Sorry I don’t know, @Chopinspiano, when my daughter applied it was via the Tulane application which simply had 2 essays-- the typical college essay and the optional Tulane one. At the time Tulane did not accept the Common App.
@Chopinspiano, yes, there was. I almost forgot to fill it out, although I saw it when I reviewed the app. I don’t think it actually said it was optional
@usualhopeful are you sure? I would’ve done it i it was required. :-S
@Chopinspiano the exact wording is “Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.”
I get the feeling that it’s sort of like the other supplement, and it mostly matters if you have high enough stats that you could be using Tulane as a safety school.
@usefulhopeful thanks! That was under the optional submit your resume correct?
I wouldn’t sweat that part, but again if you want to cover your bases you can always send an email to your admissions person saying something like “I may have overlooked this part of the application as being required, so I wanted to go ahead and let you know what a couple of my EC’s were all about.” They will be fine with that.
@Chopinspiano: M D said the extracurricular essay was required and it was in the activities section, not by the optional Why Tulane essay. (Interesting location) D was accepted EA today: ACT of 35, unweighted GPA of 3.97, 7 APs, SAT subjects of 790 and 760, singer and theater ECs. She is thrilled and we are hoping for some merit aid!
I did not fill out the extracurricular essay, should I have done this? How many words does it have to be? I am freaking out about this. Could someone give insight?
Goodness @momzhood she will get the top partial merit award almost without doubt. I certainly hope she is applying for both the DHS and the PTA. Full tuition plus fees, with a shot at full ride.
@neuroprospect98 All it says is “brief.” Mine was a bit under 150 words, I think probably 150-250 is the preferred size. I would go with @fallenchemist’s advice to (a) not freak out and (b) consider sending your admissions counselor an e-mail explaining that you forgot the essay + talking a bit about one or two of your ECs.
hey hey no worries! my friend forgot the extracurricular essay because it is hidden, so she emailed admissions and they just had her email it to them in PDF so it could be attached to her file. not a problem at all.
I’m a bit confused about this “extracurricular essay” you are talking about. Is it only on the common app? I didn’t remember my son writing one, but he used the Tulane app, so I went back and looked at it. The Tulane app just says:
“We want to learn more about how you’ve applied yourself during your high school years. Be sure to mention any involvement in athletics, music, community service, employment, etc., as well as any special honors (academic or otherwise) you may have received and any hobbies/interests.”
Then it gives you an option of listing your ECs out or attaching a resume. He attached a resume.
So, if the Tulane app doesn’t have it as an essay, perhaps they are only looking for the list/resume.
Seems odd to have fewer essays to do on the Tulane app than the common app.
As I mentioned, this strikes me as a lot of worry over very little. I am sure all applicants gave Tulane enough information about their ECs. If you think that attaching a list of them and expounding briefly about your favorite will help, then by all means go ahead. It absolutely cannot hurt.
I attached my resume. I guess I assumed since the resume was optional the writing portion below it was as well. I guess I will send it the my admissions counselor tomorrow. It won’t hurt me.
And I guess the EC thing didn’t matter. I just got accepted via Gibson. I’ll post my stats tomorrow when my wifi starts back working.
Great news @Chopinspiano !
Congrats everyone! I’m getting pretty nervous because I thought I was a solid-ish candidate and everything was in by 10/23. Has anyone from the north Texas area heard yet?
@Le1997 we are in Garland and haven’t heard yet. Applied SCEA first week in August.
Hey if i get a congratulation message when I log into gibson does that mean i got in?
@TexasMom0321 Okay! I guess the counselor hasn’t gotten into our area yet. I know there is only one counselor responsible for all of Texas minus Austin and San Antonio, so fingers crossed.