Tulane

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egg12 said:
So is the housing around the uptown campus generally pretty safe and convenient for getting downtown?
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Yes. If you look for somewhere very close to the uptown campus (like a 5 minute walk) you might have some inflated prices because of the location to that campus. If you live uptown but a little closer to the CBD (such as the garden district) you could bike or take the street car to class. (Street car times are not reliable though so you need to leave extra time). I am one of those people who needs a car, so if you have one that would obviously be a lot easier- parking isn't a problem uptown.
Check out this map: http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/maps/neighborhoods/neighborhoods.gif

In terms of safety, New Orleans doesn't have as distinct parts that are high-income compared to low-income as other cities do. In some areas you literally have mansions that are 5 blocks away from condemned buildings. There is a lot of crime in the city, but I never felt unsafe as long as I was being smart. Don't walk anywhere at night by yourself that isn't a well lit street is the best advice I can give. Also, I wouldn't recommend living in the Marigny area, I've heard lots of stories about crime over there.
 
Have any of you received any notice of scholarships or other awards?

Also, I called again about the status of my application (its been 8 days since I last heard from them). Hopefully it doesn't take them another two weeks to get back to me :-(
 
Just got a call back. I was accepted on the 22nd, just haven't received a packet or letter yet :-D
 
Seems like a 2 bedroom in Papillon would be relatively reasonable. And it has the shuttle going by which would be great. Gosh I just don't know what to do!
 
I received my letter/packet in the mail today (letter dated 3/22 but not postmarked until 3/28). Anyway, I have a couple of questions:

How long did it take before you were able to log into Gibson online? I still can't and I may need to enter my SS# for the financial aid office.

I applied for Summer 2012 but my letter says " Please be advised this is a 45 credit hour program beginning in the fall semester of 2012." I am still putting that I intend to enroll beginning this summer on my decision postcard, but I am wondering if anyone else who applied for summer had such a contradiction in their letter. It's imperative that I begin my coursework this summer since my boyfriend will be getting transferred next summer and I intend to move with him.

All in all, I do wish Tulane made more effort in the "wooing" of potential students. I think my experience with Emory spoiled me 😛
 
OneDay81 said:
I received my letter/packet in the mail today (letter dated 3/22 but not postmarked until 3/28). Anyway, I have a couple of questions:

How long did it take before you were able to log into Gibson online? I still can't and I may need to enter my SS# for the financial aid office.

I applied for Summer 2012 but my letter says " Please be advised this is a 45 credit hour program beginning in the fall semester of 2012." I am still putting that I intend to enroll beginning this summer on my decision postcard, but I am wondering if anyone else who applied for summer had such a contradiction in their letter. It's imperative that I begin my coursework this summer since my boyfriend will be getting transferred next summer and I intend to move with him.

All in all, I do wish Tulane made more effort in the "wooing" of potential students. I think my experience with Emory spoiled me 😛
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I logged into Gibson only after I accepted the offer and after they emailed me with my tulane.edu email address. I'm not sure if I could have previously logged in or not.

I applied for fall (my letter said fall too), and my advisor told me I could start in the summer if I wanted. So I just put summer on my decision postcard, and they've got me down for summer.
 
Ah, okay! Well, the postcard is already in the mail so they should have it Tuesday or Wednesday.

Have you contacted or been contacted by your advisor yet?
 
OneDay81 said:
Ah, okay! Well, the postcard is already in the mail so they should have it Tuesday or Wednesday.

Have you contacted or been contacted by your advisor yet?
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My advisor actually emailed me and let me know I had been accepted a good three weeks before my packet came. I got to meet him when I visited in January.
 
HSUReddie said:
I couldn't agree more with this!


Also, anyone starting in the summer??? Since I'm doing trop med, and it "supposedly" can be done in a year, I'm going to go ahead and get a head start. I just now realized though that's going to make it tough or near impossible to find a roommate though since most people are going to start in the fall. I might be better off to just get a room in Deming.
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Hey there! I have been scouting out the tropical med program for a while, went and visited this last summer. I graduated pharm school last year and am really interested in what others perspectives are regarding Tulane and opportunities with tropical med degree. Though somewhat helpful, I found the professors to be slightly vague regarding what to expect from the combining of these two degrees. Any insight you can share with me would be greatly appreciated (scholarships/financial assistance, length of program, etc). Thanks again! P.S.this may be a silly question but what is Deming?
 
threegrntrees said:
Hey there! I have been scouting out the tropical med program for a while, went and visited this last summer. I graduated pharm school last year and am really interested in what others perspectives are regarding Tulane and opportunities with tropical med degree. Though somewhat helpful, I found the professors to be slightly vague regarding what to expect from the combining of these two degrees. Any insight you can share with me would be greatly appreciated (scholarships/financial assistance, length of program, etc). Thanks again! P.S.this may be a silly question but what is Deming?
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Well I suppose being that you graduated from pharmacy school, you would only be eligible for the MSPH in Parasitology/Trop Med, which is what I've been accepted for. (The other program is an MPH & Tropical Medicine, which is for physicians, although they claim they take RN's and such on a case by case bases. Not sure how they would feel about a pharmacist applying.) The main differences between the two programs are there are a few more clinical based classes that the medical professionals are only allowed to take. I don't think either program, or Tulane in general, are particularly known for their generous financial assistance. Personally, I'm planning on loans, loans, and more loans.

The MSPH is a one year program (or so they say). They told me since they had recently made some changes to the requirements that most people take a year and a half. It's still a 45 hour Master's like most MPH degrees. Personally, my draw to the program is that it is much more science-based that other MPH degrees. My background is in biology, and I plan on going to medical school so I felt it was much more targeted towards that. You still get the public health core though, which I like because you're also getting that social science background and connection with healthcare. Eventually, I'd like to do clinical or field research relating to Trop Med and work overseas for a period of time. As far as the combination of a pharm degree and the MSPH, I suspect maybe since they've had fewer people of that background in the program, that might have contributed to their vague response. My initial thoughts would be that you could be involved in some sort of capacity of neglected tropical disease drug research. It would also be interesting to be involved in increasing access to medicines overseas as a career.

I've personally been impressed with how helpful the Trop Med department is at Tulane. My advisor (who is the advisor for most all the MSPH students) seemed very nice and willing to help in any way he could. I think from things that I have heard, it is a smaller department than most at the school, and everyone is pretty tight-knit. One of the professors had her whole lab do either or triathlon or adventure race or something like that.

Oh and Deming is the sort of dorm/apartments available to the public health and medical students at the downtown campus. Let me know if you have any more questions. 🙂
 
Hello! Thank you for the reply! I am just beginning to dig into different options regarding further education, and am quite impressed with what Tulane has to offer, but am sorely disappointed with the cost. I have substantial student loans already from pharmacy school, and really need to take that into consideration. I did make a brief visit and talked to them about students being accepted on a case-by-case basis for both programs. I ultimately want to incorporate entomology/botany and international travel into my career, but I'm not sure of the best route to take. I have looked into one other masters/PhD program specifically in entomology that offer research opportunities with minimal cost and have living stipends available, but they don't offer anything associated with public health, international emphasis and other variables that Tulane offers. I know I have quite a bit of legwork ahead of me, as this process is quite new. I would really like to contact a student that is in or has finished the Tropical Medicine program to find out more about their decision process and experience. I am grateful for where I am in life and having finished with my pharm D, however, I know I really want to pursue this specialized niche…. just not sure quite how to yet J Reading through this blog has been very helpful!!
 
When are you all planning to go and secure housing? I'm just not sure what the timeline is, would going down in May/June be enough time?
 
I won't start looking really until July

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Just put my postcard in the mail this morning; see you all this summer (or fall)!

Now the apartment search begins... Ugh.
 
Got my email address finally! It's getting more and more official.

Gibson Online told me my registration starts April 12, I'm not even sure what I'm doing. Eek.
 
egg, are you starting in summer or fall? I really need to send mine in this week. Are we supposed to register without advising?
 
egbos said:
egg, are you starting in summer or fall? I really need to send mine in this week. Are we supposed to register without advising?
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I start in the fall. And I have no idea. When I went to visit they gave me a degree plan but no one really told me what to take for sure.
 
Your admissions letter should state who your advisor is (at least mine did), so you should shoot him or her an email. Advising can be done via email. In my experience at other schools, your advisor has to submit something saying you have been advised or the system won't let you register.
 
Ok thanks. I guess I'll contact my advisor. Egg, I'll be starting in Epi too so we should share any good advice we get on classes!
 
I just noticed that my letter does not say anything about my needing to send copies of my transcripts. Did anyone get anything saying that they need them?

Nevermind... I just started looking over the "Things To Do Before the 1st Day of School" checklist and it says it on there.
 
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egg12 said:
Got my email address finally! It's getting more and more official.

Gibson Online told me my registration starts April 12, I'm not even sure what I'm doing. Eek.
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Mine says the same thing. I don't know what to do. I haven't gotten my award notification from financial aid, and I know on the cost of attendance they only account for so many hours. But my program is a year (still 45 hours) so I will be taking more in a single semester, but I'm unsure if they'll let me take out that much in loans...? Then there's the summer addendum, which I'm so confused by, and since I have no clue how much money I'll get for the summer, I'm not sure how many hours I should register for....

If anyone is interested, and not completely creeped out by rooming with someone on here, I'm probably either looking for a roommate or will move into Deming. The allotted amount for rent in cost of attendance is around $8400 for 9 months and that is cutting it closer than I would like to on a single bedroom.
 
You'll need to register for at least 12 hours for summer, 15 might be better. 15 summer, 15 fall, 15 spring = 45 credits in one year.

The summer courses you will register for will be the PH core courses, since that is just about all that is offered during the summer.

Just like it says on the addendum, you can take out up to the cost of attendance in loans (counting grad plus loans).

They actually allot $13,440 for room and board for 9 months -> apx $1493/mo which is ALOT. You can definitely live cheaper than that. Schools always overestimate so you can get more loans. They also allot for 30 credits for fall/spring in the estimate.

http://tulane.edu/financialaid/hsc/sphtm/sphtm-cost-of-attendance.cfm
 
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Thanks for the link, I couldn't figure out exactly where they were getting their numbers from. Maybe we can make a facebook group or something so we can see what other people are planning to do for housing/registration/etc?
 
OneDay81 said:
You'll need to register for at least 12 hours for summer, 15 might be better. 15 summer, 15 fall, 15 spring = 45 credits in one year. Damn I'm good at math. :/

The summer courses you will register for will be the PH core courses, since that is just about all that is offered during the summer.

Just like it says on the addendum, you can take out up to the cost of attendance in loans (counting grad plus loans).

They actually allot $13,440 for room and board for 9 months -> apx $1493/mo which is ALOT. You can definitely live cheaper than that. Schools always overestimate so you can get more loans. They also allot for 30 credits for fall/spring in the estimate.

http://tulane.edu/financialaid/hsc/sphtm/sphtm-cost-of-attendance.cfm
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Huhmm. Thanks. On Gibson they list room and board separately - added it comes to about $13,000. They also separate parking and transportation and tuition and fees. It still comes up to about a $5,000 difference.... I'll try to figure it out later.

As far as classes, I have the MSPH Parasitology/Trop Med "guidebook." It tells you pretty much exactly what to take each semester, give or take electives and core classes, and what not. (The the semester plan doesn't even start this summer. It has a person starting in the fall, and still finishing by next summer - which means 18-20 credit hours per semester.) 😱

I'm just not sure how many core classes I can swing this summer. 😕
 
HSUReddie said:
Huhmm. Thanks. On Gibson they list room and board separately

I'm just not sure how many core classes I can swing this summer. 😕
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Argh I wish I could get into Gibson already!

Why aren't you sure you can swing it? Finances?


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OneDay81 said:
Argh I wish I could get into Gibson already!

Why aren't you sure you can swing it? Finances?


Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
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I need to ask them some questions about the summer addendum... because if I can't get enough money for that many hours, there's just no way I can take that many hours.

It also concerns me that the MSPH, being a year long, is just more hours per semester (which I don't mind during a normal semester), but during the summer....? There's a couple of classes that are basically only a month long in the summer. But I suppose at some point I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. 😛
 
In my experience, accelerated classes are "dumbed down"

Have you taken statistics before? What is your biology background?

I've taken epidemiology before and it is VERY easy unless you are terrible at math.

I would recommend at least taking Biostats, Epi, and TRMD 6010 since they are prereqs for a lot of other classes. They won't take up a lot of your time either, so you will have time to work to help with finances, if you want. However, I would recommend taking another 3-6 hours of core to keep you on track.

Were/Are you in school and did you receive any financial aid for this Fall 2011/Spring 2012?
 
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OneDay81 said:
In my experience, accelerated classes are "dumbed down"

Have you taken statistics before? What is your biology background?

I've taken epidemiology before and it is VERY easy unless you are terrible at math.

I would recommend at least taking Biostats, Epi, and TRMD 6010 since they are prereqs for a lot of other classes. They won't take up a lot of your time either, so you will have time to work to help with finances, if you want. However, I would recommend taking another 3-6 hours of core to keep you on track.

Were/Are you in school and did you receive any financial aid for this Fall 2011/Spring 2012?
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I haven't taken statistics mainly because our bio dept doesn't over biostats. Our ecology class, which I'm currently in, covers a fair amount of statistics though just because we don't get it in other classes. I'm a biology major though so I've got the biology covered, and as far as math, I've had all the way up to Cal I. My advisor told me I could probably skip out on Biological Basis of Disease (TRMD 6010) - but you have to make up the hours in electives.

Unfortunately, I'm on scholarship and did end up taking out loans up to the cost of attendance to pay for applications and traveling down to NOLA this semester, etc.

I need to figure out if for summer they just give you money for tuition... or if they give you up to the cost of attendance for summer as well.

And thanks for the tips. I really like how helpful everyone on here is to each other. 😀
 
I am turning in the paperwork to apply for a waiver for TRMD 6010 as well as EPID 6030 and transferring in 3 hours of electives, hopefully. They don't give much guidance on how to do it, except providing the form, and my advisor hasn't returned my email yet (athough I have to remind myself I just sent it yesterday lol).

If nothing else, I would think you would be eligible for Grad PLUS to cover the cost of attendance for the summer. I'm not sure how any Stafford loans would be calculated ($33k minus anything you already borrowed for 2011-2012?)
 
I was thinking about doing the same with a few courses so please let us know if your advisor gets back to you about it!
 
OneDay81 said:
I am turning in the paperwork to apply for a waiver for TRMD 6010 as well as EPID 6030 and transferring in 3 hours of electives, hopefully. They don't give much guidance on how to do it, except providing the form, and my advisor hasn't returned my email yet (athough I have to remind myself I just sent it yesterday lol).

If nothing else, I would think you would be eligible for Grad PLUS to cover the cost of attendance for the summer. I'm not sure how any Stafford loans would be calculated ($33k minus anything you already borrowed for 2011-2012?)
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Regarding course waviers....

I emailed my advisor earlier today and heard back from him a couple of hours ago. I was asking about Biological Basis of Disease - he is the instructor for that course. Here's what he says...

"Attached is a list of the current lectures. Make sure you have covered the majority of the topics in your other courses. You need a copy of the transcript. It does not have to be official. Highlight relevant courses – those you listed seem appropriate. Fill out the form and get the signatures and attach the syllabus. I can sign as both your advisor and course instructor. You can do it after you arrive."

I've attached both the list of current lectures as well as the list for summer courses that he sent me. The latter is blocked out and easy to look at and figure out what you can take in this summer.

Also, core course waiver form is here: http://www.sph.tulane.edu/publichealth/academics/upload/corewaiver.pdf
 

Attachments

Which courses are you going to use to try to claim the exemption? Looking at that syllabus, I guess I will highlight cell biology, genetics, human nutrition, my EMT course, human nutrition, microbiology, and histology and hope that cuts it. I just need to know ASAP because otherwise I will need to register for it this summer, which means I will need to quit my job or make some sort of scheduling arrangements or something :/ Does he mean attach the syllabus he provided or the syllabi for the courses you are using to claim the waiver?

How stressful!
 
OneDay81 said:
Which courses are you going to use to try to claim the exemption? Looking at that syllabus, I guess I will highlight cell biology, genetics, human nutrition, my EMT course, human nutrition, microbiology, and histology and hope that cuts it. I just need to know ASAP because otherwise I will need to register for it this summer, which means I will need to quit my job or make some sort of scheduling arrangements or something :/ Does he mean attach the syllabus he provided or the syllabi for the courses you are using to claim the waiver?

How stressful!
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I was assuming he meant the syllabi for the classes you wanted to use as the exemption. It's a pretty extensive process. I will say though, when I talked to him about it in January, he seemed pretty laid-back about it - which I'm finding Tulane seems to be about everything. I don't get the vibe that they'll try to make problems for anyone.

Personally, I plan on using Microbiology, Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II, Cell Biology, Genetics, Animal Physiology, and Biochemistry.
 
Hmmm well hopefully they don't need syllabi for them all because that would be quite a task for me to get them. Perhaps course descriptions will suffice, since it lists that as an option on the form. I think I will send him an email. I'm trying to set it all in motion asap, as well as get the damn immunization form thing straightened out since I don't have my childhood immunization records.
 
HSUReddie said:
Personally, I plan on using Microbiology, Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II, Cell Biology, Genetics, Animal Physiology, and Biochemistry.
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I emailed him and listed A&P I & II, Cell Bio, Genetics, Histology, and Microbiology and he said I am missing chronic disease stuff. 😕
 
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HSUReddie said:
I need to figure out if for summer they just give you money for tuition... or if they give you up to the cost of attendance for summer as well.
😀
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I just got off the phone with one of the financial aid advisors asking about something else, but I went ahead and asked about your situation too and he said that they provide tuition and fees plus apx $450/wk per week of enrollment for living expenses (I assume that is prorated if you go less than full time). So, if you were taking classes fulltime from 6/4-7/27 you'd get about $3600 for living expenses for two months. Then I guess you're on your own for a month or so until you get your fall disbursement.
 
OneDay81 said:
I just got off the phone with one of the financial aid advisors asking about something else, but I went ahead and asked about your situation too and he said that they provide tuition and fees plus apx $450/wk per week of enrollment for living expenses (I assume that is prorated if you go less than full time). So, if you were taking classes fulltime from 6/4-7/27 you'd get about $3600 for living expenses for two months. Then I guess you're on your own for a month or so until you get your fall disbursement.
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Thanks for asking! That sounds okay. I mean obviously I don't like the whole being on my own for a month, but it doesn't surprise me either. I'll just need to try to find a job ASAP.

Also, I hope the whole chronic disease thing doesn't end up causing a problem with the course waiver. I actually sat in on that exact class when I was visiting. They were talking about introns and exons. Considering I've heard that a thousand times over, I was sort of --> 😴 I mean no one wants to take anything that's a waste of their time or money.
 
Exactly. Even thought it could be an easy A i'd rather not waste my time.
 
Did any of you hear anything about combining degree programs or creating your own kind of degree? Did they discuss that at any of the visit days or anything?

The reason I ask is because I applied for the MS in epidemiology, but I want to take pretty much every Tropical Medicine class there is, haha. I want my degree to be in epidemiology in order to prepare me for an epi PhD, but I want as much of an infectious disease focus as I can get, including lab work.

Any thoughts? I plan to discuss this with my advisor, but later; I don't want to give her the impression that I'm rejecting the standard epi curriculum before I even get there.
 
The degrees are somewhat flexible but obviously you have to meet the requirements of your concentration and the tropical med students are going to have first priority for their courses, and the scheduling of their courses may conflict with your Epi courses. I think its possible but possibly difficult, expensive, and may prolong your degree.
 
OneDay81 said:
The degrees are somewhat flexible but obviously you have to meet the requirements of your concentration and the tropical med students are going to have first priority for their courses, and the scheduling of their courses may conflict with your Epi courses. I think its possible but possibly difficult, expensive, and may prolong your degree.
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Since Trop Med is only a year (for the MSPH, not sure about the MPH&TM that MD's do), I imagine our required courses are on some pretty tight scheduling. There won't be a "oh, take that next year," for us... so I will defend my place in one of these classes quite viciously. :laugh:

That being said, I don't think there are a whole lot of us... so there might be spare places in the class. 😀
 
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