Three years ago, my daughter applied to and got into Tulane. We all visited, and Tulane was her first choice until she got into a school in Chicago and decided she preferred that city to NO (crazy, I know). Now my son is applying to Tulane. We can’t afford to visit, with another kid in college. However, he did tour the campus when we all visited three years ago (he was a rising 9th grader that summer). Should he mention the visit from three years ago, as a way to demonstrate interest? The one drawback that I see would be that they would then know that his sister was accepted but didn’t attend, and that might reflect poorly on him, even though they are VERY different kids and he would be much more likely to attend than she would.
His stats are good - 35ACT, 3.98GPA, 3-sport varsity athlete (lightly recruited for D3 x-country), Eagle Scout, yada yada. He IS very interested, and wants to demonstrate interest, but is concerned that his sister’s decision might reflect negatively on him.
Sooo, should he mention the visit or not?
Yes, he should absolutely mention it and I see it as a strong positive. Three years later and Tulane made such an impression it is a high choice for him (I am assuming)? That sounds like a point to push, not hide. As far as his sister not picking Tulane, that is irrelevant. The admissions people see that over and over and over again. Handled right, he could even have some fun with that fact, but either way it won’t be a negative.
Yes, it is a high choice for him - definitely top 3, and he hasn’t narrowed it down any further. I will suggest to him that he mention it in the “Why Tulane” essay.
Thanks for the reply - one of the things that I noticed on our tour is how friendly everyone associated with Tulane seemed to be (including folks here at CC).
@Crusoemom
Even though I am obviously a Tulane person, I can objectively say that regarding comments from people that have been out visiting schools they notice, more so than at most other schools, Tulane students are exceedingly helpful on a spontaneous basis, wear their own school’s gear, and just seem really happy to be where they are.