a word for anyone who might be applying to tulane in the future

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

<p>i recently was rejected from tulane, but that has no bearing on what i'm about to post....</p>

<p>...if you aren't interested in the school, don't apply.</p>

<p>i've never posted on any CC form, but i've lurked a lot, and what i have seen on this board has always disturbed me. people applying to tulane "just because they got a free application", or people applying to tulane "just to see what happens", or people applying to tulane "even though i dont want to go; i just want to see how much financial aid they would offer me". or people adding tulane to the list of 7-15 schools they are applying to.</p>

<p>its asinine. applying to a school (any school, not just tulane) "just because" is a terrible reason to apply, and in the end if you get accepted it only steals an admission spot from someone who wants to go and is equally or more qualified stats wise.</p>

<p>i also think it is asinine to apply to any more than 4-5 schools. there is no reason to apply to 12 schools. the valedictorian of my school (a private prep school) applied to 8 schools, despite the fact she was more than extremely qualified to get into (and get a significant amount of scholarship money) from half of them. </p>

<p>i don't know why teens have turned into this. from my observation this generation has turned high school seniors into neurotic messes who absolutely NEED to apply to at least 7 schools, otherwise they will stress themselves out over the decisions (even if they are practically a shoe-in for more than a handful of them). i think another reason for this increasing trend is the fact that parents are becoming neruotic as well, and feel the need to plan and map out their child's life and career (note: i am not at all implying that all parents are like this, but it would be ignorant to say they don't exist).</p>

<p>this all might have come across as bitter. and i wont lie, i am a little bit bitter. i wanted to go to tulane. but in the end i got into another school of equal academic quality that i really like (syracuse) and honestly, nothing will stop me from becoming what i want to be in my life. but i just needed to get this off my chest, and ask any future applicants to Tulane (or any other university for that matter!!!!!!!) to really sit back and question if there heart is really invested in it. because if it's not, you are just cheating the system and robbing someone of something they really want.</p>

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<p>I agree with you that the applications game has gotten out of control. But another point of view about the process took place in my house. My son applied to Tulane in panic mode when he was rejected from his ED school several years ago - just because Tulane made it easy for him. He was accepted with merit money and we went to visit just for the heck of it. The school clicked and he enrolled and loved it. So you never know...</p>

3

<p>Also, in the past few years there have been no "guaranteed" status for applicants, no matter how qualified they appear. Counselors who have worked in college admission offices recommend that students apply to at least 2 reaches, 3 matches and 2 safeties. That adds up to 7 applications at a minimum. Better to apply than sit back and say "what if". </p>

<p>I'm sorry OP didn't get into Tulane if they had a desire to. However, it sounds like you have an excellent alternative in Syracuse and you certainly appear to have the drive to achieve your dreams.</p>

<p>Best of Luck to you!</p>

4

<p>I strongly disagree. I am one of those who applied to Tulane purely due to the ease of it - no application fee, no new essay, quick decision, and so on. Sure, I had previously heard of the school (Yay for John Grisham! Although, admittedly, Pelican Brief isn't one of his better novels =/) but if not for how simple it was, I never would have thought to apply there, let alone attend. It wasn't so much that I had heard bad things about the Tulane, but rather that I hadn't heard much at all about it beyond the name and location, at least not in the comparison of other schools, namely those in the Northeast.</p>

<p>I was accepted. The merit scholarship made it too good of a possibility not to look into, so I visited the campus. There I was sold, ten times over (College Visit report says why, for those curious =p). Now I have sent in my deposit, and can't wait to attend this fall.</p>

<p>My point is, just because you aren't interested doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. If you know, no matter what you wouldn't go there, then I suppose that's one thing, but if you aren't too familiar with the school and would actually look into it if accepted - why not? Could end up loving it, like myself. </p>

<p>
[quote]
and in the end if you get accepted it only steals an admission spot from someone who wants to go and is equally or more qualified stats wise.

[/quote]

Colleges have this statistic called yield - the percent of those admitted who actually accept the admittance. They know that not everyone admitted will attend, and they factor that in. That's why Tulane, for example, accepted ~8000 people but they plan on having an incoming class of ~1500. If they knew for a fact that everyone admitted would accept and attend, they would admit MUCH less people. As such, no one is stealing a spot. Relax. </p>

<p>Yes people are applying to more colleges than ever - but who can blame them? College admissions are highly unpredictable. I got waitlisted at some schools I expected to get accepted to, I got accepted at some schools I expected to get rejected from, and so on. You shouldn't get angry at those who try to play it safe by applying to an excessive number of places. Once again, refer back to the yield. Schools know students are applying more places than ever before, and as such they keep that in mind when considering how many would most likely accept an admittance. Also, remember we are in a recession, and college is not cheap. Someone could apply to 3 schools, get accepted to one, and not be able to attend due to financial reasons. By applying to, say, 8, getting accepted at, say, 4, they can then compare the financial aid packages and not get burdened by loans because the sole school they got into offered little.</p>

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<p>i am absolutely with atlas. i'd never heard of tulane before seeing that the character dr. burke from grey's anatomy had attended there. then i received their email with a free application and thought i'd apply just for a safety, just in case. who knows what would end up happening anyway?</p>

<p>i got in, and got a 24k/yr scholarship. i started paying attention right away. i book flights and register for honors weekend. i got emails about their merit scholarships and applied for the dean's honor scholarship. come february, i hear that i've won full tuition to tulane. a week later, i go on my visit for honors weekend and fall in love - with the campus, with the students, with the resources, with the classes, with the dorms, with the honors program.</p>

<p>i got waitlisted at my top three choices - brown, upenn, and washu - and thinking back, i realize that if i didn't have tulane, i would not have a school at which i was accepted and at which i woudl be happy. i wouldn't be happy at bc, or fordham, or geneseo, or u of rochester. but because tulane sent me that free application and i applied "for the heck of it," i found a school i will be elated to attend if i don't get off any waitlist.</p>

<p>i wouldn't have found "my" school if it weren't for applying to so many schools.</p>

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<p>akiterunner; I understand your concern your post, but there are a few things you might be overlooking here. The fact that you didn't get accepted to Tulane, I believe, does have some bearing on your initial post. It's hard to get a rejection letter. Many people want to believe that if a person who turned down a college; or better yet had not even applied; then they possibly could have been that very next acceptance instead of a rejection. Mathematically you are possibly correct. I disagree on a few points here. Here are some of the things you need to consider.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>College/Universities are a business. They are trying to get your business and your money. They, especially those with free applications and other offers, are particularly being active in trying to get your business. If they didn't offer free applications and similar, then they wouldn't get so many people applying. For a school like Tulane who is trying still to recover from Hurricane Katrina, you are just a number. They lost a lot of students who dropped out and didn't re-enroll. They are trying for the masses here. They are the ones offering free applications, no essays, etc.... and making it easier for people to apply. Remember; all colleges look for diversity. Maybe they want more applicants so they can get more diversity.</p></li>
<li><p>College/Universities have already factored in how many students are going to get accepted to their school and change their mind and decide not to attend. This is already in the number of applicants they accepted. A prime example would be the Air Force Academy. They are going to accept approximately 1300 students each year. They know that between 9200-10000 will apply. The will OFFER approximately 1700 applicants and appointment. They know that about 400 will change their mind and decide on another school. Tulane, Georgetown, Princeton, etc... do exactly the same thing. At tulane, there are about 5200 FULL TIME undergraduates attending the school. About 1500 are freshman. So, no matter how many apply, Tulane will accept probably close to 1800 or so. The already have factored in how many will probably decide NOT to go after all and will accept another school. If too many actually accepted, they would just bite the bullet and accept them. They can also affect this number by how much money they give the applicants with merit aid money and such. So, while you may think that those applying and changing their mind later are wasting slots, that's already been factored into the equation.</p></li>
<li><p>This is one of the most things I think you are overlooking. Most students have no idea what school will say yes and which ones will say no. If a student wants to apply to Tulane as a safety school because the entire process is free; and they MIGHT GET LUCKY and get in with a good scholarship; then more power to them. I can't tell you how many times people are on these forums totally confused because they can't believe they didn't get accepted to a college. They talk about their excellent gpa; extra curriculum; etc... The problem is; they don't understand that colleges/universities are a business. As a business, you have to sell yourself. I believe in applying to as many colleges that you want to. I do however don't believe in applying to a college if you don't have any desire to go. That's a waste of application fees. But, if a school wants to allow you to apply totally for free, then go for it. You never know. That could be the ONLY school that accepts you and offers you the money to go. Again; most students have absolutely no idea what school is going to say yes. There were a lot of disappointed people around here who got rejection letters, who were POSITIVE 6-8 months ago that they were a guarantee to get in where they were applying.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I'll be honest. My son is probably one of the people you are talking about. He most definitely liked the idea of going to Tulane. However, he never would have applied had they not been a free application and no essay online application. He did it strictly as a safety school. But, it was most definitely a school he would love to go to. He had no idea in the beginning if he would be accepted by them or any school he applied to. Yes, he applied to 7 schools and was accepted to all 7. My son decided against going to Tulane mainly because he was offered much better deals financially from 3 other schools. Yes, Tulane offered him a nice merit scholarship. That's fine, but it only covered about half the costs. So, in this case, it paid off to apply to numerous schools. Because even if you are accepted to your dream school, let's say it's tulane, who's to say you will be able to afford it? You don't know what kind of scholarships and aid they are going to offer you until you apply.</p>

<p>So; while I am sorry that you didn't get into tulane, all those people who applied, got accepted, and turned it down, had absolutely no affect on your acceptance status. I know you think they did, but they didn't. Tulane made more than 1500 offers of acceptance this year knowing that quite a few will choose another school and thus leaving them with about 1500 who will actually attend. If anything, this process gives you a BETTER chance of getting in. The current way means instead of being in the top 1500, you need to be in the top 1800. Also, each student needs to take care of themselves. While it is nice to be sympathetic to others who are applying, they need to do what is best for them. This is like a job interview. There is absolutely nothing wrong with applying to 7-10 schools. As long as they are schools that you would like to go to, then apply. I have a lot of students tell me that they aren't applying to certain schools because "THEY CAN'T AFFORD IT". I tell them to apply to every school they want to and can afford the application fee. You never know what the school will say. I've seen merit scholarships, dean scholarships, honor scholarships, grants, private scholarships, etc... get kids into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, UT, etc... Too many people think that money for college can only come from the school or the parents. That just isn't so. True, Harvard and ivy's don't offer merit scholarships. But there is a lot of money out there that can get you into Harvard. You just need to know where to look.</p>

<p>By all means; apply to as many schools as you can afford the admissions on. If they are free, then most definitely go for it. Obviously, if you have absolutely no desire to go to a school, then it's a waste of your time to apply. But if you wouldn't mind going there, and the school made it free and easy to apply, THEN GO FOR IT! For those who care, the first thing to realize is that College is a BUSINESS. As such, you have to market yourself. For instance; if you are from Wyoming or Montana, then you AUTOMATICALLY have about a 25% better chance of getting into Harvard, Yale, Princeton (or even Tulane and others); than a student say from Florida. Even if your scores, gpa, essay, isn't quite equal to that student in Florida. WHY; you would ask? Because ALL SCHOOLS WANT DIVERSITY. There are a whole lot less kids applying for and attending Harvard, Yale, and Princeton from Wyoming and Montana than there are from Florida. Even less going to Tulane. Just like a kid from Florida has a much better chance getting into the University of Wyoming than a student, even with better stats, from Colorado. There are plenty of kids from Colorado applying. Not too many from Florida. It isn't affirmative action, it's diversity. Each school wants about a 50/50 male/female. If the USA population is certain percentage of blacks, whites, hispanics, asian, etc... they want it about the same in the school. They also want those from all 50 states as well as foreign countries. It makes the school, classes, students, etc... a more interesting place to learn.</p>

<p>So, again, I am sorry that you didn't get into tulane. But I want you to understand that your bitterness is a little misguided. All those people who applied, got accepted, and eventually turned down tulane had practically no affect on your not being accepted. Not unless you were the #1 NON SELECTED. Because of the schools understanding of people changing their mind, the school actually offers MORE than the amount of acceptances they will actually go with in the fall. This actually IMPROVES your chances of getting accepted. And for those who are applying to schools; apply to as many as you can and want to afford the application to apply to. Don't worry about what the college charges for tuition. You never know what they might offer. You won't know unless you apply. And remember to keep diversity in mind. The further away you apply to, and the more obscure the school is from where you live, the better chance you have of getting accepted. Of course, this don't apply to the 2.0gpa student out of high school. Good luck everyone.</p>

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<p>i don't go to tulane but I would like to add that you're 17 when you apply to college. You don't really know what you want and your spontaneous. I applied to a couple schools for the heck of it, reaches to safeties. I applied to Pitzer for the heck of it. Rejected. I applied to NYU-Tisch film for the heck of it. I got in and went. </p>

<p>Out of the 9 schools I applied to, I was only seriously interested in 3 or 4 by the time march rolled around and I regretted not applying to many others.</p>

<p>As far as the crazy amount of apps, that's because there are more kids and less people getting in places. My brother applied to 9 schools this year(4 acceptances, 4 rejections, 1 waitlist). It was so random. He was deferred then rejected at BC even though his senior first trimester grades were outstanding (you think that would be why he was deferred in the first place). He got into Tulane, Elon, Clemson and Babson. He applied early to every school except babson. But I think he might not have gotten into the other three if he didn't apply early. He also was waitlisted at Richmond (***, gets into tulane but not richmond?). Rejected at BC, USC, UCLA, UNC.
It was a competitive year, and as long as it's competitive, people need to keep adding more safeties to balance out their reaches.</p>

<p>And a fact, tulane's admissions rate was lower than NYU's this year.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
i also think it is asinine to apply to any more than 4-5 schools. there is no reason to apply to 12 schools. the valedictorian of my school (a private prep school) applied to 8 schools, despite the fact she was more than extremely qualified to get into (and get a significant amount of scholarship money) from half of them.

[/quote]
Well , if you are trying for the top of top schools, nobody is a shoo-in anywhere and more-than-qualified students are more than likely to be rejected. As 80% of the students who got rejected from Harvard can attest--they were all qualified or more-than-qualified to go, but of course almost all of them were rejected.</p>

<p>Also, the "you're taking a spot away from someone who really wants to go" thing only works for a short period of time--true, if one less person applied this year, another would have gotten in. However, the next year, the college would account for that in its yield percentages. So I guess you do have a right to feel bitter :/</p>

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<p>kiterunner:</p>

<p>If you search cc, you will find a rather long thread discussing why applying to hundreds of schools does not hinder other applicants. (Hint, a student can only attend one, so multiple apps only creates more uncertaintly for the admissions office, not the students.)</p>

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<p>I completely agree with the OP here.</p>

<p>I only applied to schools I knew I would like to go to - all of which my guidance counselor considered reaches (but what does she know, right?). I knew if I applied to my state school I wouldn't be happy, so why not roll the dice and try to get lucky? (Though I guess I got lucky that Tulane, among the other schools I applied to, needed my services in the track and field department).</p>

<p>I don't understand the point of doing something in life you don't want to do - why apply to Tulane if you don't want to go to Tulane? Like I said, I only applied to schools I wanted to attend. I only applied to internships this summer that, even if I get the "worst one" I applied for, I'd still be happy. Why settle, right?</p>

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<p>Applying if you know you don't want to go is one thing.
Applying if you don't know much about the school, but would look into it if you got accepted quite another.</p>

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<p>Atlas; excellent point. Of course, if you say to yourself that there is no way in the world I would go there even if they offered my a full ride; then that is a waste of your time to apply. On the other hand, if you say that you wouldn't mind going if I get accepted and the price is right; then you should apply.</p>

<p>The whole reason tulane has a "No Application fee, No extended essay, etc..." policy ISN'T to make it easier on you the applicant that they are going to accept. It is marketing. They WANT as many people as possible to apply to the school.</p>

<p>I think that too many people think that either the slots are unlimited or that the is a hard and fast number that they are going to accept. It doesn't work that way. Not for tulane, harvard, princeton, or any other school. They already know that a certain number of their acceptances are going to change their mind. They already know that they aren't the only school that you are applying to. Most of all, they know that you haven't the slightest idea which school is going to say yes and which one's are going to say no.</p>

<p>Whether Tulane is number 3 of my 10 acceptances and I say no to them and 8 others is not relevant. Nor is it relevant if I only applied to 2 schools; tulane and 1 other and turned down tulane for the other school. Your acceptance and eventual turning down of tulane does NOT affect any other student getting in or not. If anything, because schools know a certain percentage will turn the school down, they offer more than they expect to actual admit in the fall. Therefor, you actually increase the odds of other students getting in.</p>

<p>Remember, there are also wait lists to deal with. These are usually the ones close to the cut off but just over. Many schools do this with early applications. So, if you got turned down and weren't on their wait list, then there's a good chance that you weren't going to get accepted no matter how many people who got accepted turned tulane down.</p>

<p>People get confused when they aren't accepted. I know that it's personal and it's tough on the emotions, ego, pride, spirit, etc... The fact is, you can be a 4.0gpa student with what you think are excellent credentials, and still get turned down. Maybe you just don't fit their mold. Maybe they have too many girls and not enough boys. Maybe they have too many applying from your state. Maybe you didn't show enough on your application to make you "Special". There's a lot of reasons.</p>

<p>Not to turn the subject on this thread, but whether you are applying to Tulane, for you future applicants, or to another school, there is one thing you have to remember. You have control over the application. Your grades are what they are, can't really change those. Same with SAT/ACT. But you control the extra curricular activities. Sports, music, art, volunteering, taking IB/AP classes, Boy Scouts, NHS, other clubs, holding officer positions in these clubs, work experience, etc....You are basically applying to a job interview. You need to make your application stand out among the thousands of others. You have to show that you are different and would be an asset to their school. You also control the essay. You need to sell yourself. It's already been said numerous times before. There are a lot of 4.0 valedictorians who have been turned down to princeton, harvard, yale, etc... The #1 student in the graduating class, and they were turned down. WHY??? Because there are hundreds and thousands of other kids with just as good of grades as this #1 student applying. If you want to get in, then you need to be different.</p>

<p>Also; Universities are made up of individual COLLEGES. E.g. college of engineering, health science, arch, etc... The students who get accepted to their top colleges usually already know what they want to major in. If they can't sell themselves as being super special, they find out what the school needs. I.e. College of engineering may not have a lot of students majoring in engineering. If you say you want to major in engineering, they are more likely to accept you than if you want to major in business. I have a lot of experience getting no just my own kids into colleges, but working with guidance counselors at the high schools and state university. They are always looking for kids to get into a certain college and major. Many times, these colleges at the university will even give you EXTRA SCHOLARSHIPS just for majoring in that college. So go out there and apply to as many schools as you like to. Apply to all the schools you are interested in. Some people mention "Reaches, Matches, and Safeties". I DON'T AGREE WITH THIS. Apply to all the schools you want to go to. Then, when those that accept you come in, compare those to see which one will give you the education and experience combination that you are looking for. Also keep in mind the cost. School #6 might not be quite the same as school #2 that accepted you, but if #6 will give you a full ride and #2 is going to cost you $25,000 a year, then you might be better off with #6 and saving the extra money for graduate school. Anyway, sorry for getting off topic. Good luck to all of you.</p>

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<p>I think people should do what they want to, if you don't have the stats to get in then maybe its not the school for you.</p>

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<p>I can see both sides here, maybe because I'm right in the middle. I was really serious about going to Tulane and I was waitlisted. I'm disgusted with the way Tulane marketed because it was kind of sleazy, and it made the supposed one month decision into three. I think there are people who apply to way too many schools and that this whole process in general is out of hand. At the same time I don't think I should tell people where to apply and where not to, regardless of interest. I applied to the University of Washington without being very serious, but it looks like I might end up there now. (You could argue a similiar case that I was taking an admission spot from some in-stater) I think the thing is that this year was waaay more competitive, especially at Tulane. Yeah, I wish I didn't have to apply this year, because I probably would have gotten in last year, but that's life! Don't apply somewhere where you're not even going to consider. But you SHOULD apply where you have interest, even if you're not serious, because you never really know...</p>

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<p>christcorp-
I think you are interchanging the term "acceptance" for "enrollment". Tulane accepted about 8000, with an enrollmant of 1400-1500. </p>

<p>As for the "what the heck I'll apply" attitude, for those who are considering Tulane, even as a safety, I think it is ok. For those who are doing it merely for sport (someone once said kids at their school applied early as a bit of a contest just to see how many would get in), IMO that is inconsiderate-- a waste of the admission staff's time. </p>

<p>For those who view Tulane's marketing as, I couldn't disagree more. Look how successful it has been. Fo a school to hve a 100% increase in applications is unheard of. To drop down to a 22% acceptance rate from something like a 37% is also unheard of. My s feels wanted. He feels important. These are good things. For the admissions staff to greet him by name at events is impressive. I applaud their strategies, even if it means they will catch a few shells and rocks in their net.</p>

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<p>jym; that is exactly the point I made a couple of times. Most schools, including tulane, will accept a lot more students than will actually enroll in the fall. They know kids are going to have more than 1 school that accepted them and as such they realize that many that they accept will choose not to enroll.</p>

<p>All these extra kids applying, getting accepted, and deciding against going to Tulane have virtually no impact on kids not being accepted to Tulane. If you had what Tulane was looking for, for acceptance, then you would be one of the 8000 accepted. Of course, there will be that 1 kid who was the cutoff of those accepted, but another kid getting accepted and having no real desire to attend probably didn't affect this cutoff kid getting accepted. Instead of accepting 8000, they may have only accepted 7950. The school has their standards of what type of student they are looking for. If you didn't get accepted, there's a real good chance that you still wouldn't have gotten accepted. Even if not one kid without any true desire to attend Tulane had applied.</p>