<p>Hi, I applied using the Priority Application around the second week of November. I didn’t discover the online site to track your application until a few days ago so I am unsure how long it took to change. It now says “Your application is complete. The Committee on Admission is working to render your decision as quickly as possible.” Two of my friends from my school applied with the Priority App and both have already recieved their acceptance letters. I don’t know what date they sent their applications. I have not yet recieved a letter, does this mean I was rejected or deferred? Do they send out acceptance and rejection letters at separate times?</p>
<p>Definitely does not mean your result is different from theirs. As you say, you might have sent your stuff in later. However, unless there is a screw-up, you will see your result on-line before you get a letter. And while there have been screw-ups of other kinds, that is one I have not yet heard of happening.</p>
<p>They will send out letters of either kind shortly after making a decision. Since they do it on a rolling basis, there is no “batch” mentality of sending out all the letters of either kind at a specific time. I imagine you will hear from them shortly.</p>
<p>I think the admissions department is trying to get all the early action decisions back by Dec. 15th because my status changed to complete on Friday (the 4th) and I emailed my counselor and she said I should know by early next week.</p>
<p>My status was changed sometime today to:</p>
<p>**Your decision is pending review. We will try to get you a decision in just a few weeks, but you will receive a decision by December 15th at the latest. **</p>
<p>I just spoke to my adcom at the end of last week about e-mailing him something to add to my application. He received it today, so I wasn’t expecting any change for the next few days, but then I get this. What does it mean?!?</p>
<p>So does everyone get that personal application offer? They promise a quick admission decision and it’s been more than a month and a half.</p>
<p>nervoussenior - I think it just means he got your stuff and is looking at your app. I wouldn’t read more into it than that. If you were borderline I would say he might be checking with other people or something. But I rechecked your stats and it is very hard for me to believe there is any doubt about you getting in. In fact, maybe what he is doing is getting some input on any merit scholarship they might offer. You are a solid Tulane prospect. Remember…Inhale, Exhale…Inhale, Exhale…</p>
<p>God, I wish they would update that Gibson website. I’ve been looking at that “$12.3 Million Gift for Latin American Studies” article for 5 weeks now.</p>
<p>My daughter has been inundated with mail and e-mails from Tulane. Yesterday, she received another e-mail inviting her to use the priority application and waive the fee and essay. Since the application is free and there is no essay, I told her to apply. She said she is not interested. How would you rank Tulane?</p>
<p>The same is also true for Drexel. Are the two comparable?</p>
<p>She should know she won’t gat a quick response from adcom! :D</p>
<p>Depends on the adcom. Like any place of work, some are more responsive that others.</p>
<p>Hi NCDanceMom - well, there is a lot to say about this, and many of the past threads address various aspects of your question. I will give you some links and comment a little, but let me address the ranking question.</p>
<p>If you go by USNWR, Tulane ranks 50th. I won’t go into my tirade again about USNWR and how flawed their ranking system is, but in short 25% of the rank is the assessment of admistrators and faculty from other schools from all over the country. This really hurt Tulane because most of those people have never been to New Orleans and the campus and only know what they hear on the narrow and “biased” news reports post Katrina. If you went and saw for yourself, you would realize nothing could be further from the truth than to lump Tulane’s current state with what is reported for other, limited parts of New Orleans. Downtown, the French Quarter, the Garden District and most of the rest of New Orleans is just fine.</p>
<p>If you go by the quality of the student body as measured by SAT/ACT scores, Tulane ranks about 30th in the country. I think that is pretty damned good, but even that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is seeing for herself and talking to students and faculty and then knowing if it fits her or not. For what it is worth anecdotally, my D had her choice of excellent schools, at least in terms of being accepted (money was a different issue, lol). 2330 SAT’s, 5’s on her AP’s (6 of them total I think), only a couple of B+'s all through school, etc, etc. She is just finishing her first semester at Tulane and she loves it. She feels the academics are very good and challenging, the other students are fun, interesting and thought provoking, and New Orleans suits her very well. To be clear, she is in the Honors Program and lives in the Honors dorm, plus she skipped all the intro classes because of her AP’s, so her experience may not be “typical”. Still, I suspect your D might have similar academic ability if Tulane is bombarding her like that. Even if I am wrong on that last point, Tulane will challenge the student that wants to be challenged.</p>
<p>With regard to Drexel, it is certainly a fine school, but Tulane is academically more selective.</p>
<p>Drexel’s stats:</p>
<p>SAT Reading Middle 50%: 530 - 630
SAT Math Middle 50%: 560 - 670
ACT Middle 50%: 23 - 28</p>
<p>Tulane’s stats:</p>
<p>SAT Reading Middle 50%: 630 - 720
SAT Math Middle 50%: 620 - 700
ACT Middle 50%: 29 - 32</p>
<p>That’s a pretty significant difference I think you would agree. But again, it is all what fits that student best, to the degree they can know that kind of thing.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know if this is much of a factor for you, but Tulane is one of the more generous schools when it comes to automatic consideration for merit scholarships. If in fact her high school record is strong, they have awards ranging up to $25,000, the others being at $22K, $20K and I think $15K. You don’t apply for these, students are automatically considered for these upon being accepted, and they are per year for all 4 years as long as they keep up their GPA (> 2.7 I think). Also there is a Community Service Award that ranges from $5,000-$15,000 that one has to apply for by January 15. This can be added to the merit scholarship and if the student gets both, it can add up to full tuition. Just so you know.</p>
<p>Here are some links:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/811237-time-mag-names-tulane-pres-cowen-top-10-list.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/811237-time-mag-names-tulane-pres-cowen-top-10-list.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/576169-pros-cons-tulane.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/576169-pros-cons-tulane.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/782845-i-heard-tulane-cares-alot-about-volunteer-work-true.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/782845-i-heard-tulane-cares-alot-about-volunteer-work-true.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/687971-101-reasons-attend-tulane-university.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/687971-101-reasons-attend-tulane-university.html</a></p>
<p>This helps ALOT! My husband and I would like her to consider Tulane but she is nervous due to the hurricane situation. We housed a dancer and her family for awhile after Katrina and learning of the experience from a peer has made her extremely nervous.</p>
<p>I posted her data on another post seeking advice for additional schools that match her science and arts/dance interests (sorry, don’t know how to add link). Abbreviated her stats are:
SAT 1 Nov 2008 CR 570 W 600 M 660; 1830
SAT 1 Oct 2009 CR 650 W 650 M 690; 1990
SAT 1 Dec 2009 tbd</p>
<p>She is in top 3% ranked 15 of 530 and GPA 3.9 (uw) 4.765(w)</p>
<p>3 AP’s Junior year; 3 AP’s Senior year; AP Scholar (Chemisty, Calc AB, Envir Sci)</p>
<p>I will not re-list the ECs as it was quite lengthy. To summarize, her dance program requires a commitment equal to or greater to that of a high school athlete requiring 3 to 5 days/ wk (approx. 12 to 15+ hours/week) for 50 weeks/year. She has many other ECs and community service. She is fascinated by chemistry and loves to learn in an open class room that is thought provoking. She loved AP Chemistry so much she tried talk them into adding AP Organic Chem…didn’t work.</p>
<p>I have been told her SAT score will hold her back from selective schools. Unfortunately, her busy schedule did not leave much room to study or prep (by her choice of priorities - APs, dance and other ECs). But she is okay with that. She told me she chose to spend her days doing what she loves and not chasing high test scores. She is convinced being true to herself and her interests will land her in the place she needs to be.</p>
<p>As for Drexel, it is out. My husband refuses to let her consider any school in Philly as a choice.</p>
<p>Thanks again. Will continue to urge her to consider Tulane.</p>
<p>Hi, NCDanceMom: I know this thread is about Tulane but wanted to react to your statement that your husband would not permit your daughter to apply to any school in Philly? Why not? Philly has an amazing concentration of colleges and is a very exciting place for young people. There’s no need for a car; it’s very walkable. There are ample opportunities for internships. The sense of history is unmatched. There are great ethnic neighborhoods and food. Transportation to all the East Coast cities is a snap. My older daughter went to grad school in Philly (U Penn for Regional and City Planning). As a west coaster, I was skeptical but I visited her three times during the course of her two years and came away very impressed. There are probably reasons to rule out a college in Philly (e.g. weather) but, absent these, Philly is as good a college town as any large city in the country.</p>
<p>Previously a Pittsburgh resident for 10 years, he is used to a city with a small town feel. Most of his experiences in Philly have not been great. He had several business trips to Philly and most were not enjoyable. A friend was mugged in Philly and he had an unpleasant experience at a football game. Combined these have tainted him against Philly. I am perplexed as he doesn’t seem to mind other large cities for schools.</p>
<p>As for my daughter, she recently ruled out Philly as she decided she would not want to contribute to the city with the team that picked up Mike Vic. My daughter is very passionate and actively involved in animal rescue and getting these animals to safe shelters or forever homes. She even gave away any and all of her nike apparel/shoes and convinced her dance instructor to not use nike shoes for hip hop as she heard nike was in negotiations with Vic. So, please do not be offended she is not just boycotting Philly.</p>
<p>NCDanceMom,</p>
<p>Your daughter’s overall portfolio is impressive and in my opinion will most likely get her into Tulane. Her SAT score of 1990, in fact, is well within the range of accepted students, in fact, probably in the upper half. </p>
<p>My daughter is a senior at Tulane and its been a great ride for her. That being said, I would your family to visit Tulane. If she is not interested in even visiting, as you said, I’d move on. There are many other fabulous schools that she can get into, and although I am actively involved in Tulane as a “Pelican Parent” and support the school, your daughter has got to have a passion to go to a particular school in a particular city. I won’t oversell Tulane to you. With her scores, she will land at another stellar school and do well.</p>
<p>A last note…I’m also familiar with Drexel. My son, a high school senior, and I visited recently, and although my son is not interested, Philly is a great college town. Also Drexel is adjacent to UPenn, an Ivy League school, and Drexel and UPenn students share lots of perks. Drexel students get a great heads start out of school, because most of the students co-op for 18 months with three different companies…that makes for a pretty impressive resume.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>NCDance - Interesting coincidence, I also lived in Pgh 10 years (Wexford). Hard to comment about Philly, but no reason to now if she has moved on. Her stats are definitely in Tulane’s range, solid admit. Harder to predict about the merit money though, because her SAT’s, while solid, are in fact smack in the middle for Tulane. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but she wouldn’t stand out for merit. On the other hand, she has great grades and class rank, and is passionately involved in community service. These help, especially the latter at Tulane. And that is one reason she should take a strong look at Tulane. It is so involved in rebuilding New Orleans, fixing what was a broken school system, and so many other things that President Cowen was recently awarded a $500,000 Carnegie prize and was named one of the top 10 university presidents by Time Magazine. He would be the first to say that these honors were for Tulane, not for Scott Cowen. I should add that there is a Community Service Scholarship worth $5,000-$15,000 per year that she can apply for (Jan 15 deadline). With her record of involvement she would have a shot at it I would think.</p>
<p>On the other topic: Hurricanes Schmuricanes. This year there was nothing, and they are totally prepared for anything that comes along. Other schools could be hit by tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes…who knows. I would highly encourage her to put that worry aside, it is a tiny risk, honestly. In my four years at Tulane we were threatened twice, and nothing happened. And just to remind everyone again, it wasn’t the hurricane per se that did the damage, it missed New Orleans and went to the east. It was the failure of the levies. Obviously Katrina caused that failure, but not because the storm hit directly.</p>
<p>I agree that you all should visit if you have not already. Just don’t go during Mardi Gras, it is anything but normal at that time. I think seeing it could make a big difference.</p>
<p>PS: LOVE the chemistry part!</p>
<p>My DS was admitted last night. So his timeline is he applied priority around Oct. 10, school sent first set of transcripts/counselor forms Nov. 2 and Tulane kept on saying file not complete so second set was sent around nov. 23, online still showed not complete so local admisssion rep went in and had file changed last thursday (dec. 4) to show complete and 5 days later he got his acceptance. Yeah. So for those till waiting who have applied about 2 months ago, hang in there. If you file still shows incomplete and you know your school has sent in your transcripts, contact your local admin rep. My DS’s admin rep was great at correcting his online status.</p>
<p>It’s almost a week past the date when Tulane was supposed to send acceptance letters, and I still haven’t heard ANYTHING. I applied October-ish, but the message on Gibson Online still says “Your application is complete. The Committee on Admission is working to render your decision as quickly as possible.” It’s been that way for over a month and a half now, and I’m about to drive myself insane. Is this long of a wait a bad sign? I know I’m probably borderline, but I can’t stand this any longer!</p>
<p>Is anyone in the same boat, or can offer any kind of solace? I’m very confused.</p>
<p>satira - Contact your admissions officer about it. It’s probably because you marked “Regular” instead of “Early” on your application. That’s what I did, and I emailed my person and she moved it to the top of the review pile and I had a decision the next day!</p>
<p>My daughter’s acceptance came through Saturday morning after being in the complete state since November 9th. When I spoke to her counselor mid-week, her counselor sounded like they were just really busy. She had 20 other calls to return that morning. It is still a good idea to give them a call.</p>