Initial stats on incoming class from President Fitts

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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Received this e-mail today

January 22, 2016

Dear Tulane Community:

The new year is bringing all kinds of pleasant surprises – not the least of which is the first-year class we are now selecting to join our university family this fall.

But maybe “surprise” is not the best word. Given the increased variety and quality of our interdisciplinary course offerings, our expanded research options and the growing recognition of New Orleans as one of the best places to live, work, learn and play, it is no surprise we have received almost 32,000 applications for the fall freshman class. That’s almost 23 percent more applications than this time last year!

These are applicants every university would want, too. The average SAT score for those students who have already qualified for the new class is 1390. That’s almost seven points higher than last year’s SAT average which, in turn, was almost 10 points higher than the two first-year classes that preceded it. Nearly 60 percent of the admitted class is also on track to graduate in the top 10 percent of their high schools.

Almost 64 percent of our new class hails from six states including New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas and Louisiana. This solidifies Tulane’s reputation as the country’s most “national” university, where the average student’s hometown is more than 917 miles away.

And for the second year in a row, California is producing more new Tulane applicants than any other state, surpassing even Tulane-loving New York. The racial and ethnic diversity of Tulane should also grow through the new class with nearly 24 percent of all admits being students of color and/or international students.

Credit for this outstanding new class goes to the Office of Admission for spreading the word about the new Tulane from coast to coast and hemisphere to hemisphere. Many thanks also to each of you for continuing to make Tulane one of the most sought-after institutions anywhere. It is a reflection of your excellence and success that so many outstanding people want to join us.

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“In reviewing the performance of more than eighty-eight thousand students, Hiss and Franks found that students who perform well in college were the ones who had gotten strong grades in high school, even if they had weak SAT scores. They also found that students with weaker high school grades did less well in college—even if they had stronger SAT scores.”