I got the DHS yesterday
SAT: 1580 (2280)
GPA: My school doesn’t do it, but all As with 10 APs
I was telephone interviewed by an alumni as part of the CHATs program
Likelyhood of attending: 40%, I have a another full tuition scholarship at another school with some results yet to come.
Congrats to everyone else who got a scholarship
Award won: Dean’s Honor
UW GPA: 3.6
W GPA: 4.3
SAT/ACT score: 2260/35
Were you interviewed by telephone by a Tulane designate?: Nope, never.
Likelihood of Attending Tulane (%): About 50% (I also received Stamps at LSU which is a tough decision)
Comment: My project was a video about the importance of diversity in education. I interviewed my great-grandfather, who attended both a segregated school and an integrated one. I then talked to some of my extremely diverse classmates about their experiences. I incorporated the box by contrasting between an empty white space and a colorful experience with people different than you.
Too bad so many winners are only somewhat likely to attend. My son applied and would have 100% attended Tulane had he won. I guess that is the nature of the competition.
Yes, the students that win the Tulane competition often win at other schools as well. As you say, that is the nature of things. My D became pretty friendly with an applicant out of KC that we met during one of our trips and through CC. She won full tuition at both Tulane and WUSTL and decided on WUSTL. She is now in med school on full scholarship. University of Kansas I think.
As I have noted elsewhere, a typical yield for these awards is 33-50%, probably usually falling around 40%. Tulane knows this well and plans on it by the number they award. So honestly if the yield were consistently higher, like say 75%, the number of awards would be correspondingly reduced. The budget for these is what it is. Especially the DHS, which is an endowment, or at least in great part it is, so the awards are essentially paid for by the earnings on that money. The PTA may be the same way, I don’t know. But before the crash of 2008 when market earnings were so high, the DHS awarded 100 scholarships. Once the investment yield plummeted, they reduced it to 75. So other than what the fund yields, it really is a “zero sum game” as relates to how many are awarded versus how many nd up at Tulane.
An Update:
Someone on the Tulane Class of 2020 page said that she called and they said that the scholarships would be mailed out either Friday or Monday and they would be received a few days after they are sent. So to everyone (like me) who is freaking out about not having received a package yet, there’s still hope!!
@lvaidya so not all of them were mailed??
No mail here. D16 was planning to be there next week for Top Scholar weekend, but I called to see if I can change it to April. She was accepted with Presidential scholarship and Honors college. She is a NMF, top of her class, had 2 summers of research, perfect score on English in both ACT and SAT (mentioning this because I think her PTA essays were very good), and an IB diploma candidate. She got a phone interview that D thought went fine. It is possible that they thought she is not that interested, but I am not sure how a 17 year old can show that on the phone during a 15 minute interview. Tulane was on top 2 on her list, but if she doesn’t get the PTA, then most likely it will fall off the list. She has some great offers, but she was looking forward to go next weekend.
By the way, I just called the admissions office and was told that the letters went out this week, so I am not sure if they are done or not. It would be nice for them to time this better for people who were planning to attend the Top Scholar weekend. Now, I have to cancel everything and try to either reschedule for April or just say to D16 to forget about Tulane 
@lvaidya I saw that too, but that person also seemed to think none of them had gone out yet, so it’s possible the person she asked didn’t know they had already gone out. I hope she’s right though!
Historically they send them all out at the same time. I would hazard a guess that the person she spoke too was misinformed. Since we are hearing from so many people that received them already it’s safe to say they have gone out.
@lonetreegrad I doubt it’s due to lack of interest because I withdrew and they still gave me the scholarship… Hope it comes through for her!
@collegebobollege Thanks. Then I guess they didn’t like her essays!!
Award won: Dean’s Honor
UW GPA: 3.99
W GPA: 4.71
SAT/ACT score: 2090/34
Were you interviewed by telephone by a Tulane designate?: Yes I participated in the CHATS interview.
Likelihood of Attending Tulane (%): About 50ish% (I also received other very similar deals to other schools)
Comment: My project was about adoption at animal shelters. So I went to the animal shelter that i regularly volunteer at and while giving the dogs baths, I used nontoxic water-washable paint to get their paw prints on the squares provided by the scholarship prompt. I then made a poster using some of the paw prints with the slogans “PAWS and consider adoption” and “Adoption is PAWSome” and went out into my school and community to advocate for adoption of shelter animals. I also used the poster at the regular shelter adoption events that I do regularly in my town.
Congratulations to everyone!
she is on scholarship at a private prep school with extremely rigorous courses that are designed by the school; they are not AP or IB , school is old fashioned in that teachers still have freedom to design their own curriculum so I think they love their jobs and the kids a lot!. The private school does not weight grades and is on a 4 pt scale. I’m not sure exactly what the GPA is but it is 3.7 something. She is a balanced kid who has held part time jobs to save money, and is in a couple sports and has been involved in church youth groups. Otherwise her extracurriculars have been truly her interests – museums, art, painting portraits, playing piano and flute as a volunteer, for fun and piano in the school jazz band. . . not president of this or that or entering scads of competitions. . . just a well rounded bright child who has been involved with visual arts because that is where natural gifts lie. She has a social conscience that is deep, sincere and those values were reflected in her DHS creative project which helped her process her feelings about police and community relationships in the most segregated neighborhood in urban Minneapolis where protests have occurred off and on this year. It really was a project that expressed what she already thinks about a lot; not something contrived to be a hook for a scholarship committee. I hope this is some encouragement for students to be themselves – let their projects show a bit of who they really are, not try to be a mannequin of a perfect applicant.
AMEN. I love that, @calvinandtux. And I have to say all of the projects described are impressive and very mature. No wonder these competitions are so tough.
Sorry – my post was confusing. My post was in response for more information from Fallen Chemist about my daughter who was awarded DHS, 33 ACT.
@calvinandtux Congratulations to your D. She seems like a great kid.
Let us be careful as adults how we post our comments regarding these scholarships here. Although there are a few kids that received these scholarships, there were hundreds of great kids with great stats, extracurricular activities, as well as passion for volunteering and helping others (that’s why Tulane was one of their choices) who didn’t receive these scholarships. Many of them were leaders (“presidents of this or that”) at school for Make a Wish Foundations, suicide prevention leaders, pet adoptions volunteers, etc. These were also their passion. They are not trying to be a perfect applicant, but they are because they have worked hard. They are not trying to be “mannequin of a perfect applicant.”
Let’s keep in mind that these scholarships are very subjective. So, to all the kids that applied and didn’t get DHA and PTA, the academic excellence and strength of character that contributed to your acceptance to Tulane will continue to open doors for you in the future even though you were not selected as a recipient of these scholarships. Good Job all.
@fallenchemist Well said
I am not sure when in this world it became such that in saying nice things about what people have actually told us, we are somehow being insensitive or “dissing” those who didn’t. I’m sorry, I refuse to live in a world where I cannot tell someone they did a nice job because someone else takes it as a slight. It is a lot like a discussion I have seen on a sports show I like. Whenever they have a discussion about who the best (fill in the sport) player is, people act like because you think X is the best, you are calling Y a bum that can’t play worth crap. When in fact no one is saying that at all.
Of course a great many of the people that did not receive a full tuition scholarship are amazing students who might have won last year, or next year. Who knows what factors came into play sometimes. Shoot, my D was awarded scholarships a bunch of times and turned down almost as many. Clearly she didn’t suddenly become stupid in one case and amazing in the next.
@fallenchemist I never mentioned your post or any comments you had. I have always felt that you are extremely helpful and supportive of all the stressed-out kids on these posts. We all appreciate it. I just didn’t care for a couple terms that was said earlier (not by you).
Hi lonetree – no offense intended – simply a message to quieter kids with lower key lives that they should be OK and show their quiet strengths just as others show more visible ones. Best wishes all!