<p>Does that mean I'm basically in? they even suggested I look at scholarships and apply to honors</p>
<p>Read the threads; they offer EVERYBODY the free app…</p>
<p>Yes, the app is free for everyone, but they don’t send everyone the “personal app”, although it still shouldn’t get you too excited. What it basically means is that they saw something (PSAT scores or something else) that makes them think your chances of being accepted, should you apply AND SHOW STRONG INTEREST, are better than most. But if they got your transcript and it had some red flags, or something else showed up that they couldn’t have known about otherwise, then you certainly can still get turned down.</p>
<p>Tulane, like many schools, uses outside firms to help them “mass mail” by certain criteria. Some people don’t like this practice, others get the wrong message such as you did. It’s a tough call; getting the best students is a very competitive thing now with so much information out there for everyone to see.</p>
<p>Bottom line, use this as an opportunity to look into Tulane as far as academics, location, atmosphere, etc. and see if it seems like someplace you could see yourself going to school. If you even think there is a possibility, then visit if you can. Tulane is a great school to visit, many people change their minds about Tulane (in the highly positive direction) once they see and “feel” the campus and the area. And Tulane is very generous with merit scholarships. About 10-12% of the students are invited to the honors program. While there are a few special courses primarily for honors students, it mostly is designed to help you stay on track to graduate with honors and to enhance your chances for things like Rhodes Scholarships.</p>
<p>yea – read some of the old threads from indignant people who received the personalized free application and then didn’t get accepted. </p>
<p>FC’s right. Certainly you received it for a reason, and if everything else falls within Tulane’s standards, then you’ll likely be accepted. But don’t assume you’re a shoo-in simply because of the invitation.</p>
<p>Older DD had Tulane midway down ler preference list. She applied and got in through a priority app, and was offerred merit money. Chose elsewhere. Younger DD is applying this year. She has Tulane in her top three. She has better stats (scores and GPA) than big sis, but did not get offerred a priority app. I keep telling her it doesn’t mean anything, but it has her worried.</p>
<p>Definitely reassure her it means nothing. Again, these are generated out of big databases by outside companies using criteria Tulane gives them. There are a dozen reasons a person that Tulane would have personally selected to get a priority app might slip through the cracks. It is understandably difficult for a 17 year old to appreciate how massive (and how sloppy) this process can be. Tulane knows this, and will treat her application with the same “attitude” as ones that came in priority. Once an app hits the admissions counselor’s desk, it is the same criteria for all.</p>