<p>I was fortunate enough to receive the 24k Presidential Scholarship so I'm very thankful to be taken care of. A guy I know, however, who is equally qualified as I am somehow did not receive any merit money. Without a sizeable need-based scholarship, Tulane is probably out of the question for him. </p>
<p>I've always known about Tulane's repuation for giving out incredible merit aid but what about their need-based aid? My friend doesn't live in abject poverty or anything but Tulane's astronomical price tag is definitely too much for his family to handle. Do you think he has a chance of getting a substantial need-based package?</p>
<p>Also bear in mind that this guy probably just barley missed out on a merit scholarship. His academics are at least as good as mine alogn with his ECs but his test scores were a little low (1800 SAT). </p>
<p>Need based is good. I applied to Tulane as a senior and didn't get in the honors program or get any scholarships. But I got need based aid that almost met me entire need. Then I took a year off, got my scores up, and was "magically" smart enough to be a distinguished scholar and be in honors. Ironically, the finaid package was roughly the same either way!!!</p>
<p>He should probably be finding out soon. </p>
<p>It was probably the test scores that prohibited your friend from getting the scholarship. That's obviously what it was for me, since that's all that changed in my credentials to make them change their decision. I don't blame Tulane, necessariily, for this skewed approach to admissions and scholarships, but college admissions as a WHOLE. So lame...I figured out how to crack a test and suddenly was good enough for honors etc. I wasn't any smarter then than before!</p>
<p>Yes, it's silly, but blame it on the importance people place on rankings. Those mid-range scores have a real bearing on where the schools place, and you see from these forums how much stock people put in rankings. Silly, yes, but only when people stop making that sort of thing so important and start really examining what's good for each person will it change. OTOH, it worked for you, so all is well :-)</p>
<p>Basically, in an earlier thread I had the same question. I know that Tulane has a good reputation for meeting need, but since they use the CSS profile I wondered about how much they included home value in assets (I'm from the Northeast) </p>
<p>Today my DS got another email asking if he'd made a decision yet, and hit the undecided button again, was forwarded to a section that asked for a reason and he hit "financial aid" Under need based scholarships, the following came up:</p>
<p>Need-Based Scholarships
Need-based scholarships are awarded based on the information provided in the FAFSA and CSS profile. To receive priority consideration, these forms are due by February 1, 2008. Based on a review of your family?s Assets and Liabilities, we employ a federal formula that determines a family?s ?Expected family contribution? toward the child?s education. In the event that the family contribution falls below cost of attendance, we will provide a supplementary financial aid package comprising some combination of grants, loans, and work-study programs. For specific information regarding need-based financial aid, contact our financial aid office at (504) 865-5723. </p>
<p>This basically says that they use a federal formula..... If this is true it would be great. Can anyone comment on their experiences (ie was your Tulane EFC close to the federal formula on the FASFA??)</p>