Current Junior
GPA: 4.00 (unweighted) / 4.5++ (weighted)
Rank: 1/200
SAT: 1940 (first attempt, will take 2 more times)
ACT: 32 (again, first attempt)
SAT2: will take World History, US History, Literature, Math 1
AP: World History (5), Computer Science A (3)
Current APs (I expect to get a 4 or 5 on each): Psychology, Art History, US History, English Lang
Senior Year Schedule: Linear Alg/Vector Calc (dual-enrollment), Computer Science-Python (dual-enrollment), Senior Tech Seminar, AP English Lit, AP Comp Gov, AP Bio, French IV Honors, and maybe AP Econ and AP Euro History
Expected Major: Art History, International Business, and/or Japanese
Volunteer Work (hours reflect expected time at end of senior year):
- Big Brothers Big Sisters (100 hrs)
- Relay for Life (120+ hrs)
- 4-H Camp Counselor (215+ hrs)
- National Honor Society
Jobs:
- Boy Scout Camp Counselor (2014 and 2015)
Extracurriculars:
- French Club (9-12, Historian 10, Relay for Life Captain 11)
- FBLA (11-12, Leadership Team and Competition Team,1st place at Regions for Word Processing, states is next)
- Boy Scouts (9-11, Life Scout, 54 merit badges, World Conservation Award)
- Varsity Scholastic Bowl (10-12, expect to be captain next year)
- Varsity Forensics (11-12, 4th place at regions in storytelling)
- Varsity Tennis (10)
- History Club (9, 11-12), Book Club (9-10), Creative Writing Club (10-12)
- Theater (10-12, 10-Alice in Wonderland as Knave of Hearts, 11-Best of Broadway as Various)
- Piano Lessons (9-12), Violin Lessons (9-10), Clarinet Lessons (10)
- Virginia Youth Band Ensembles (9, 12, second clarinet)
Summer Programs:
- volunteer and work info above
- UVA Summer Enrichment Program (9, 11)
- JMU Band Camp (10)
- Princeton summer college (12, expected)
@raspberrylicious
The question isn’t whether you have the resume for Tulane. The question will be if you are thinking of Tulane as a “backup plan” or if you are really serious about attending. I say that because your other chance threads are Ivies. And that is fine, you certainly have a chance at those as well if you can get your ACT to a 33+ or your SAT to 2200+. I mean you still have a chance even if you don’t, but that would make your chances better, more like the 1 in 15 or so most of the highly qualified applicants have for an Ivy. But back to Tulane, since that is why we are in this forum.
Tulane isn’t really all that excited about accepting students that think of it as a safety, and they can be pretty good about sniffing those out. As it stands, your chances for an Ivy are probably not so great because of those test scores and ironically that probably improves your chances for Tulane a lot. At the same time, if you can get your test scores into the range I mentioned, it would put you in the mix for a full tuition scholarship at Tulane, should you choose to apply for one. So then the key would be to convince Tulane that you are giving serious consideration about going there.
There are several ways to do that, and they revolve around really getting to know the school. That way you can figure out for yourself why it is you are serious about it, and get that across to admissions. To your credit, so to speak, I noticed you have not posted chance threads for Northwestern, Emory, Duke, Rice, Vanderbilt, etc. so maybe there really is something about Tulane that has caught your attention. Whatever that is, it is a key factor in your application to not only get accepted to Tulane, but also to getting a great financial and other perks package, like becoming a Tulane Scholar. Of course you would also want to attend the local Tulane sessions in the fall and/or visit the campus, which helps to show interest.
If you have more questions or want something I said explained in more detail, ask away.
When I went to Tulane back in the 80s, there were two valedictorians and two salutatorians on my freshman hall. One of the valedictorians went to the University of Alabama at Birmingam Medical School, and one of the salutatorians went to Harvard Medical School. There was also a guy on my hall who went to Penn Medical School (not one of the aforementioned valedictorians or salutatorians). We also had a guy went to NYU Law School and then Harvard Kennedy a School of a Government, and several people who did not go on to such lofty graduate or professional programs, but who nonetheless have done very well for themselves. My son is now a senior at Tulane. I am not sure where his friends will wind up, but you get my point. You will have many, many opportunities in the future. Do what feels right and follow your heart and dreams and I am sure you will wind up in a wonderful place. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for the feedback! @fallenchemist , you’re right, I’m using this as more of a backup school, but I wouldn’t be applying to it at all if there wasn’t a lot I liked about it. I love the town of New Orleans, the campus vibe, and the academic options and opportunities (including study abroad stuff). 
(And it may be easier for me to find financial aid at Tulane than at, say, NYU)
Yes, well NYU is notorious for poor financial aid and the largest loan burdens for graduates. I suspect you will successfully raise your ACT score (which is much better than your SAT on the conversion charts) and that, as I say, would give you an excellent chance at top merit money from Tulane.