Chance my daughter - Tulane, Davidson and others

Chance Me / Match Me!
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US Resident
Missouri (prefers to leave for urban area in the Southeast)
HS is smaller suburban to rural with no reputation for academics
White female
No hooks outside of Missouri universities

International Relations or Political Science
would like to minor in Theatre

Unweighted GPA: 3.86
Weighted: school doesn’t weight
Class Rank: 35/~250 (don’t get me started on class rank for unweighted GPA)
ACT/SAT Scores: 30 super score (35R, 34E, 26M, 26S)

Coursework
Max Rigor/honors diploma - Two AP classes she had to fight to be able to take online since nothing comparable was offered, 6 dual enrollment

Awards
Girl Scout Gold Award
Certificate of Biliteracy in Spanish
Various Theatre and Vocal Music Awards

Extracurriculars
Tulane Pre-College Enrichment
Drury University Leadership Academy
Summer job Lifeguarding
Youth Ambassadors (Dept of State with Amigos International)
Girl Scouts
National Honor Society
StuCo
Varsity Tennis
HS Theatre and Community Theatre
Choir Honor Society
Theatre Honor Society

Essays/LORs/Other
Very good essays (I guess)
Very good letters from teachers and mentors
Probably blah letter from counselor b/c that’s all she writes

Cost Constraints / Budget
All the NPCs (private schools) seem to be landing in the same range of $40-50k/yr which is ok

Schools
ED: Tulane (tons of DI, interview, in-person seminars, summer program)
*regarding ACT, Tulane AO said if it starts with a 3 to submit so he can see the breakdown, thoughts on that strategy?
EDII: Davidson (smaller than what she wants but fell in love during tour)
Safeties: Mizzou, U of Arkansas, Ole Miss
EAs in order of interest: UT-Austin (very unlikely), Fordham (target), Barnard (big reach), Wake Forest (reach), University of South Carolina (target)
Others being considered and may visit: Fairfield University, Elan University, American University, George Washington

Open to chancing and suggesting more schools. She prefers the southeast, but makes an exception for NYC. Virginia schools would probably be of interest but we aren’t very familiar with VA.

Thanks!

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She may want to look at URichmond as another reasonable reach. If she can visit it may be a better option for ED2 than Davidson due to location and size. It is in the state capital and within a reasonable distance to DC should she be interested in internships there. URich is a larger LAC with about 3200 undergrads.

SMU as another high match? Although with your current list and her interests I’d add GW over SMU if she applies to more.

Overall your categorizations seem pretty accurate. Good luck to your D!

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  1. for IR/PS the coin of the realm is internships, which are famously un/poorly stipended, and in 3-5 years a (pricey) PG degree is very very likely. So access to internships (eg, state capital / urban areas with big NGOs / etc) is important, and so is $$. Graduating with no debt will make more of a difference to her next steps than which of those colleges she attends- because she will be able to take the prestigious but woefully underpaid job. It also means that her ability to generate income to pay for some of college will be severely limited, so don’t count on that.

  2. For a dark horse out of state public, take a look at College of Charleston. Their IR department has some real go-getters in it, and the program is solid.

  3. IF you can afford it w/o debt AND your daughter will hustle for the internships, GWU is as good as it gets for PS/IR internships. You can have internships year round, and the school does more than most to work with students on scheduling. It’s not easy- there are lots of kids who are motivated there, and the admin may be better than most but that doesn’t mean they don’t make you want to tear your hair out from time to time!- but the opportunities are there for those with the drive to get them.

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Based on your daughter’s academic interests, these sites may offer you further ideas:

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Borderline call on submitting ACT to Tulane, but for what it’s worth, I recommend submitting. Our daughter is now a senior at Tulane. She also applied ED in the fall of 2019, with a 31 ACT overall, and a very similar divergence between the English and Math sub scores. She was admitted with no financial aid, but pleasantly surprised by a small merit award. She has done very well academically at Tulane, and loves it overall (but definitely some rough times between COVID and Ida). Lots of opportunities to explore her various interests. I think the ACT will be worth it to demonstrate that your daughter excels in certain areas, and is not merely average overall. Remember that Tulane is big on demonstrated interest, and you can’t demonstrate much more interest than applying ED1. Good Luck!

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Thanks! I will pass URich on to her to check out. SMU is interesting too.

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I appreciate the perspective on internships. D and I need to discuss that consideration in more depth.

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I don’t see Tulane happening and in my opinion, it’s not urban. Others will disagree but it’s suburban to me… Have you been? I don’t see Davidson as happening - and again, it’s more suburban - so are you sure? Have you visited?

Just 56% of Tulane students, per CDS, submitted ACT with a range of 30-33. This was class of 21. Davidson was 78% with the same range.

Obviously Mizzou, Arkansas (most urban of these) and Ole Miss - not urban at all - will
happen.

Wake will not happen nor is it urban. U of SC - will be tough but could happen.

Elon is the complete opposite of urban - it has one small street. AU (you need to demonstrate interest) is a target and GW slight reach.

For urban, mid size in the Southeast, you’re missing what I think sounds like the best fit of all - the first school I thought of after reading your description - College of Charleston. Look at the International Scholars Program. The school has small classes - and is smack in downtown Charleston. You’d likely qualify for merit - and even Honors. Also, Miami of Florida meets 100% of need - so check the NPC.

Virginia has VCU and ODU for urban - but might be too big.

International Scholars - College of Charleston (cofc.edu)

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That validation on strategy makes me feel better. She just got her score today that went from a 29 to a 30 so she is pretty stoked. Whether it gets her into Tulane or not 30 was her goal and she doesn’t like the idea of hiding it.

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If Tulane is her clear #1 and it’s affordable for your family, I would definitely give it a shot. The admissions officer gave you the advice about ACT scores that start with 3 and she’s had a lot of demonstrated interest (including the enrichment program). In reading last year’s Tulane results page, there were a lot of people with super high stats being deferred and waitlisted, and then there were people who had shown incredible, sincere interest who got it with stats much lower than those waitlisted. If it remains her #1, she should take her hot.

That said, if you’re daughter is interested in going in to political science/international relations, GW is hard to beat for school-year internship possibilities.

Have you considered Rhodes? It’s in Memphis and has a very popular international relations department. It’s part of the Colleges That Change Lives association, too.

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Mainly because of Poly Sci and International Relations look at Dickinson in PA. You will find a high percentage of students there with the same academic interests. Not urban but more like Davidson, where you can walk into Carlisle, which is a small but interesting little town. Probably a match or even somewhat of safety.

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If Tulane is her goal has she reached out to the theater department and prepared a theater supplement? My S21 had success at a few schools that were definite reach with that strategy (wound up at a conservatory for BFA theater).

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I would say that based on my experience, Tulane ED is much more likely than Davidson. Actually, 30 is pretty good for Tulane. She is not applying for super competitive majors either. I’d say she has a pretty good shot.

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I do think your D has a decent shot at Davidson EDII. Davidson is test optional so she will have to decide whether to submit her ACT scores. Davidson is the rare school that also requires a peer/friend recommendation (similar to Dartmouth). My S applied EDII as well, and we’re pretty certain EDII made all the difference in him getting admitted.

He initially thought Davidson would be too small (smaller than his HS) but it turned out to be a great fit. He’s found Davidson to have a tight knit and caring community with strong school spirit and underdog tradition of punching above their weight especially with their men’s basketball program (ala Steph Curry). And they have some wonderful traditions with the first year Cake Race and the ceremonial signing of the Honor Code among them. It does have a strong theater department. The Royal Shakespeare Company was recently on campus for a learning residency as was the Kyiv Ballet. Many students do take advantage of their proximity to Charlotte and do go out to concerts, restaurants and sporting events and internships opportunities.

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Tulane is not a safety. And not so sure she should submit the score.
But she definitely has a chance, especially ED. It’s a realistic reach.
My son some overlap with your list and credentials.
GW would be a high match… American and Elon are likely matches…
Barnard and Wake Forest are very very big reaches.

For political science, UVA is worth a look but it would also be a pretty high reach.

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Trying not to be a homer but FSU. State capital. Top film school plus theater so opportunities to get involved. Well regarded for IR and Poli Sci. Great weather and pretty campus.

American in DC could be an option. Emory would be a reach but great campus in Atlanta.

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Hadn’t considered that since it was a minor. Thanks for pointing it out.

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Urban is relative when you are from an area some consider rural. She stayed on campus at Tulane when she did the summer enrichment program.

Will look into College of Charleston.

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Rhodes was one that she dismissed early on as being too small but her thinking on size seems to have shifted so it is an interesting option. I am not familiar with the CTCL. What are the advantages of the CTCL schools?

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Based on our experience last year I think Tulane with her stats and ED is very realistic and I would submit the score. When we attended an accepted student event, there seemed to be a number of kids in that range.

I think GW will be a likely acceptance. American seemed to yield protect last year and needs to be shown a lot of love.

My D22’s list had some overlap with your D’s, she had slightly higher stats and was accepted at Tulane, GW, Fordham, Rhodes, Ole Miss with merit at all. She was waitlisted at American.

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