<p>I haven’t talked to anyone who took Honors Consolidated, so it might have been okay.</p>
<p>I know people several people with different profs who switched down to Calc I, and a few who stuck it out (most of whom ended up with B’s or C’s). </p>
<p>It is amazing how much both your grade, as well as how much you learn in a class depends on the professor.</p>
<p>
Really? I would find anything else amazing. It has always been so and likely will always be so.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting all this btw. It is really good to see more current students getting on here and giving info from their perspective. It is sooooo disappointing for me to hear about the chem department, and you certainly are not the only one to have voiced these issues. When I was there (I know, ancient history but still…) it was one of the stronger departments on campus. Not only good research, but some of the best teachers in any subject. A couple even won recognition as such, and that isn’t easy in an area like chem. Really not acceptable for such a key subject.</p>
<p>wow i find #2 & #8 very disheartening. the main reason i am leaving high school a year early is the science teachers at my school are abysmal. the pass rates for AP & IB bio, chem and physics are so low that i decided it wasn’t in my best interest to take them. i really thought i’d find better instruction in college… :/</p>
<p>Well, I have heard that physics and bio at Tulane have some great profs. I honestly don’t know what is going on with chem. Don’t let it get you down though. Things change and improve, and there are quite a few students that do well in the chem courses. Don’t let one department the basis for your decision, unless that was going to be your major. Even then, they might be fine for upper level courses and be doing good research. Hard to say without looking into it more.</p>
<p>S2 loved his physics prof, but it is only an n of 1.</p>
<p>well, i am planning to major in either molecular bio or biochem and i hope to go on to do an MD/PhD, so those courses do have an impact. i’m not freaking out or anything, i was just a little surprised to hear that chem and math are not strong at Tulane. it may or may not be something to consider more carefully.</p>
<p>Actually I disagree about math. Tulane actually has a strong math department, which is a different thing than having good Calc I (or whichever other intro course) teachers. Unfortunately, a lot of schools suffer the syndrome of having good upper level instruction and less success with freshman courses. This has been a point of contention on the WUSTL site and some others, especially for chem (what is the deal??!!).</p>
<p>ok, that’s good to know. i have taken AP Calc AB & BC, but planned to take Calc I & II (as well as III) in college anyway. i have heard really amazing things about some of the chem professors at Hendrix, another school i am seriously considering. one orgo prof in particular is apparently amazing. i realize that isn’t reason alone to choose a school but it all gets added in at decision time.</p>
<p>I’m sure the chem dept is great research wise. My problems are just with the teaching. I’m pretty sure it’s not just the intro level classes (gen chem & orgo), but also the upper level classes. I know several people who switched out of chem majors due to the disappointing instruction. I was considering adding a minor or double major in biochem prior to coming to Tulane, but will not be pursuing that now. I don’t want you guys to think I’m just ■■■■■■■■ or a bitter student. I ended up getting an A in gen chem. I am just really frustrated with the dept.</p>
<p>The math dept isn’t THAT bad overall, but it is def one of Tulane’s weaker depts. I think it is improving, though, and the grad students are awesome! I would still come to Tulane if you are a prospective math major, but I can’t say the same about chem.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard much about physics, primarily because I wont be taking that until junior year.</p>
<p>ciaobella- I am also considering pursuing an MD/PhD. The cell & molecular biology dept is pretty good (the main rotten egg is prof dotson, who is unavoidable), but the neuro dept is even better. Dr. V, who teaches cell 101, is AWESOME and really confirmed that i was pursing the right field of study. I think Tulane would prepare you well for an Md/PhD esp if you took the CMB or neuro route. </p>
<p>I also would have suggested you take AP level course-work. This is going to set you back quite a bit at ANY school, not just Tulane. In the entry level pre-med classes (bio, chem, & physics), you will be competing against students (often on a curve) who have taken these classes at the AP level and really know there stuff. That being said, it is still possible to do well, but you will have to put in a ton of extra time and energy.</p>
<p>tulane14: Dotson isn’t that bad. It sucks having him after having V, but you’ll live through it and you might even learn something… I did! I wouldn’t exactly want to hang out with the guy, but he’s a pretty good professor.</p>
<p>tulane14 -I do think your standards might be a bit high, and you really don’t have a lot to compare to, do you? You have one semester at one college under your belt. On what basis exactly do you say the math dept is one of Tulane’s weaker ones? Do you really think that some AP calc and one semester retaking calc really provides you with the basis and knowledge base to assess an entire department? Or making that generalization based on how intro calc is taught? You are welcome to your opinion of course, but perhaps it should be based on first hand knowledge and a bit more depth.</p>
<p>If you look at the threads in many other schools, you will see similar complaints about certain professors, which is no big surprise. You really don’t know about the upper level courses, and I can tell you from experience profs that are either bored teaching freshman level or just not good at getting back down to that level can be excellent at higher level courses, especially since those classes tend to be very small. I just think you are making sweeping statements about entire departments based on not a lot, and having talked to literally hundreds of students over the last few years some of what you are saying are not widely shared opinions. As I said, I have heard the same about some of the freshman chem teaching before. Too often, in fact.</p>
<p>The other factor is that some of these courses are very hard for a lot of people, and not just because of the quality (or possible lack thereof) of the teaching. Not for you apparently, but for many. This can cause a decent prof to be downgraded as well, that is human nature.</p>
<p>Finally, as far as I can tell ciaobella said she did take the AP Calc classes, and didn’t say one way or the other about anything else, so I am not sure why you said you would have suggested she take the AP classes.</p>
<p>yes, my standards probably are a bit high, but i’ve really done my research. i know LOTS of upperclassmen and have invested lots of time in making sure that i take full advantage of everything tulane has to offer. i took some extra college classes in HS, so i do have a bit more experience with college-level courses than most. i’m not basing my judgement of the math dept just on my personal experience, but a collection of observations of both myself and others. like i said it isn’t that bad, but that compared to some of tulane’s other depts, it isn’t AS strong.</p>
<p>i don’t really understand how you think i do or don’t know much about upper level courses, when you’ve never met me in person. </p>
<p>yes, these courses are hard, but they just become that much harder when a crappy teacher is involved. in things like orgo, students need all the help they can get, IMO.</p>
<p>ciaobella made it sound like since she was graduating early, she didn’t take many AP science classes.</p>
<p>these are just my opinions, take it or leave it. i just want to help parents and students make the best decision possible, because i’ve recently been through the college decision process, myself. the more information from the more sources they can get, the better.</p>
<p>What kind of observations, is my question. You have one semester at Tulane. Also, saying a department isn’t as strong as others is not the same as saying it is weak. Talking about individual profs you found lacking is one thing, talking about whole departments based on one semester is another. Personally, I think you are unfairly putting these departments, and therefore in the eyes of people considering Tulane the whole school in a bad light. I am not asking you to be a cheerleader or gloss over deficiencies, I and others have addressed problems in the chem teaching and with some calc grad students teaching the course in other threads recently. There were actions taken and changes made. I am suggesting, even though I don’t know you personally, that one semester taking lower level courses is a bit thin for judging an entire department’s quality or competency at teaching courses you haven’t taken. Everything else is hearsay and third party anecdotal. You could be right, but I think you are presenting yourself as more of an expert than you have a basis for. At this point you are an expert on the freshman experience with these profs, at least that’s how it seems to me.</p>
<p>i’m not an expert, and i never claimed to be lol. i’m not sure what you are trying to get me to say. do you want me to take back that i think the math and chem depts are weaker than others? i feel i’d be doing others a disservice by giving them info i think to be false.</p>
<p>every school has its strengths, as well as its weaknesses. i think it is good for prospective students to be aware of these when making their choice of where to attend.</p>
<p>When you make declarative statements with no qualifiers, it comes across like you have definitive knowledge.
Weaker in what way? At teaching freshman courses? Fine, you have reason to have that opinion. Weaker in terms of higher level research, at teaching upper level courses, at helping students get into great grad programs? You don’t know any of that. How many departments at Tulane do you really have in depth knowledge about to make that statement? There are a lot of departments. I am simply asking that you narrow your statements a bit rather than making such sweeping ones that cannot possibly have a basis in first hand knowledge. I certainly don’t think you should give info that is false. As I said earlier when your posts were specific to your own experiences, I thought that was wonderful. Love to see more students doing that.</p>
<p>ok… you two need to stop fighting because you both have been so helpful. like now! :P</p>
<p>i can absolutely see where you both are coming from and i think you’re both right. it is true that i am graduating a year early and i will have taken 8 AP classes, none of which are in science. i have a little over a semester left of high school and taking science AP classes isn’t really an option at this point. i have, however, taken several honors level science courses and they are taught by the same crap teachers who teach the AP courses at my school (for the most part… i do have a very good honors human bio teacher this year and just dropped a second semester class to add his zoology course; sadly, he doesn’t teach any AP classes.) i self-studied for the bio SAT II test i took this month, and if i had taken AP science classes, i would have had to self-study to pass those as well. so, i suppose it isn’t really any different having to do some extra work starting out in college. it is nice to have the heads up that that may be the case so i am prepared to do so.</p>
<p>i am concerned about poor quality teachers, though. i have no trouble with even the hardest subject if the instructor is decent; if he/she is stellar, i get totally motivated and am unstoppable. there is a big gap between a chem professor like tulane14 describes, and a guy who schedules extra review sessions 4-5x/wk to make sure his students can fully grasp orgo. i might NEED that help!</p>
<p>there is no perfect school, you always give something up. tulane matches me and new orleans has everything i want in a city, but because tulane requires the non-custodial parent form, and my father makes a lot of money but isn’t interested in paying for my college, there is little chance i can attend with the DHS (which, i think we can all agree, is a longshot.) maybe i will have a harder time getting the instruction i need to do well on the MCAT or get the grades i need in key classes, but i could say something along those lines about every single school i’ve applied to. they all have pluses and minuses.</p>
<p>t14–please continue to voice your opinions on anything and everything. i learn so much more from inside experiences than from rankings or college websites or marketing materials. i think most potential students can take even broad statements and keep them in perspective. and FC, you are pretty much an institution here so you have license to say whatever you damn well please. : D</p>
<p>it’s crazy that i am even on this site right now (stupid alarm!), so i’m going back to sleep. peace!</p>
<p>Oh, we aren’t fighting, lol. Just different takes on the topic at hand. I do respect t14’s motivation, intelligence, and her insights for the most part. I just think that there are many different shades of the “truth”, and I think some of these shades as presented by t14 are a bit unfairly dark. We both made our points, I am sure. Sweet dreams!</p>
<p>FC: “Weaker in terms of higher level research, at teaching upper level courses, at helping students get into great grad programs?”</p>
<p>I’m not claiming that I know ANYTHING about the level of research or help getting into grad programs. I am simply commenting on the quality of teaching. Many great researchers do not make great lecturers. When I say a dept is “weak,” or “weaker,” I am commenting from the perspective of a student in response to the quality of instruction received by both my freshman, as well as upperclassmen peers (who HAVE taken upper-level coursework).</p>
<p>ciaobella- i think you would love it here! overall, the instruction is great, especially for what you seem interested in. just be prepared to teach yourself gen chem I (there is one amazing gen chem II prof) & both semesters of organic. having the ap classes under your belt would have helped, but i understand where you are coming from. i know several people who have still done really well here but didn’t come from awesome high schools. i would just suggest going easy on the number of hours you take first semester so that you can really focus on gen chem and bio.</p>
<p>there are lots of research opportunities here (albeit competitive ones), but you can get them if you have prior experience and can make a case for why a prof should take you on. as someone thinking about pursuing an Md/PhD, you should try to get involved with research as early on as possible. if you end up coming here, PM me in the fall and i can help you with finding a position, if you’d like. i was able to get my foot in the door (aka getting an interview with a prof) with the help of an upperclassmen in the neuroscience club.</p>
<p>just so we are all clear, i <3 tulane and can’t imagine having gone anywhere else!</p>
<p>I had professor komendarczyk as well. And I second the recommendation to avoid him.</p>
<p>Question: How are the internship opportunities at Tulane? Better yet how is the Career Services Center at Tulane? Are they excellent at placing you in an internship any where in the nation if they have it?</p>