My son may be interested in Tulane so I am doing some research on possible scholarships. He is currently a junior. For the automatic merit how do you think my son would do with a 4.0 unweighted GPA, weighted 4.6, ACT 33 (taking again in April), good EC’s, Varsity Captain, academic team, NHS, volunteering, job, etc.
For the Dean’s what do they mean by submit a creative project.
Any other advice is appreciated.
@collegemom2boys
He should do extremely well with that resume. My own guess would be the Presidential and a good candidate for on of the full tuition scholarships. As far as the DHS project, it is pretty wide open, although the instructions are somewhat more specific than they used to be. Here is a link to this years application which has the short instructions.
http://admission.tulane.edu/documents/dhs/DHSapp2014-2015SubmissionsClosed.pdf
The relevant instructions are:
Until recently, there were no limiting instructions about what to explore or about feeling strongly about it, nor did they used to require the associated written commentary. While my D’s project 6 years ago did have a significant written portion, I don’t think it would have met the criteria of being an “issue, academic area of interest or cause”. It was an idea, obviously, but I am not sure one could say it was something about which she felt strongly. It was just something highly creative, totally using the box as the centerpiece. Kind of a shame that might not fly as well today, although perhaps they would have been just as happy with it. Hard to know.
Anyway, there is no guarantee they won’t tweak the instructions again for next year, so I wouldn’t let him get too far ahead of himself. But I think he would be pretty safe at least outlining some ideas for projects based on those instructions.
Beyond that, I am sure you have seen the advice to show as much interest as possible, to make sure admissions understands that Tulane is truly a target school for him and not just a safety, since with his stats he certainly has a chance of getting into schools with more competitive admissions than Tulane, and that he answers the not-really-optional “Why Tulane” question with some depth and personalization, not just the cliches like it is in New Orleans or that it has such great academics. Attend the local sessions they have in the fall if you live near a city where they are holding one, visit campus if possible (if not that is fine), and establish contact with the admissions person responsible for his area. Again, you won’t know that last until fall. They don’t assign territories until summer, and they do change sometimes. So the person that had Southern California this year, for example, might or might not have it again next fall.
@fallenchemist Thanks for the info. So if I am understanding correctly the project is an essay with accompanying video or photos.
I didn’t realize it was common for territories change. Are most schools like that? My son has established contact with a few reps from a few schools.
I am not sure how common the practice of changing territories is, or for that matter how often Tulane does it. I just know it has happened in the past. But there is no real hurry in making contact now anyway. Early fall is plenty soon enough, unless you are going to visit over the summer or something like that. Then I would make an appointment with whomever is listed as being your rep at that time. If it were to change, at least there would be notes in his file.
As far as the DHS, it does not have to be a video or photo or drawing or anything else in particular. It is whatever their imagination can do with a box (or boxes) that size. In theory one could build an entire model city out of those boxes and write an essay on an idea about urban planning, or building clinics in poor areas. It is wide open as far as that goes. I guess it is also wide open as to whether the essay supports the project or the project illustrates the essay. I guess that is more of an issue of the creative process than anything else.
In my D’s case, her idea for the box came first, which was that it was a space on the periodic table of the elements that represented a newly discovered element number 175, Tulanium. The 175 was because it was Tulane’s 175th anniversary as a school. The accompanying piece was her writing as the science reporter for a major publication and detailing the various aspects of the discovery process and the properties of the element. It was, I say with all the bias expected, extremely clever with a lot of “inside” references that related the properties of Tulanium to aspects of Tulane itself. The best was the happy coincidence of Tulane’s nickname being “The Green Wave”, and anyone familiar with high school chemistry and physics knows that quantum matter has both particle and wave-like properties. It was a great set-up. Anyway, now you can see why technically that same project might not fit the spirit of the instructions as they currently exist. Back then the instructions were simple to the point of essentially being “Here is a box. Do something with it.”
When we did our tour they referenced your daughters project among a few others as examples!
Very clever of your daughter @fallenchemist. Am I correct to assume she was awarded the scholarship?
Oh, that is nice to know!! I do know that about 2 years after she turned that in I was helping at one of the Tulane fall events at a hotel, I think it was in the Philly area. I happened to be there on business. When I mentioned my D’s project while we were having dinner after, she recognized it immediately. I do feel quite confident that it was unique.
@collegemom2boys
Yes, she was. What a complete blessing it was, too.
Revisiting this thread regarding Tulane scholarships. Son ended junior year on a good note increasing ACT to 34 and GPA to 4.7. Also received state awards for math and the Rensselaer Medal. For the full-tuition scholarships can you apply to the Deans, Paul Tulane Award and Stamps or do you need to select one? Any idea of my son’s chances or which he is most qualified for?
@collegemom2boys, you can apply for the DHS and Paul Tulane, but not for Stamps. It sounds like he would be a good candidate for any of these scholarships.
Just to further clarify @suzy100 's perfectly correct statement that one can apply for both the PTA and DHS, the Stamps candidates are selected from DHS applicants (not PTA applicants, as far as I know). There is nothing additional your son can do for the Stamps beyond continuing his excellent work so far and doing as good a DHS project as possible. Of course he needs to apply EA or SCEA to be eligible for either the PTA or DHS, and hence the Stamps. If he is fairly set on Tulane should the scholarships materialize, I recommend SCEA. It eliminates any doubt about his true interest in the school. But if he can’t do that because of other considerations, EA will be OK.
What then happens for the Stamps (based on this past year, it could change some as Tulane settles into the best procedure for them. This is only the 3rd cycle for the Stamps), is that there might be a preliminary phone interview. From what I can gather from last year, there were over 100 phone interviews, maybe close to 200. Let me be clear now, because there was some confusion and disappointment based on last year. Getting a phone interview doesn’t promise anything in terms of getting a DHS or PTA, much less a Stamps. Also, I am not sure that every Stamps finalist was given a phone interview. After these phone interviews, if the student is selected for a final interview the students do not have to travel to the school, unlike with the University of Miami. The interviews are conducted by Skype, I believe. I don’t know the numbers for those that become finalists, but I suspect it is about 10 students for the 5 spots. I do believe those other 5 are guaranteed a DHS.
If anything is unclear about any of that, just ask. I know it might be a bit hard to follow.
I’m just going to warn you of one thing. Your son sounds like possible Ivy material. Tulane is well aware of their reputation as the ivy-league backup school and it seems like they started rejecting anyone they thought was using them as a backup. To avoid this, consider having your son apply early action. Also, show LOTS of interest. Tulane heavily considers demonstrated interest in their decision making process. Good luck to your son!
Your point is of course correct that Tulane is sensitive to the fact that they are very attractive as a school where students that have the HYPS et.al. group as their true target apply “just in case”. But since the OP asked about the Dean’s scholarship, and later the PTA and the Stamps, her son would HAVE TO apply EA or SCEA to qualify for these. SCEA in particular tends to quench any doubts about the student’s true interest in Tulane. But I would venture to guess, based on most of the winners I know of in the past several years, that the majority apply EA. Yet they nearly all have Ivy type stats. That’s the nature of those who win these awards. They are extremely competitive.
Those applicants overcome any qualms about the sincerity of their interest by, as you say, demonstrating this interest in various ways. Attending local meetings of Tulane Admissions, visiting campus if possible, establishing contact with their admissions officer aside from any in-person contact, showing real knowledge of the school in their application (especially the Why Tulane essay), etc. If they happen to be a legacy or otherwise have a reason that Tulane would be a strong choice for them, that is a bonus but of course that is not within the student’s control.
I just checked their website to see if they are visiting our area and they do not come to our western state. It’s way too far to drive. I don’t think we can visit Tulane at this time. It would make sense if there were other schools we could see in that area but most of the schools on his list are in the northern states. Other than emails, it will be difficult for him to show interest.
That’s fine. Tulane (and all schools) understand these things. When he writes to his admissions person, he should just be sure to spell out that he cannot make it to NOLA and there are no sessions in his area that he knows of, but that he has looked at many of the videos on the web site, he really likes what he sees, etc. It’s a good way to get the conversation going.
We briefly looked at Tulane and in that time noted that they were one of the schools that has emails and virtual tours like Chinese boxes where other opportunities to register interest are embedded in the emails and whatnot. If he is really interested it would be good to go online and register and open all the email and click on all the content within. If you say that you are interested but never open the emails (even if they come several per day and seem excessive) then you could seem uninterested. They send a link to an early application with your special code then may track how many times you return to that portal. (of course this could all be over the top, imaginary, John Malkovich-like paranoia too 
)
No, I have read where schools track it exactly as you say. I don’t imagine Tulane is any different. I think little things help too, like getting on one of the Twitter or Instagram feeds and then mentioning something you saw that way in an email. Because I could be wrong, but I don’t think they have a way of knowing that the student is a follower automatically.
Also be aware that the merit scholarships can be severely limited in high schools where Tulane is very popular. My son had a 4.0 UW GPA with 2150 on his SATs. There were 7 others from his high school with nearly identical credentials. Two got merit awards, and 5 did not get a penny (there were another 5 or 6 that did not have those credentials). Obviously at that point, you can’t consider the school knowing you’d be paying at least twice what others are paying. It was an unfortunate turn of events, especially since two of the families (myself included) were alums and had good donation records to the Alumni Association (which has now abruptly terminated).
My daughter’s best ACT score is a 32, but her superscore would be a 33. She is going to retake the ACT in September. Do you think it would be better to wait and apply to Tulane after she gets her next ACT score in case she does better? Or go ahead and apply now? We would need her to get pretty significant merit aid for her to be able to attend Tulane. She is going to apply early decision and write both essays.
Also, does anyone know if applying or not applying for need based aid would affect chances for merit aid? Thank you
I know you know it isn’t ED, but I like to be 100% sure there is no misunderstanding. Tulane has EA and SCEA, but not ED. You no doubt meant EA.
It depends a bit on the rest of her stats and record. Most especially, what is her unweighted GPA, weighted GPA (if you have both), and how many AP classes has she taken and is taking? Also, when would she get the results of her next ACT?
Not at all. Merit aid comes first for those that get accepted EA. They wouldn’t even know for sure if you were applying for need based aid at that point, even if you checked off that you intended to. But to be clear and so there are no surprises, whatever merit award she might receive does affect how much need based aid they award later. Merit scholarships are considered an asset, as if it was hard cash in the bank 100% earmarked for Tulane, which is exactly what it is in practice. Said another way, if your EFC is calculated to be a certain amount, your new EFC is whatever it would have been calculated to be anyway plus the amount of the merit scholarship. You don’t get “off the hook”, so to speak, from paying whatever Tulane (or any college that awards merit aid, they are all the same in this regard) thinks you can afford. The exception, of course, is if the amount of merit aid plus your EFC actually exceeds the Total Cost of Attendance. Then you get all the merit aid and “only” have to pay the difference that remains.