Chances on Tulane?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

I know this is ridiculously early, but I visited Tulane about a month ago and oh man, am I in love. I’m a junior at a small boarding school in Maryland, and now that all of the seniors at my school are in college, the stress has fallen down on the juniors. I’m applying to Tulane next year, ED, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind.

GPA: average, roughly a 3.82 unweighted. Steady incline from freshman year (3.8 to 3.82 to 3.88 as of now).
SAT/ACT: Due to a concussion, I haven’t actually taken the real test yet. I took the ACT just last week, but I’m not anticipating a good score. On the PSAT, I received a score of 1120. I know that, with practice, I can get it up to a 1300/1350. I’m simply just not a good test taker and the concussion hasn’t helped much.
Classes: My school doesn’t offer a plethora of AP’s, but I took AP World last year (5 on exam), this year I am taking AP Lang and AP U.S., and next year I am taking AP Spanish, AP Euro, and AP Lit. Regular weighted science and math courses.
ECs: This is where I shine. I’m not gonna list all of them, but here are a few notable ones.

  • Head of Photography for Yearbook (Will be head of yearbook in its entirety next year) for two years
  • Sacristan (basically a church server - will be Senior Sacristan next year - regarded as the second highest position at the school for a student)
  • Service (working on getting my hours up - started a program with a local West Virginia school where students from my school help tutor on Saturday mornings, and have gone on two service trips abroad)
  • Head Tour Guide (1 of 3, responsible for assigning tour guides to admission tours, give lots of tours myself)
  • Planning on reinstituting the Creative Writing Club at my school next year with a friend
  • Other small stuff: MUN, Big Brother/Sister Program
    Awards: Only notable one was received at the end of Freshman year, the Prize for Excellence in English, awarded to one freshman. Expecting the possibility of one other by the end of this year.
    Interest: I’ve communicated with my admission counselor on two occasions, and I met him personally at Tulane. Plan to visit college fairs/etc.
    Connections: A family friend knows someone with what seems to be a huge amount of weight, however, I DO NOT want to pull that card unless need be (i.e. my test scores are lower than expected). I want to get into Tulane for me, not for who I know (even though that’s how college works nowadays)

I know no one can say definitively yes or no, but do you think I have a shot? Only 2 out of 5 kids from my school who applied were admitted, and all had higher test scores than I did (including rejected), however, my ECs are far more developed and my GPA higher than the 3 rejected.

2

What is the track record with your school and Tulane over the past 5-7 years?

3

Not a whole lot of kids have applied… no one has gone in at least 3 years, however, I’m hoping by applying ED that “helps” my chances since that means I’m obviously interested.

4

@ccnaf14 your chances are nil if you do not get a high standardized test score. Tulane only accepted 21% (about 7,000) out of over 35,000 applicants for the incoming class (Fall 2017). And most of the accepted students have high standardized test scores and high gpa in all honors and several AP classes. I am surprised you haven’t taken the SAT or ACT in the Fall or at least in Jan or Feb of this year. IMO you are starting a bit late now. Is there a Princeton Review Center near you? They let you take a free diagnostic test for both the SAT and ACT to see which one you are more comfortable with. I would recommend you make studying for either the ACT or SAT a priority over the summer and plan to take either test in September and October. It can’t hurt to take the SAT and ACT this May and June to get a baseline on where you are at and determine which test you are better at. You only need to submit your highest score so you can take the tests as many times as you need to.

5

I was registered to take it in January however I spent the night before the test in the ER due to a concussion I sustained, and I already had college visits planned for the March test. I’m registered for the SAT in May and I’ve been studying for it, and I took the ACT last weekend

6

@ccnaf14 What did you think of the ACT? You need to figure out which test (SAT or ACT) you feel more comfortable taking and which one you think you will get a higher score in —and then just study for that test over the summer and plan to take it again when it’s offered in the Fall. It’s hard to study for ACT and SAT at same time, which is why I suggest you pick one and focus on that over the summer.

7

@ccnaf14 You are on the right track. Keep up the good work. As said above, pick one test (ACT or SAT) and push yourself to do as best you can. You have shown interest in Tulane now work on your essays this summer. Be sure to compete the “optional” Why Tulane? essay. The stats should be better for you applying ED. Good luck!

8

Be sure to show a lot of interest in Tulane- do the Why Tulane essay and make it something personal,not just generalizations. Visit the school if you can, go to Admissions events in your town. Tulane is very big on students who show interest)