<p>I was recently accepted into Tulane and thinking about attending. Is it respected throughout the country? I applied as undecided because I am pretty lost on what to major in. Do they have a lot of undecided freshman? I would like to major in something that would almost guarantee me a job after graduation, so what would you recommend? I could see myself doing careers that are quite opposite to each other, but one of he careers I hve been looking into is speech pathology? If I go to tulane, could I get a major in that (communication disorders)? Also, do they automatically check to see if you are good enough for merit scholarships? I have a 3.8 weighted gpa and 32 act (out of state from alabama).</p>
<p>Tulane has an excellent reputation among national universities. It is also a known party school (if you want to avoid being in a situation where people drink in excess on a bi weekly basis). It is located in an awesome city. It is pretty preprofessional. For insider’s info, post in the Tulane forum.
Were you admitted to a specific college? Have you received your financial aid offer?
Look at the “honors program” page and apply; if there are competitive scholarships, their deadlines are likely to be Nov 15 or Dec 1 so look that up, too.
If you are undecided, look at the strength of the advising system.
Unless you applied ED, you have till May 1 to make your final decision, so don’t rush it and look at everything before you decide.</p>
<p>I applied non binding early action, so I assume I still have until May to make my decision. It seems to be in a great location and a good school. I don’t mind the drinking party scene, but really dislike Greek life. Do they have a lot of Greek life?</p>
<p>close to 1/3 of the men, one half of the women are in fraternities/sororities.</p>
<p>Okay, you have till May to read everything you can about it - start checking out Fiske Guide, Insider’s Guide to the colleges, and Princeton review’s best colleges. Compare their information. (Any edition 2010+ is fine, they’re not updated every year; school and town libraries would have them).
Chat with a current student (email admissions and ask politely whether you could chat with a current student who’s majoring in … like you hope to, they’ll probably say yes).
Post on the Tulane forum here on College Confidential.
In the meanwhile, continue exploring your options. Where else are you going to apply?</p>
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<p>I’m surprised Tulane is considered a party school if people only drink to excess once every two weeks.</p>
<p>I just don’t want to feel left out or overrun by Greek life. The other schools that I applied to were the university of alabama, auburn, and pittsburgh.</p>
<p>UAlabama is very big on Greek Life - bigger than Tulane.
Why did you apply to all these schools though? Honors College?
What’s in-state for you?
Do you have a high EFC and are looking for scholarships?</p>
<p>I live in alabama so applied to auburn and alabama as safeties and because I couldn’t think of where to apply. I used to live in pittsburgh and really love it there, and I know that they are strong in health/science. I got full tuition at alabama and got into the honors college and no scholarship for pittsburgh, but I feel that I would hate alabama because sports/Greek life/alabama in general isn’t for me at all. Though I’m sure I would really like tulane, it doesn’t seem that they have any major for me. Tulane doesn’t seem to really have anything to offer except pre med/pre business studies, neither of which I am interested in. I am feeling really overwhelmed with deciding on college/career path.</p>
<p>You have 2 more months before you have to decide to which colleges you’re going to apply in addition to those you already got into. You’re in an enviable position 
The Honors College at Alabama is pretty good, though, and you can choose to live in Honors Housing to avoid Greek Life. Sicne you’re already in, and in at Tulane, you have two awesome "safeties.
Now you can start applying to dream schools!
:)</p>
<p>Don’t feel overwhelmed about a career or a major: about 80% freshmen change their minds between January (when they indicate a potential major) and September (when they enroll) and when they actually choose their major… Essentially, odds are really high that if you’re undecided right now, you’re in good company. :)</p>
<p>Pitttsburgh: apply to Duquesne, Chatham - they’re both safeties if you got a full scholarship from Alabama. With these stats, Carnegie Mellon isn’t out of reach either so apply soon.
What major are you thinking about?
What are “must haves” for you (weather? 5,000 students or less/or more? Class size? 100% need met? Merit scholarship if your EFC is high?)</p>
<p>I was admitted to the university of pittsburgh as well as auburn and alabama.</p>
<p>Didn’t you say you didn’t get financial aid from Pitt, though?
Or is the award letter still upcoming?</p>
<p>No I didn’t get any financial aid from pittburgh, but did from alabama. I’m not expecting anything from pittsburgh because I heard most people who got scholarships had a perfect gpa and at least a 33 act.</p>
<p>Penelope, it sounds like you made the mistake of applying to schools that you really didn’t know much about, or that you disregarded huge “traffic ahead” signs so to speak, like greek life. It make me wonder why you applied to Tulane ED.</p>
<p>Well, that bus has left the station. Time to do some research about your choices and find reasons to accept or reject them. And if you’re not interested in going greek, then realize that you’ll need to be assertive about making friends and choosing clubs/activities to join. You can make a great college experience for yourself wherever you land.</p>
<p>LakeWashington - She didn’t apply to Tulane ED. Tulane doesn’t have ED. She applied EA, which is non-binding. So your comments are not really correct.</p>
<p>Penelope111 - I assume you have looked at the Tulane threads on here. If so, you probably know that I am quite active on that forum, and might have seen that I am a Tulane alum, have a daughter in her 4th year there now, and follow the school very closely.</p>
<p>I agree with a lot of what MYOS has been telling you. I am not sure about that 50% stat for women joining sororities, but it doesn’t really matter because what is important with regard to that topic is the overall atmosphere of the campus vis-a-vis Greek life. And at Tulane, it is an important but definitely not definitive factor. Over half the students, and maybe closer to 2/3 (it ebbs and flows) are not Greek, and with the school being in New Orleans, there are tons of things to do with your friends without having to depend on frat parties and such. So not going Greek is just fine with respect to your social life.</p>
<p>You asked about merit scholarships. Tulane has a variety of merit scholarships that you don’t have to apply for separately. They range in value from $8,000 to $30,000 per year. So if you are accepted to Tulane, you are automatically considered for these. FYI, if you are accepted and see that posted online, you won’t see the scholarship info. That only comes in the paper letter that follows in a few days.</p>
<p>Then there are also several full tuition scholarships that do need separate applications. The biggest ones are the Dean’s Honor Scholarship, the Paul Tulane Award, and new this year is the Stamps which is full ride, not “just” full tuition like the DHS and the PTA. I believe those applications are due December 15, but you will have to double check that. There is also a Community Service Award which is usually $15,000. But unlike the full tuition/full ride scholarships, the CSA can be added to one of the automatic scholarships, up to the amount of tuition. So if you got the scholarship worth $22,000 and the CSA, you would have a total of $37,000 in annual merit aid, almost full tuition.</p>
<p>Finally, as far as majors go, Tulane offers something like 70 majors. However, if you are looking for something really specific and Tulane just doesn’t offer anything close, then another school might be better. But talk to someone at the school before you decide too quickly. For example, you mention speech pathology and communication disorders. A major in neuroscience could be very applicable to this, and at Tulane there would be the possibility of working with the med school which has a relationship with the VA of New Orleans which does speech pathology work. [Tulane</a> University - School of Medicine - Neurology - Hospitals We Serve](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/som/departments/neurology/programs/residency/hospitals.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/som/departments/neurology/programs/residency/hospitals.cfm)</p>
<p>Or you could contact the Linguistics department to see what they have in mind when they say a linguistics major can lead to a career in speech pathology. <a href=“http://www.tulane.edu/~admincat/2007/pdfs/LiberalArts/Linguistics%202007.pdf[/url]”>http://www.tulane.edu/~admincat/2007/pdfs/LiberalArts/Linguistics%202007.pdf</a> (right hand column, towards the top). And of course, as MYOS mentions you could change your mind about your major completely, which is quite common. Tulane makes that very easy since you are not accepted to any individual school, but to all of Tulane undergrad (Newcomb-Tulane College), which means if you decide after a semester you want to be a business major instead, no problem. Or pretty much any other major. Obviously with some majors, like engineering, you are behind if you don’t start from the first semester, but of course that work can be made up. The point is that Tulane makes it much easier than many other schools to follow whatever path you desire.</p>
<p>Congratulations for having those admission letters in hand!
You are in a great position, really.
If you find out you don’t like Tulane (or UAlabama, but I think Greek life is more prevalent at UAlabama) it’s still time for you to explore other schools that might work better for you. Most LACS won’t have a Greek Life (or a very “quaint” one, cf. Knox or Beloit, quite unlike anything at UAlabama).
Hendrix is proud of having zero frat (they even have an anti-rush week :p) and they’re quite generous with purely merit aid, for instance.
Check out the women’s colleges (and if you want them in a consortium, think of Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Mount Holyoke) for zero Greek life but probably zero merit, too.
Not sure these schools would have speech pathology, too.</p>
<p>Tulane does have a fairly sizable Greek scene, but it typically takes a backseat to New Orleans night life. As for academics, they’re top notch. Very challenging though; half of my intermediate microeconomics class failed the midterm. But if you are willing to work hard, Tulane is a great place to study.</p>