Questions about Tulane

[fallenchemist]

Hi @Chromiumite

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. But the good news is that I think there is an answer that makes both you and your parents happy. And this solution that satisfies both your wishes might just be unique to Tulane. But first your question about merit money.

You have a very high ACT/SAT score, a very rigorous schedule that challenged you as much as possible, and an excellent GPA. True, there are people that have higher GPAs even with such a schedule, but not many and the other two factors (test scores and rigor) overall means you are extremely competitive for a lot of merit money from Tulane, including being in the running for the full tuition scholarships (DHS and Paul Tulane). Just remember that both of those scholarships require an additional application besides the one for admission, and that you must apply either ED by November 1 or EA by November 15, and those separate applications are due by Dec 5, I think it is.

Now for the other good news. If you look at Tulane’s CS major, you will see it is called a coordinate major. http://www2.tulane.edu/sse/cs/academics/undergraduate/coordinate-major.cfm

Here is the important part (for this discussion) of the summary they give from the link above

The Tulane Computer Science Coordinate Major allows students to complete a series of courses in computer science, as well as a capstone course that demonstrates the application of computer science to a related subject. Students must complete a major in another discipline, which is normally the area of application for their studies in computer science. But any area in which a student is pursuing extensive course work can serve as the area of application. Upon successful completion of the coordinate major, the student’s transcript will reflect the fact that the student has completed the coordinate major in computer science with a focus on the area of application.

So as you and your parents can see, you can focus on your major of Neuroscience while taking coursework in CS towards that second major, and that you can use for your research and most likely apply to your honors dissertation, which I have little doubt you would want to pursue. And truth be told, in this day and age any expertise in CS and coding is a strong positive, no matter what direction you pursue.

Now you might wonder if this is going to be difficult to achieve, but with all your AP credits it will free you up to a great degree and provide the flexibility you need to complete everything without undue hardship. My D was in a position very similar to yours, with not quite as many APs. She majored in English and when she attended, her other major of Asian Studies was a coordinate major. She actually could have graduated in 3 years if she hadn’t spent her entire 3rd year in Beijing.

So I think Tulane truly sounds like the school that is ideal for you. It has strong merit money with a decent shot at full tuition, it is a strong school academically with a particularly strong neuro program that is excellent in having undergraduates do meaningful research, it has an Honors Program that is designed for scholars such as yourself to be supported to meet all your goals and graduate with highest honors, and finally it has a computer science degree that is ideally designed to support your wanting to focus on neuro and yet have a degree in CS that your parents desire you to pursue, and you all win. Frankly, and this is a bit of an aside, Tulane is talking about having a stand-alone CS major again someday, but I hope they leave it tied to other majors like this. Because to me, the main value in CS is that it is a very applied discipline, that it is always used in support of other endeavors. And to me, the more you understand that endeavor at a very deep level, the more valuable the insights on the computer side of things. But in any case, it is what it is at Tulane now and it fits you very well.

Let me know what you and your parents think about all this.