My name is Jeff Selingo. I am a contributor to The Washington Post, and author of a forthcoming book on college admissions from Simon & Schuster. I have received permission from College Confidential to post here. I am interested in interviewing students (or their parents) about demonstrated interest at Tulane. I’m seeking those who feel their son or daughter’s demonstrated interest (or lack there of) might have played a role in either their acceptance or deferral in EA at Tulane. If this is you (or your child), please describe what he/she did or didn’t do in this thread below or contact me at jeff.selingo@washpost.com
If you agree to an interview, your name (or your child’s) and other identifying details will not be used.
My son was accepted at Tulane in the EA round. I don’t know whether or not demonstrated interest played a part in that or not. He has a 34 ACT, has taken 13 AP classes and PLTW engineering classes and has been a high honor roll student in a gifted and talented program. He is a first generation college student, but not an under represented minority. He did not visit the Tulane campus, but he did attend an event that Tulane hosted locally by the regional admissions counselor. He did not meet individually with the admissions counselor, or write additional e-mails to the counselor. His “Why Tulane?” essay didn’t regurgitate facts about the campus, he talked about why he picked Tulane over other highly ranked colleges. His reasoning was that he thought he’d fit in better there because of the overall feel that he got from the videos and how students talked about Tulane. He checked his portal frequently for updates because he wanted to participate in the Alumni Interview program if it were offered to him. He did get that email and scheduled it right away. He interviewed with a Tulane graduate from our local area who had similar interests and major, and my son had a great time talking to him. They had a very animated conversation about the possibilities for research.
He did no other special things to demonstrate interest - I would think he did what any student who really wanted to attend a school would do.
My son was accepted to Tulane in Early Action. We did not visit prior and were told very specifically by others that if he didn’t demonstrate interest he would be deferred. We did everything in our power to make sure that didn’t happen. He went to a regional visit and a visit at his school. He emailed his rep to inform him that Tulane was a top choice. He opened all emails and clicked on links. Checked portal often. He was accepted with merit and I do believe the interest contributed to it though his stats were well within the range of accepted students. He was accepted ED elsewhere so he turned down the offer. Happy to discuss more.
Daughter accepted EA. My daughter’s very high stats (in most rigorous academic high school program (AP courses), in a strong academic high school) and extracurricular involvement and leadership made her competitive for top 20 national universities and liberal arts colleges (USNews&World Report) so she might have been deferred for yield protection had she not demonstrated sufficient interest. How did she demonstrate interest? The summer before senior year she joined the Tulane mailing list on its website—this is important because it provides the school with personal and academic information about potential applicants; she opened any emails she received from tulane admissions (they may keep track of this); she found out who the Tulane admissions representative was for our geographic area (this info is listed on tulane’s website) and she sent an email to that representative introducing herself and expressing her strong interest for Tulane; she also asked a relevant question or two which was not readily answersable from the website; she along with me attended the local admissions event in our geographic area and she introduced herself to the admissions representative at that event; it’s always good for the local geographic admissions officer (who usually does the first screening of applicants) to associate a name with a face; I (parent) filled out the Tulane Net price calculator (NPC) on its website, filling out info on my daughters stats (ACT and GPA) and family’s financial information in order to determine if we would likely receive any merit aid or need-based aid—I assume Tulane tracks who fills out the NPC because it shows serious interest. And in her Why Tulane essay she wrote about what a great fit she was with Tulane and incorporated info obtained from the local admissions event as well as info she was able to obtain from looking at the Tulane website and the numerous You tube videos Tulane has. We needed substantial merit aid and need-based aid in order for her to attend. And we couldn’t afford to visit the school before she was accepted. She is currently attending Tulane and very happy with her decision. As are we.
my daughter was deferred from EA and rolled into the RD pool. She did not visit because we couldn’t get her there. She does communicate with her AO on a regular basis and follows Tulane on social media. She wouldn’t be considered a high stat applicant but what she does have in her favor is that she is clearly on an upward trend from freshman year. So, if they are truly looking at the application file holistically, she could have a shot.
We live in Maryland, so I read your column in The Post. My son was accepted EA and offered a merit award. He did not visit campus but did attend an information session at a MD hotel and then attended the information session at his public HS. We are visiting the campus next week for Destination Tulane. Happy to email you, if you still need. Let me know.
My son was accepted to Tulane EA. It was actually the first school he heard an acceptance from back in December. He registered to receive emails and opened all of them as he received them. He attended a Tulane Comes To You program in our region and we visited the campus for a Preview Tulane day last October. He is a well rounded kid and had very strong stats. He received the Founders Award for $22,000/year.
My daughter was accepted to Tulane EA with a large merit scholarship offer. She is high stats. We did make the trek and visited the campus during her junior year; she was on the school’s mailing list since sophomore year and generally opens all college email; and she attended Tulane’s visitation at her high school. She was accepted ED elsewhere (found out the same day as she found out about Tulane) so she won’t be attending Tulane, but it was high on her list. She knows at least 3 other very high stats local kids from two different high schools who were all deferred; none of them visited campus/ I’m not sure the extent to which they demonstrated interest but I imagine they were probably at least on the mailing list and possibly attended local events. I assume they were all deferred for yield protection.
By the way, it seems Tulane is now so aggressively marketing compared to even a few years ago…the emails, the # of post mailings, the free application…my daughter probably would have not even considered the school had it amped up the marketing even a year earlier. There were a few other schools (Univ of Chicago, Vandy) that she crossed off the list of ‘should I visit’ by mid-junior because of the sheer volume of mailings she had received by then, which suggested to her that they were so interested in increasing the applicant pool size that she shouldn’t even bother applying.