be paid upon graduation. Well, enough talking about money.</p>

<p>Now, let us talk about BME programs in Case and Tulane. Both of these schools are Research Univ…and they are both are members of AAU (very prestigous research groups). Therefore, they both are very tough and you have to study hard…harder than say majoring in History, Business, etc. More importantly, in my opinion, these two schools are equal in terms of the BME programs (both have the same 6 tracks of BME). Only JHU (Johns Hopkins Univ) is better than the two of them.</p>

<p>I believe that based on your posting, you perhaps do not have the interests in Research while BME is mostly doing research…so, if you want to major in BME but dont have the interests in research, your GPA will suffer…you will be lucky to finish BME with 3.0 GPA…and even worse, if your GPA is below 3.0, you are still to be allowed to graduate but you will have a hard time finding any high paying jobs (unless you get a good connection). AND worse yet, you will have hard time to go into grad school in BME.</p>

<p>Also, based on your GPA only around 1910 SAT, it is an indication that you will have a tough time for doing BME…sorry, not trying to put you down but to be good for BME, you need SAT at least, 2050 to 2100 (at least, the more the better) and you have to be above 10% of your class ranking…(class ranking in the 5% is better). </p>

<p>So, you have to take Personal Inventory and be firm about yourself and have strong commitment…with your low SAT Scores and GPA mean you have to work twice as hard as the other BME students in Case or Tulane. Well, you can still party in the school of course and Tulane is well-known for party school…and in fact the motto is: work hard, party hard…!! </p>

<p>That is my two cents and all the best for you. Nothing is impossible…just willingness to do the best and God will take care the impossible stuff…</p>

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<p>BMEPREMEDgirl: I am wondering IF you want to do BME, what is the BME track that you would like to do?..remember there are 6 tracks in BME : biomechanics, design, biotransport, biomaterials, or tissue engineering or medical sciences (for pre-med students). Also, are you really into Engineering and pure Science (math, bio, chem, physics); do you like any of those? when you were in HS, did you like those sciences? …IF not then BME perhaps is not for you since BME is combination of Engineering and pure science. </p>

<p>Yes, you certainly can do major in undecided then switch to BME…but you have to be aware that BME requires lots of Math, Bio, Chem, Physics…and if you have not taken any of those, say you have taken other courses as electives then when you decide to take BME, you will have to add more years for graduation. Since time is money then my advice is you can not wait for more than 1 year to declare your major in BME. Remember also, those BME classes have to be taken concurrently (in the order). And you can not skip any or take all of them at the same time…remember also: BME requires more than 120 credit hours to graduate. Thus, the earlier you declare the major, the better.</p>

<p>Have you ever consulted your HS advisor, parents, good friends as what kind of major is good for you?..confusion is a bliss…</p>

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<p>

Do you have a shred of evidence for this statement? It is also possible her math score was high and it is the CR and W that brought it down. Since BME and the sciences in general require far more math aptitude than vocabulary skills, a composite score is not particularly useful in this regard.</p>

<p>Also, I thought her GPA was fairly high, wasn’t it? 3.8 UW GPA seems pretty good to me.</p>

29

<p>Fallenchemist: here is the info for Georgia Institute of Tech (Georgia Tech). The Average composite three-part SAT score for entering freshmen 2010:</p>

<p>Average critical reading and math composite SAT score 1368</p>

<p>SAT score breakdown 663, critical reading; 705, math; 644, writing</p>

<p>If you add them together 663+705+644 = 2012 (average score)</p>

<p>Most of the BME students have higher than average in SAT scores (2050 to 2100 at least). Granted there are some who have lower scores but not that many. </p>

<p>So, for those BME students that have lower scores, it is an indication that they have to work harder especially if they are not in the top 10% in HS at least…</p>

<p>Here is another info from: Western New England Univ (WNE) college of Engineering for six years BME and Law Degree:</p>

<p>Students interested in this unique program need a minimum SAT Math score of 650 and a minimum Critical Reading SAT score of 650 or ACT equivalent scores of 29 in English, Math, and Composite and a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher. (here is the link: [Six-year</a> Biomedical Engineering/Law Program](<a href=“http://www1.wne.edu/engineering/bme/index.cfm?selection=doc.5555]Six-year”>http://www1.wne.edu/engineering/bme/index.cfm?selection=doc.5555) ) </p>

<p>Remember this is just a minimum score and BME students usually have higher scores…and this WNE is not a well known/top school. </p>

<p>Now, let’s talk about Tulane: Incoming Freshmen, Fall 2011
SAT, Middle 50%: Composite 1950-2150</p>

<p>These are average scores and as usual the BME students have higher scores. So, the comfortable level of SAT in doing BME is 2,050 to 2,100 or higher. Of course, some students can have lower SAT and low GPA. But, they will eventually struggle in finishing BME or perhaps they will get their undergraduate degree in BME but with GPA below 3.00</p>

<p>Finally, BME is not for everyone. Lots of kids try it and eventually BME turns into Business Major Eventually (I read it from other posting in CC). To get into the programs, any students need to have high records of SAT and GPA (class ranking too) to begin with. IF not, then they will have hard time doing the BME programs.</p>

<p>More importantly, I dont know the BMEPREMEDgirl scores (SAT breakdown) but if they are only in 1900s level of SAT with 600 Math and GPA 3.8, I believe it is below par; especially she is kind of wobble in studying hard and partying hard –> BME becomes harder for her as she perhaps can get in but can not get out with high GPA.</p>

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<p>Wow, you are making all sorts of judgements and assumptions and extrapolations that are ridiculous. You have no actual data or proof that students coming in with stats below the average usually fail or graduate with lower GPA. And using a 6 year engineering/law program as an example is equally absurd. Please stop.</p>

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<p>just for the record, my SAT was pretty unbalanced–i got a 700 in math, a 600 in writing and a 610 in reading, fyi–i excelled in the math i took in high school, and did pretty well in science. i was a mostly A, rarely B and 1 C and 1 D student over all–the D happened in an english class senior semester because i had surgery and much of my physical therapy conflicted with that class’s times and i missed over half of those english classes–also the class was a 200 level college english class that i took for dual enrollment that only met twice a week–but that was the only class i did poorly in.
(by the way should i explain what happened with the D during my senior year in my application? technically it was my senior SEMESTER because i graduated early and did a whole senior year of work in 1 semester. if so, who should i explain it to/ where on my application? im really nervous about that grade)</p>

<p>Okla–i noticed you mentioned Western New England university–a school i had never heard of. if it’s engineering program is good, i will most certainly apply, but i don’t see any student reviews of the school anywhere. where can i find more information about the school, that is unbiased? (ie, information not supplied by the school). i’m looking for schools that maybe are a bit less competitive than Case and Tulane, but still have good BME programs/science programs, and are balanced academically. are there any other schools that have good engineering programs that are less competative than those 2?</p>

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<p>also, i agree with FC. you can predict and talk about averages and such about correlations in scores, gpa, ect., but you underestimate hard work and diligence, and you are trying to make judgements and assumptions on my future performance without a good deal of information.</p>

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<p>BME - thank you for that info. Of course a 700 in math is very good.</p>

<p>The other problem with using averages of incoming freshmen is that there are TONS of students that blossom academically once they get to college. This can be true for various reasons. They just happen to mature then, they do better when they are away from home and take the responsibility for their own behavior (obviously the opposite happens too. I saw high school valedictorians flunk out because they had no idea how to control themselves without Mommy and Daddy there to tell them what to do), they get super busy and many people (pointing at myself here) do their best when they have to budget their time and there is no chance to procrastinate…</p>

<p>As far as Western New England, the only thing I know about it is that it is very regional in reputation. I am not sure how far a degree from there would take you if you didn’t settle in the area. But you should ask the school itself for data on how its graduates do. Just look at it very critically, any school will “polish” the data to make themselves look as good as possible.</p>

<p>Anyway, my point to Okla was that first of all you never asked for a critique of your choice of major, so she was really off track with that. Second was that no one should judge a student’s capabilities when they know so little about that student.</p>

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<p>Not to steer you away from Tulane if that is truly a strong desire, but if you (and not your dad) are really interested in BME, and want an interesting school, take a peek at WPI [Biomedical</a> Engineering - WPI](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/bme]Biomedical”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/bme)</p>

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<p>one more thing–FC, i only see the DHS scholarship and the CS scholarship on Tulane’s scholarship page…you mentioned the founder’s scholarships and others…can you give me a short list of merit scholarships that you know of that the school awards?</p>

<p>also, do you think that Louisiana residents are given preference as far as the amount of scholarship money they get goes? do they tend to get more? the reason i am asking is because i heard a rumor Case gives more scholarships/merit aid to Ohio residents (which i am–but i went to an early college program in GA for the last 2 semesters of high school, which is how i graduated early–took dual enrollment and combined two years of schooling into 1).</p>

<p>id like to add that the early college program was exactly that–i took college courses, lived in dorms with other college students, was treated like an adult and was essentially on my own in terms of maturity, priority and time management and took 18 or more credit hours each semester to graduate early–and even after having surgery and having to jump over a lot of hurdles, i still worked hard and got pretty good grades. im just saying that ive already had a taste of what college will be like.</p>

<p>and thanks for the support FC :)</p>

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<p>The DHS and CSS are the ones you have to apply for separately. Just to repeat myself, the DHS requires an SAT score at least 300 points higher than what you currently have, and they actually recommend a score of 2250 or higher. So I think that is out of your reach. Naturally the CSS is based more on community service performed, although stats do matter as well.</p>

<p>Unlike those two, everyone is considered for the others (Presidential, Distinguished Scholar, Founders, and a couple of others) when they are accepted at Tulane. No additional application or information required. They inform you if you get one of those merit awards when they send your acceptance letter in the old snail mail. Here is a list: [Tulane</a> Admission: Scholarships & Aid](<a href=“http://admission.tulane.edu/aid/]Tulane”>http://admission.tulane.edu/aid/) Look about halfway down the page right below the Community Service Scholarship.</p>

<p>Finally, there are awards that are for Louisiana residents only, but for the ones that are open to everyone (which is the vast majority) there is no preference for Louisiana residents. That same link shows you the ones that are for Louisiana students.</p>

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<p>jym–i looked at wpi really fast and went to college ******* to get some student reviews, and i like what i see–im definately interested. however, i do want to know what would happen if i decided i didnt like BME and switched out of engineering–are their other programs any good? say psycology, sociology, history biology ect?</p>

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<p>FC or anyone else–should i be worried about that senior semester D that i mentioned in post 31, and should i explain it on the application? you know, with my surgery and everything? do you think a college admissions office will understand if i had that fluke D, or will they just think it’s an excuse and look down on it? and do you think the graduating early thing and the early college program in GA will help give me an edge/advantage on my application, or will it not matter much?</p>

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<p>I think it definitely makes sense to explain the D, and they will listen. It would be useful if your high school guidance counselor would back you up. And yes, I think taking courses at a local college while in high school always looks good.</p>

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<p>with all due respect, many of the answers to the questions you are asking, especially about the scholarships and those available for state residents, can be found by reading the school websites and previous threads in this forum.</p>