<p>I’m a rising HS Senior in CT and I’m wondering what my channces are for admission to AU in the Fall of 2011; details are as folllow:
GPA: 3.5
SAT’s: Reading 720; Math 620, Writing 710.
Several AP courses; Scored 4 on AP-Biology test & 5 on AP-History
Eagle Scout
Active in school theater program 3 yrs., incl. as lighting designer
Active in church mission programs
Have held a part-time job since start of Jr. year</p>
<p>I’ve heard good things about AU, but I’m not sure where I stand academically; any insight would be appreciated… thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks katytibbs. One more questions…do you have any insight into AU’s internship program; i.e.: extent and richness of the opprotunities / ease or difficulty in securing an internship?</p>
<p>One of the reasons why my son chose AU is the great access to internships. His roommate last year who was in SIS (School of International Studies) got an internship second semester freshman year. My son is looking for one for this coming semester but nothing was posted over the summer. I helped him look so I did get a look at the website - it seems good, but for me the test will be in the next few weeks - to see if he get something for this semester.</p>
<p>Since mid-August, my son has found about 15 potential internships posted that he is considering applying for, including one that is just perfect for him. Now, we’ll see whether he gets any of them - he’s only a sophomore, so that may work against him.</p>
<p>Yes, that is true. The class of 2014, their admission rate was 43% not 53%. It dropped 10% in just one year, which says a lot. Proud.</p>
<p>Hopefully, it will go further down this year. Your SAT scores are nice. I think you have a very good chance at AU. You should def apply. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity… How do you know that you got in ‘easily’? That phrase gets tossed around a lot… but you could have been on the very edge. Unless you got merit offers?</p>
<p>Sorry… I’m just curious because I keep seeing that term float around and it doesn’t seem like you can really judge whether or not you got in easily.</p>
<p>You can tell you got in “easily” when you talk with admissions people and they tell you are a slamdunk, and when you compare with those around you at the school and find out that your scores on things such as SATs, GPAs, ACT, class rank are higher than others.</p>
<p>Well I’m just wondering, because there were multiple people last year who said that they expected to get into AU easily with scholarships but were instead waitlisted and they had good grades, ECs, and test scores.</p>
<p>Heck, someone here on CC got into Cornell but not AU. =/</p>
<p>I don’t think you really can tell if you got in ‘easily’ or not.</p>
<p>I rather doubt the unweighted GPA at AU is 3.74, because that would be higher than an Ivy or two. Even though they are supposed to report on a 4.0 scale, many schools do not, as evidenced by the common data set stats where the GPA is reported as 4.14 or whatever. It isn’t impossible that it is 3.74 unweighted, but highly unlikely given that some much more selective schools report that do report unweighted GPA report lower ones. Nonetheless, I think you should get an offer of admission from AU.</p>
<p>It is clear that AU engaged in some yield protection this past year, waitlisting some candidates whom they thought were unlikely to enroll. It’s a disgusting practice, but certainly a tactic that has helped Wash. U.-St. Louis, Tufts, and some other institutions tremendously in terms of their admissions statistics. Almost as disgusting as counting incomplete applications and inquiries as applications or waiving essay requirements or application fees just to boost application numbers (thank you, Tulane). Given that AU is hot on GW’s tail as #2 in DC, I would guess that they will be inclined or tempted to engage in some of these tactics.</p>
<p>I don’t believe Tulane waived the essay, they allowed for a shorter one, which my D thought was actually harder than the longer one other schools allowed. And since when is having a free application a bad thing? Hundreds of schools do it, just Google free college applications, or check threads on CC about it. You can subscribe whatever “evil” motivations you want, but isn’t improving the quality of the student body a legitimate goal for a school? Because that is exactly what has happened at Tulane, the last three classes have been the strongest in the school’s history, and by a fair margin. Besides, don’t forget they were also coming back from Katrina. The year after Katrina the freshman class was only 800 or 900, something like that. The normal size is about 1500. this year was actually too large, at 1630. I think it is an incredibly positive story.</p>
<p>Tulane has done an INCREDIBLE job in resurrecting itself following Katrina, and I believe it is a solid academic institution that deserves more respect in academia. However, it does misrepresent its admissions statistics and undergoes questionable practices to increase its application numbers. It does likely result in enrolling a few good students that might not otherwise attend (not many, by the way, when you look at the incredibly low yield from their admissions offers), but that is clearly not the only reason why they do what they do.</p>
<p>And yes, they waive the essay requirement for many applicants–in fact, they RECRUIT certain applicants by providing the incentive that they don’t have to write an essay. Obviously these recruited applicants are very likely to be accepted/</p>
<p>Two things wrong with that statement. First, it isn’t a “misterpresentation” in the least. It is a straightforward numerical calculation. No one makes these students apply, and as I have clearly demonstrated there are hundreds of schools that offer free apps. Why don’t they get 44,000? In any case, who decided that the way other colleges do their admissions is right and Tulane is “questionable”? Who published a set of rules for who you are allowed to mail things to? Other schools are free to do the same also if they want, or keep doing things as they are.</p>
<p>Second, while the yield is low (which is a negative in the eyes of people that look at these things traditionally, so rather negates the argument that they are doing it to “look good”, although of course they will put their best foot forward), the number of apps is so high that your contention that “very few” top students that would normally pick Duke, Vandy, WUSTL, Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford, and some other highly rated schools would pick Tulane is wrong. It is a low percentage of these students they recruit, maybe 5%, but that still turns out to be a couple of hundred at least. I know, my D is one (accepted Chicago, WUSTL, and two Ivies), and I have personally talked to and/or gotten PM’s from or seen posted on this forum dozens of others. Out of 1,500 or so freshmen, that is significant. This year, for example, Tulane has two Presidential Scholar winners. That is the national program from the White House that identifies only two kids from each state and a handful of others (15 I think) for academic achievement. Two is the same number as Duke and Vandy, and two more than Emory.</p>
<p>So yes, this program does work. It is intelligent strategy. It’s kind of funny, really. All these schools have business majors that teach strategy and marketing. Tulane actually uses it in a manner consistent with what students are taught, and they get slammed for it. You would suggest they should be a slave to the statistics? They didn’t invent the stats, why should that guide their behavior? It is a ridiculous notion. Besides, do you know what percentage of the USNWR ranking that stat is worth? 1%. Sure, let’s spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to pump up a stat that is so meaningless in any context. Does it make them look more selective? Ok sure, it does. But, to me at least, not as much as the amount it raises the academic profile of the class, giving them average test scores and the like that places them in the top 30 in the country. That is what their goal is and that is what they are achieving.</p>
<p>I think regarding the essay, you and I are quibbling over semantics. Here is what they say on the app, as far as I can see:</p>
<p>
I think this is exactly what I said earlier. If what I am seeing online is somehow wrong, then it is. But that is the best information I have, and it says 2010-2011. However, I see very little difference between this and schools that give a prompt and ask for 500 words or so.</p>