Okay, so I just got my acceptance today, and they said “you are invited to become a member of the honors college blah blah blah…” talked about the weekends and what not too. Now is that all they will say, is there no application or anything? Thanks for the help.
So you received your notice today through the portal? Were you EA or ED2?
@Lukifer2018 “blah blah blah” ? nice.
There is no separate application - you’re in the honors program.
@dogspaniel Here is a super long rant/discussion on Tulane Honors
As a sophomore honor’s student, I can say that at least for me there really isn’t much of a “program” outside of freshmen year. As a freshmen, Tulane Honors Program has all sorts of activities, professor talks, RLC groups, etc that are for freshmen getting used to Tulane. The honors colloquium are not the most fun, but they do let freshmen engage with some of Tulane’s more well known faculty. Dean McClaren himself taught a section my freshmen year. However, once freshmen year ended, the perks of the Honors program are just simply a chance to live in Soho, the title, and the summer research stipend.
About living situations - Wall:
I lived in Wall last year, and quite honestly it was not what you would expect out of a honors dorm. The very open and social construction of the building makes for quite a rowdy bunch at times. Of course this also depends on who lives on your floor. My floor had its fair share of parties and 3 am drunk screaming college kids. There are other floors, however, that was very studious and quiet. I would still recommend honors kids living here because you will find like-minded people here.
About living situations - Soho:
I live here now and it’s honestly amazing. This is what you would expect of an honors dorm: quite, studious, and someone’s always cooking. Living in Soho is one of only ways to stay connected to the honors program beyond freshmen year. There are round table discussions that ALWAYS has great free food. The faculty in resident is professor Michael J Moore, so if you’re interested in start up companies, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and musical composition, look forward to honors sophomore year.
Soho is a wonderful place for studying (all my friends study here), and it is absolutely beautiful. Each floor has a uniquely shaped common room and the RAs are super chill. 10/10 would recommend.
About GPA:
Don’t worry about it. Once you make it freshmen year, the 3.6, they don’t care after that. If you’re able to get into honors in the first place, you have the ability to maintain a 3.8 at Tulane. Notice I said maintain. If you screwed around and failed your freshmen year, you’ll have to kiss honors goodbye. For reference, I have a 4.0 as an engineering major. You’ll be fine.
About graduating with honors:
You do not need to be in the honors program to graduate with honors. Tulane deals its latin honors purely on GPA. I think it’s the top 15% gets cum laude, top 10% gets magna cum laude, and the top 5% gets summa cum laude. The honors thesis allows for some other perks detailed on this website: https://honors.tulane.edu/content/requirements.
Honors perks:
Housing (Soho!!!)
Freshman year fall semester’s priority registration (you go before the seniors!)
Honors advisers
People to help you apply for nationally competitive scholarships (Goldwater, the Bill Gates one, the study abroad in Oxford/Cambridge one)
Summer research stipend (you come up with your own project and professor adviser, they give 6 weeks of money for housing and food)
The title (looks real nice on freshmen resumes aka almost black resumes)
Freshmen perks (exclusive inside info on how to get scholarships, internships, and others)
FREE FOOD (like so much free food)
Honors downfall:
The program is still in the process of developing and therefore will change year to year
Not the best program for liberal arts and business majors (Altman, Newcomb scholars are better programs for these majors)
Not the most friendly GPA requirement for science major
Basically, program is designed for STEM majors but with the GPA requirements of business and liberal arts major
Your experience of honors varies depending on where you live
Honors colloquiums are a bore
You’ll be forced to be extra competitive because you live around kids that already own companies (I’m not kidding), learned how to excel at their major when they were 12, lived in all the unique countries (Singapore, Egypt, Turkey, France), has the coolest hippest hobbies, and gets good grades with little effort.
Very helpful discussion. (DD is into the Honors College with a big merit package and she loved Tulane when she visited. She will be back for the weekend. Is the summer research stipend for a particular summer or any summer?
The summer research stipend is for any summer other than the summer before freshman year and the summer after senior year. I have attached the website link for more detailed info. @texbritmom
https://honors.tulane.edu/content/summer-research-opportunities
Thank you!
@SomethingScience Thank you for the insights! What is the name of Soho on the housing website? Couldn’t find it. Thanks!
@DSWY888 Soho stands for Sophomore Honors dorm. It’s the dorms nick name :)>- Officially it is Weatherhead Hall, and I would even say the best dorm on campus. It’s built like a luxury hotel.
@SomethingScience thanks! We’ll definitely check it out in March!
do I have to live in the honors dorm as a freshman if I’m in the honors program or could I live in sharp or Monroe?
also, are all/most of the classes for honors kids segregated from everyone else?
@sss111222 You don’t have to live in the honors dorm (Wall). Many freshman in the honors program choose other dorms, the post popular being Sharp and Monroe. The community service for honors (Colloquium) is different than the Tides for non-honors.
There are very few honors courses. Physics and colloquium being the only 2 I can think of.
Most honors students take the exact same courses as the rest of the student body.
so if I chose to stay in honors I would still be in the majority of my classes with non honors right? also is the work for honors much more difficult?
@sss111222 Yup! Outside of colloquium, I can say that you will take all your classes with the rest of the students. Again, there are very very few honors courses.
Honors work I can only say for colloquium and intro physics. For colloquium, it really depends on your professor. I had simple weekly reflections that were just based on your thoughts. Others had to finish reading the entire Iliad in 2 and a half weeks (90+ pages a night). Most people ended up with A and B though. As for physics, the material was much more theoretical and proofs and included more material than the normal class. There was also a very nice curve at the end (85% is an A). So yes, it is harder but your grades will not suffer because of it.
thank you!! what are the benefits of honors? do u think I should take it? is it worth it?
I listed the benefits of honors a few poss back on page 2. Basically, it’s an additional program that just provides opportunities to get ahead of your peers, but very little extra work outside of the colloquium. It’s not the traditional honors program aka the honors elite peeps that live in special housing, ok we do live in special housing but they are NICE, and take special classes. Honors at Tulane is more of a title than anything. Don’t worry about not having a social life or being isolated as an honors student at Tulane 
I would say take it! Why not? It’s one extra class that’s what I consider an easy A. If you don’t think you like it, you can always drop honors. There are other programs at Tulane that may benefit you more (i.e. Altman program for business and international development, Newcomb Scholars a special cohort for women, the Liberal Arts Medical School Program.
wow thank you so much @SomethingScience !!! one more question… I know you said that honors students can live in monroe and sharp, this is like a general question, but how do I ensure I end up in monroe or sharp and not another dorm? is it first come first serve?