Top Scholars Weekend -- April 2014

fallenchemist
Wed, 09 Apr 2014 21:41:53 +0000

@almostdonehere - This isn’t to try and talk you back into Tulane, of course, but I do have a couple of questions.



I’d like to see more “academic kids” represented at the TSW. I can guess why they are not involved with student activities. My daughter is more of nerdy type but I thought Tulane would offer her the opportunity to break the mold. I would have loved to hear to some success transformation stories.

I don’t know what you mean when you say you can guess why certain kids were not involved, and I don’t know what you mean by success transformation stories. Can you elaborate?



The general honor program is too large (400 kids out of 1600) for me. I believe of the 400 kids, 75 of them would be offered the Scholar program. The scholar program is not based on the HS stats as far as I know. Since my DD received the presidential scholarship and the DHS, it would be nice if these factors are considered.

I don’t think those numbers are right. Just a few years ago, the percentage in the Honors Program was about 12-15%, so about 200 per class. I wonder if what you heard was 400 for the whole school (some no doubt leave the program if they don’t get the grades) so that is 400 out of about 6000. The program is absolutely based largely on HS stats for the initial invitations, and only those that got the Presidential and some that got the Distinguished Scholar Award are invited. This is definitely not 25% of the entering class. What made you think it wasn’t based on HS stats? I know the program is being redone, but it is still for the top academic achievers.



I stated this as a positive but I also wonder how does the students were able to double major and has a third minor and still graduate in 4 years (stated by one of our tour guide that this is pretty common with many students at Tulane). So a question mark on the rigorousness of the program.

I assume by “the program” you mean each major. The top students can do this because many come in with a lot of AP credits. Those that come in with none or only a few would have trouble getting in a double major and a minor. But as you point out, the audience here were students that mostly have a lot of AP’s. My D went in with something like 21 AP credits (I forget the exact number, might have been 23. I know it was in the 20’s) so she had more than a semester of credits going in. Some schools cap this at a lower number, but in either case it doesn’t take away from the rigorousness of the programs. In fact, because Tulane doesn’t force them to repeat intro level courses, they can take more courses in their major(s). I have compared the requirements for different majors at Tulane to those at WUSTL, Vandy and a number of other schools. The requirements are nearly identical. My D had a double major and a minor, btw.

The beer incident is really unfortunate and I honestly don’t think representative of the school. If they had been spotted by TUPD they would have been cited and the beer taken away.

Finally, as far as linen service, there just are not enough beds to house visiting students during a semester. At Orientation in the summer, the students are put up at Butler and linens are indeed provided.

Like I said, this isn’t really to change any minds but to clarify some issues. Although to be 100% honest, I always hate to see a DHS go unused, especially when Tulane was a high choice.