Tulane Honors?

<p>I was recently accepted into Tulane's Honors Program, and I am curious as to what life in the Honors Program at Tulane entails. What is the social scene like? How are the classes in regards to professors, class sizes, and difficulty? Are the people in the Honors program generally friendly? Thanks in advance for answering! I am very seriously considering the program, but I would love to know more about it before I commit.</p>

<p>The nature of your phrasing leads me to believe you are comparing the Tulane Honors Program to an Honors College at schools like Arizona State or Alabama. They are very different.</p>

<p>At an Honors College, quite often, the students are housed separately, many of their classes are completely segregated from the general population (sounds like prison so far, lol) and they are separate schools within the university umbrella. Tulane’s Honors program, on the other hand, is much more like a distinction for those students that are more inclined to pursue academic honors and fellowships, and give them guidance and opportunities to do so. It is simply woven into the overall structure of the undergraduate college, Newcomb-Tulane College and its 5 schools (Architecture, Business, Liberal Arts, Science & Engineering, and Public Health & Tropical Medicine). The underlying difference is that at a state school, where most true Honors Colleges exist, there is a much wider spread of academic abilities. State schools were losing all the brightest students to privates or elite state schools like Berkeley, UVA, Michigan, etc. so they created these significantly self-contained Honors Colleges. Schools like Tulane have a much narrower distribution (and at a high level compared to national averages) of demonstrated academic performance within the undergraduate population, so there is no need to create an Honors College.</p>

<p>So at Tulane, there are relatively few Honors designated sections of classes, and they are actually open to all students but Honors Program students get preference. These classes have always existed (always meaning at least back to the 70’s when I attended), even before there was an Honors Program. All classes are generally small, although Honors sections do tend to be even smaller, like 10-15 instead of 20-30. There are dorms that are designated Honors, but many Honors Program students, maybe half or even more, choose to live in the “regular” dorms. The people in the HP are not really that different than the other students, and most like to be very social. I think it is fair to say that, in general, they don’t party as hard or often as some other students, but of course there are exceptions on both ends.</p>

<p>The Honors Proram had a major change starting this year. Before, you had to take at least an honors class per semester (or was it per year? Anyway, moot point now) and do a research thesis to graduate with high Latin honors (summa cum laude or magna cum laude), and get a certain GPA for either of those. Now they have eliminated the honors class requirement (although just like before they even came up with the program there will still be honors sections of some classes) and the thesis requirement, but increased the minimum GPA required to achieve those Latin honors.</p>

<p>So as far as I can tell, the main purpose for the Honors Program now is to provide the most academically gifted/oriented students with the assistance needed to meet all their goals, as well as to provide an overall atmosphere in line with their preferences. The main thing in this would be the honors dorms, which are generally quieter than the other dorms. I hope this helps clarify the topic for you.</p>

<p>I too was accepted to the Honors Program. I visited the school last week and actually spoke to the coordinator of the program to find out exactly what it was about, as I had never heard of it before I was accepted. Basically, Tulane created this to convince smart kids to come to their school. In my opinion, it’s entirely a gimmick. The coordinator tried very hard to convince me that there were special privileges for honors student, but there really aren’t. Basically, you have the option of living in an Honors Dorm freshman and sophomore year, but the dorms are only 50% honors students… the rest are regular students who don’t get their first choice dorm. There are some classes that are only for honors students, but it’s basically only the freshman seminars. In addition, you have the option of writing an Honors thesis your senior year on the major you’re studying so on your diploma it says “Honors.” And you get preferential class selection as an incoming freshman. And that’s it… I’m serious. I spoke to some honors students at Tulane and they said NO ONE at the school talks about whether they are in the honors program or not. They don’t even know if any of their best friends are in the program or not. It’s a great school; it’s absolutely beautiful and everyone there is so happy! And, if you got into the honors program, I’m assuming they offered you a lot of money because they offered me $25,000. It’s a great great school, but their honors program is a bit of a sham! Just my honest opinion.</p>

<p>Well, I think “gimmick” and “sham” are a bit overstated, but I actually don’t disagree with your overall take on it, especially now that it has changed. At least before when there was a requirement to take a certain number of honors classes and do a thesis, it was an attempt to get the most academically serious students together, along with putting at least some of them in the same dorm. Of course no honors student was forced to go into the honors dorm, and many chose to be in the “party” dorms of Monroe and Sharp. They just wanted that kind of college experience, and there is nothing wrong with that. But I would quibble with the characterization that the ones in the honors dorm that are not in the program are there because they didn’t get their first choice. That may be true for a few, but quite a few students that were not invited into the program to start ask to be in Butler because they want the quieter atmosphere. A scan of postings over the last few years here on CC will confirm that.</p>

<p>The other original intent of the Honors Program was to identify and encourage students that were most likely to want to try for the most prestigious scholarships and fellowships after graduating. This would include awards such as the Rhodes, Trumans, Goldwaters, Fulbrights, etc. In fact, Tulane had a stellar year this last round of Fulbright recipients. There is a special advisor within the HP for that purpose. Also, graduating with highest Latin honors is important to many students. The HP served the purpose of ensuring those students met all the requirements, but as I said starting with this year that has changed. The criteria are now quite simple, and you don’t need a thesis to graduate summa cum laude or magna cum laude. You do still need one to graduate with departmental honors (i.e. with Honors in your major) for most, if not all majors. But that has nothing to do with the honors program per se.</p>

<p>You are also correct that there is a high correlation between merit money and being in the program, since the same criteria are used for both. So pretty much only those that are offered the top merit awards are invited into the program.</p>

<p>So to some degree I think your take on the program is because you just happen to be coming onto the program as it has had a major change, but you are right it has never been a really big part of being a Tulane student, as least as compared to being in an Honors College at a state university. That is why I relentlessly correct people when they refer to the Tulane program as an Honors College. I just think “sham” and “gimmick” imply a motivation on Tulane’s part that was never there. Instead, I think that given Tulane’s party image (it used to suffer from that image much more than now, although any reading of these and similar forums demonstrate it is still overblown) the administration was trying to give the brightest of an overall bright student body something that would allow even greater focus on academics, while at the same time not alienating or disparaging the rest of the students. A fine line for a school like Tulane indeed. It is no wonder that other top privates don’t have such a program, but again they generally didn’t have the PR issue Tulane did. So I think the intent was genuine, but now it seems that Tulane has achieved a lot of its goals regarding increasingly talented incoming classes. That makes the Honors Program’s original intent less applicable, and perhaps it will fade away. I don’t know, it still represents an opportunity to gather the very best students and get them to more strongly consider Tulane. Maybe there are better ways to approach that now. We will see what develops.</p>

<p>Pinky- I have 2 kids at Tulane, one a senior non-Honors (though was welcomed into Honors at some point due to a high GPA) and a freshman who was initially admitted into Honors. A section of your post that really resonated with me was this:
“I spoke to some honors students at Tulane and they said NO ONE at the school talks about whether they are in the honors program or not. They don’t even know if any of their best friends are in the program or not.”
I think you hit upon something that, not only is true, but also is a factor that makes Tulane special. It is exactly that “feel” to Tulane that my kids like about the school. I recognize it isn’t for everyone, but it may be for some.</p>

<p>In the Tulane Honors housing, does each room have its own bathroom? (I know this is a stupid question!!)</p>

<p>It is not stupid in the least, but the answer is no. It is a hall bath, like most freshman housing. The closest thing to having a private bath is the suite arrangements, with two doubles or a double and a single sharing a bath. For freshmen, only Wall has this I think. Well, parts of Paterson too. Butler is an older dorm, probably 40-50 years old. I don’t think many colleges were doing suite style dorms back then. It does have interior brick walls, which a lot of students like.</p>

<p>this is all very helpful, thank you. It seems that the housing situation is not anything special in terms of amenities, but that the social life is particularly strong.</p>

<p>I would say that’s about right. Of course Wall is residential college style, which means a prof and their family live in the dorm, and the students participate in all aspects of running the dorm and the activities calendar. So that makes it different. SoHo (Sophomore Honors) is also that way, and the new Zimple House will be as well. Tulane’s goal is to have all dorms be this way eventually.</p>

<p>Well, I have to say this is a bit discouraging to hear. In addition to being offered a spot in the Tulane Honors program, my daughter is hoping to get into the Honors program at our flagship state university. Their honors program includes special dorms, priority registration for classes, smaller classes, and many extra privileges such as research opportunities, internships and scholarships for study abroad. I would hate to think Tulane’s Honors program is just a nice title which makes certain kids feel like they are getting something special, when actually it’s not.</p>

<p>Well I have a son in the honors program at Tulane and one in an honors college. There are perks in both programs. Tulane did give my son priority registration his first semester and he got into SoHo his second year, which is a very desirable dorm. He has had wonderful counseling, and challenging classes at Tulane, and he has never suffered from not being in a traditional honors college.
My second son is in an honors college and he lives in a designated honors college dorm. He has more requirements for the college than son number one, and it is harder to stay in the honor’s college. He also has had social/activity requirements he has not been too happy about.
I think an honors college is about making a large school seem smaller. Tulane just does not need a college within a college.</p>

<p>I think we are getting off track here. Tulane is a highly selective university, and so differs greatly from state schools that have these separate Honors Colleges such as Arizona State, Alabama, Penn State, etc. My D looked strongly at Barrett Honors College at ASU, where they had just built new dorms and other facilities just for that College, basically creating a bit of a LAC feel within a very large state university. They also had a generous offer in terms of finances, but in the end it is still a very large state university. They obviously cannot offer an honors version of every class the university has.</p>

<p>So let’s look at what you say the honors program at your state university offers and compare it to Tulane, just ignoring the Tulane Honors program. Special dorms, check. Priority registration, check. Smaller classes, check plus, since all of Tulane has smaller classes. Again, I emphasize that the state U. cannot possibly offer smaller classes for every topic your D might want to take. Research opportunities, check. Undergrads at Tulane are vital to the research conducted there. So that leaves internships and study abroad. Of course, her scholarship applies to study abroad, but granted there are no special funds otherwise, unless she is accepted into a special program like my D was where the Chinese government paid for her entire year in Beijing, including a stipend for travel and tourism while she was there. We had to pay the airfare. I have heard that the Newcomb Institute is proactive in finding internship opportunities, but there are no guarantees. But I would have her take a close look at the Newcomb Institute and the Newcomb Scholars Program. That is a strong benefit of Tulane, along with the benefits a smaller private university offers in general.</p>

<p>Maybe look at it this way. Suppose they had never mentioned the Honors Program, that it didn’t exist, but instead she had just been accepted with the big scholarship. In a way it is saying the same thing, because only those that get the big scholarships are invited into the program, and saying they are in the program is a shorthand way of saying 1) They get the priority registration; 2) they get the honors housing if they want it (and gowill is right, SoHo is a very new and very nice dorm. Naturally I wish there was something comparable for freshmen honors, but at least Butler is quiet if that is what she wants); 3) She gets special advising for numerous grants and scholarships that are available to top students, and not all are for after undergrad. Many are for special studies abroad. Also there are funds at Tulane for student initiatives, some through the Newcomb Institute I already mentioned. Being in the HP certainly adds to one’s resume when applying for these kinds of opportunities.</p>

<p>Like many things in life, these things have to be taken advantage of. They are there, but no one walks up to you and says “Here, take this”. But if the student takes advantage of these resources, good things can happen.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with an Honors College, in and of itself. As gowill says, it has its minuses to go along with those pluses. Depends on the kid. But it isn’t an absolute bubble. But Tulane overall is, statistically, much like an honors college at many of these state schools. I don’t think one should lose sight of that. If you look at my posts on this topic from the very start, going back at least 4 years, I have always said that the main purpose of the HP at Tulane was to keep the students on track to graduate with highest honors and help them with getting the special scholarships and fellowships afterward, if that is what they wanted. Now graduating with highest Latin honors is not dependent on the previous HP requirements. Otherwise nothing has changed, so I am not sure what the disappointment is.</p>

<p>Okay, well after reading everybody’s posts, I stand corrected! And this will certainly give me ammunition in my discussions with my daughter when the time comes to make some decisions.</p>

<p>My son started in the Honor’s program and did stay in it a few semesters. It certainly looked good on his resume when applying to law school (he ended up at Tulane, ironically!).</p>