I am currently a senior in high school and Tulane is my number one choice school. I was born and raised in St. Louis so Tulane is a long away from home. I am extremely nervous about getting into Tulane and just want a little insight or even words of encouragement about the admission process. I go to a very diverse public school in St. Louis and I’m ranked 6th in my class UW and 13th W. I have taken 5 APs, 1 CC and 6 Honors (3.998 UW, 4.348 W) and all of my other classes are either classes that are required like gym and fine arts. I only have a 27 on my ACT but I am taking it one more time before I apply, and I have been attending the free classes they have at my school, so hopefully I can gain a couple more points. I take part in NHS, am a captain on my Varsity Volleyball team (1-year captain, 4-year player). I am involved in lots of different National Honor Societies such as Spanish, and Social Studies. I am involved in our Health Occupations Student Association as well and few other clubs. I help with the boy’s volleyball team every year (100+ hours of community service) and also work almost 20 hours a week during the school year (10th-12th) and 40-45 during the summer. I am a first generation, white, female, with a single parent. I have been brainstorming for my “Why Tulane?” essay and here are some of my ideas
Tulane Optional Essay
o Service based
o First school that I wasn’t scared of distance
o Academic life is just as important as mental health
o Not moving to New Orleans just for fun, moving to New Orleans for the school
o I put in work (things don’t come super easily) and Tulane can accommodate a student like myself
o An environment that is driven and people want to be there because they’d like to better themselves, but not cutthroat
I am applying EA and am applying for the DHS. I am going to the rep meeting in STL and am currently building a list of question that I should ask the rep. I qualify for No Loan Assistance, because of my financial situation. I know my scores aren’t the best Tulane will receive but I belong at Tulane. I visited a handful of schools on the East Coast (Brown, Boston College, MIT, Harvard) and I didn’t like any of them half as much as I LOVED Tulane. If you read all the way down to this point, thank you, anything you could say is helpful.
Have you visited the campus? I definitely recommend prepping as much as possible for the ACT. I think it’s best to have at least a 29. You are correct to write the “optional” why Tulane question.
They have several good videos on You Tube that may help you get ideas.
@Sportsman88 I am really trying for a 30, and I think I can do it considering that I started at a 23 and now I’m at a 27, I have visited the campus, I spent 4 days in New Orleans over spring break and I visited other schools while I was down there but I didn’t love them like I loved Tulane.
I am also originally from St. Louis and had never been anywhere else until I left for Tulane. Never even visited the campus before going. Loved every minute of it and still do, and my D recently graduated from there, although she did not grow up in St. Louis. I will PM you about what high school you attend.
I think you are completely on the right track for your application, except I will ask if you are sure you don’t want to consider ED. You seem very sure Tulane is the right school for you.
As far as your Why Tulane, I especially like your first three points and would focus on those. The second one
is especially unique, I think, and if you can explain exactly why that is and what you mean by that statement I think it will make an interesting essay.
@ammmandaf07, be sure that you mention your visit to Tulane and NOLA in your Why Tulane essay. Be specific…Where did you eat? Beignets at Cafe Du Monde, Po Boys at Acme Oyster house? Did you ride a street car, take a tour of the Garden District, go on a plantation tour, explore the French Quarter, go to the zoo at Audubon Park?? …include it all…what did you love? What surprised you? Did you hang out in the LBC? Buy a tee shirt in the book store? Did you speak with current students? Do you have a friend who goes there? What is his/her name?
Also, your grades and extracurriculars make you a strong candidate. While I think that you have a shot of getting in with the 27, anything higher should seal the deal. Good luck
I did not bring my score up sadly. I applied ED and am currently waiting to hear back. My application was submitted/completed on 10/18 so hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I contacted my admsision rep frequently so all I can do now is hope
aw well i think it shouldnt be too much of a problem as long as you showed a lot of interest and it helps that you applied ED!! good luck i hope you get in!!
Thanks so much, I will def let you know as soon as I do! I showed a ton of interest. I did the ED interview, I talked to the admission rep twice and have emailed him multiple times (he even recognized me in a huge crowd of students and was like “I read your application yesterday” and I basically fan girled and almost started crying (not really but kinda)), and I have an alum on my side that has talked to him as well. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the goodluck!
I 110% will attend if accepted and get enough aid and what not. But I am willing to pay more for Tulane than I am for any other school so I should be okay when it comes to that. I love obssessing over Tulane. I could talk about it for days!!