<p>Well, I can share what I found out a couple years ago. Basically the way Tulane handles their FA, is that they calculate need first, and as others have pointed out, as a Profile school, their definition of need and the EFC is likely to be different than the FAFSA need and federal EFC, and that works the same for all the Profile schools. I guess that’s the point of the Profile, to allow private schools to use their own guidelines as to what to consider and not. Like everything else, the results probably aren’t fair for everyone. Then this is where I think Tulane differs from some privates in packaging their FA. Once need is determined, MERIT becomes the determining factor as to how much of that need is made up of free money. This is how it’s phrased in the FA guide.</p>
<p>"Both “need” and “merit” are considered when Tulane’s financial aid committee makes its decisions concerning which students are eligible for Tulane Need -Based Scholarship and how much scholarship they will receive. “Need” is the difference between the cost of
education and the amount we calculate you and your family can afford to contribute. “Merit"is judged by your academic record. The first determination is whether your application shows you have “need” for assistance. If there is need, then “merit” determines
what percentage, if any, of your package will be made up of Tulane Need - Based Scholarship.”</p>
<p>Notice it says, academic record, not GPA or test scores. When I read this back in 2011, I was concerned as my son had needed full aid, but his GPA, while decent, was certainly not stellar. He was awarded a merit scholarship with his acceptance, but we had to wait on the full package, and the merit in no way was going to be enough for him to actually attend. </p>
<p>For what it matters, and I don’t know if there is any clear answer, son applied at the suggestion of his college counselor, who is a alumni of Tulane. She asked if we would need FA and I told her, we would need a ton. When she suggested Tulane, I told her he had received a link to a special streamlined application form, should he use that or the one on their website. She said use the one he got the link to. He did write the optional essay, so I don’t know what the difference really ended up being. Although he submitted his application by the early deadline, he selected the regular application deadline on the form. He wasn’t sure the school would work for him and I didn’t know if the finances would be doable. Although his counselor told me they were generous with aid, I wasn’t sure if her idea of generous and mine would match. So although he applied before, I think Nov. 1, he didn’t hear until way later. He wasn’t wait-listed or anything, just chose the regular cycle and got a decision within the time frame they listed. </p>
<p>Once he got accepted and received the merit scholarship, I had to decide whether he could even consider the school, because if so, we needed to visit. I called his Tulane FA counselor and asked about that paragraph, and whether she could give me any idea if the school would be doable. When he applied, I also did the FA forms by the deadline, so they had his info already when he received his admission decision. She told me there was a reason it said academic record and not GPA or test scores. She said they looked at everything, grades, types of courses, rigor of the classes and the school, awards, activity involvement, recommendations, basically every piece of information they had on the applicant and that it was not any one thing, but the whole picture. I was also told that the school had a long-term vision or picture of what the ideal student body would consist, constantly changing, but never quite there. There were no exact numbers or percentages, just a awareness of where they were lacking and that also was considered. Anyway we made the visit and son is very pleased we did.</p>
<p>That’s one of the reasons it takes so long I guess, is that it does seem when they start doing FA packages is that it isn’t a standard formula, they do package each applicant individually. That percentage for FA that College Board lists, is that for all admitted students or just for those that accept and attend? Because if it’s the latter, it would sense that of the high need students, the ones that actually go, are ones that get the really good aid packages. I know my son has met several kids who might would have wound up at other schools but for the aid, though whether it’s need or merit based I don’t know. I would guess that aid packages are a lot like the Profile EFC, for a lot of students they are excellent, but for some; aren’t as fair or take into account all individual circumstances.</p>