@gandalf78 Southern California! If I were to raise my ACT to a 34 (which I think I can do considering how low my math score was), do you think that’ll increase my chances by a lot? Another note: do you know if applying as undecided will allow me to get in easier because I do have a more popular and tougher major? Also, do you have any recommendations for schools? I seem to have weird scores in that they’re higher than most state schools, but lower than almost all the top private schools I’ve been looking at. Thank you for your numbers, though! No one from my school has ever gone to any of these schools so we have no information on what kinds of scores will get you in, so it’s helpful that you have numbers from your school.
OP: Of the other schools that you list – UCLA, UC Berkeley, UNC, Tulane, University of Texas, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and University of Maryland – and based solely on objective criteria of test scores and GPS, I estimate that you have a good chance for UNC (especially if you can get your ACT up to 34), UT-Austin (same), Georgia Tech (same), Penn State (should be good as is), and Maryland (should be good as is). As for Tulane, your current test scores and GPA appear to make you competitive for admission; BUT Tulane places a lot of emphasis on “demonstrated interest,” meaning on-campus visit(s) and otherwise showing them love (check out the Tulane forum on CC, @fallenchemist there has lots of good commentary). At our high school, students with higher test scores and equal or better grades than yours have been waitlisted at Tulane, most likely because they did not show sufficient “demonstrated interest”. Our Naviance scattergrams have limited data for Cal or UCLA, so I hesitate to base any estimate on them.
One thing that you might think about is expanding your consideration of colleges and universities to include some LACs, especially if obtaining merit aid (in addition to need-based aid) could be important. I think that most public universities are stingy with need-based aid to OOS students (although UNC might be an exception); but you will probably have a better chance of getting need-based aid from private colleges and universities. If you are willing to look at LACs, here are some that you might investigate: Rhodes College in Memphis, TN; Sewanee - The University of the South in Sewanee, TN; Furman University in Greenville, SC; College of Wooster in Wooster, OH; Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Slightly larger than these LACs are Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC; and Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
I am not making any guesses about the likelihood of financial aid from any of these schools; but if you want some specifics regarding some of them, I can send you a PM.
@gandalf78 I wouldn’t get need-based aid, I come from an upper-middle class family, it’s just that my brother is currently in college and my parents can only afford approximately $30K a year, so I’d have to take loans out for the rest. UNC and Texas are my top 2 public school, so if I got in there I would probably attend one of them. I’ve been looking into Emory but I’m unsure if I could get in. I visited Wake Forest and just felt the school was too small, but I liked Duke and UNC a lot and felt that the amount of students there fit me better. I also have been recruited by Rhodes and Sewanee, but don’t really know much about them. Are they very respected schools? I’ll definitely consider Emory, though. I do have info from Tulane for my school for early action (which I plan on applying) and it says an average of 30 ACT gets accepted and our average GPA is a 3.86, but I know PA has been very well-represented recently at Tulane, so if I can bring my ACT up I think I’ll have a better chance. Thank you for your help, I’ll look into the schools you recommended!
OP – I will send you a PM later today, and try to respond to your most recent questions and comments.
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Tulane does not care if they take 10 kids from the same high school, much less how many they take from a certain city or state. They know that the distribution works out well in the end. I have seen well into the double digits in one year at certain high schools in Chicago, St. Louis, NYC and other areas. I would bet there is a Philly area school or two or three that get multiple kids into Tulane every year.
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@gandalf78 is 100% correct about Tulane being an “interesting” school in terms of stats vis-a-vis admission. If Tulane is convinced that the student is really looking at Duke, Chicago, Stanford, Ivies as top choices, and Tulane is “just a safety” to them, they will wait list that student. Sure, sometimes they are guessing as to how interested that student really is, but their radar is very good after all these years.
But a major new factor is that Tulane is doing ED for the first time. That, of course and obviously (I say both because it is so duh) shows very strong interest. The other thing is that, if you can in fact get your ACT up to even 33, although in another obvious statement the higher the better, you would be a very strong candidate for one of their full tuition scholarships. They have 125 of these, broken down into 75 DHS and 50 PTA. 5 or so of those DHS go on to become full ride Stamps scholarships.
Now to anticipate what you might say, let me answer the question of “Why would Tulane consider me for the full tuition scholarship if I have committed ED?” Two reasons. First, Tulane is saying that they will judge the applicants for these scholarships strictly on merit. Personally I believe them, because I know that their goals are to continue to increase the academic stats of each class, and because they are in fact trying to do a better job of identifying those high performing students that really are wanting to attend Tulane, and in doing so be able to better predict class size while keeping high stat students. I also know them to have been honest with all the information they have provided in the past, going back at least 10 years, since Katrina. Also to be considered is that ED is only binding if the financial package is acceptable to you and your family. No one can make you take out loans if you don’t want to. So Tulane has no incentive to give you an “out” when you are such an attractive student to them.
Bottom line, if you nudge that ACT just a shade more, you have a strong chance at a tuition-free education at an excellent school.
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Academics Along those last lines, Tulane has always had a top neuro program, and they have recently announced another initiative in their efforts to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, The Brain Institute http://tulane.edu/news/releases/tulane-receives-gift-to-launch-brain-institute.cfm
Flower Hall, mentioned in the article, is a brand new building completed in 2014 that is designed specifically to house innovative research that breaks down the silos in which research is often conducted.
Additionally, you would certainly be invited to the Honors Program. This is not to be confused with an honors college, but instead it is a cohort of entering freshmen that have decided they want to focus more on academics and research than the average student at any school, with goals in mind such as Rhodes Scholarships and other similar awards, the top grad schools and med schools, and of course simply maximizing that aspect of their undergraduate experience. Once invited, you “opt in” to the program by taking one of several freshman seminars, otherwise the main benefits are extra attention for advising, a variety of first choice research opportunities including summer internships and/or financial assistance with doing work abroad, living in the Honors Dorm with your cohort (one of Tulane’s nicer freshman dorms btw), and being part of small group activities with your peers and professors that enhance the whole undergrad experience.
Something to think about, anyway. PM me if you want more info. BTW, in order to be eligible for the full tuition scholarships you have to apply EA or ED. Tulane does have partial merit scholarships they award based solely on your initial application, even if it is RD. These went as high as $32,000 last year. Strictly stat based for years and continued to be as far as anyone could tell (one student kept track of the award given and the stats of that applicant and posted it within the Tulane discussion thread. It tracks very strongly that stats:award is a pretty linear correlation), with part of that “stat” being the challenge level of your coursework. But to be clear, there is no extra application for these partial scholarships, while there is one for the DHS and another for the PTA.