<p>Tulane is my absolute dream school. I plan on applying EA. Here are my stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.27 unweighted (all honors/AP classes at a top 100 public school, 4 total APs)
SAT I: 2270
SAT II: 670 on the Chemistry, I expect to get something similar on the Math II in October.</p>
<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Psychology
AP Biology
AP Calculus
Honors English Literature
Expository Writing
Criminal Law</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
* I am extremely involved in music. I have played the French horn for seven years and been in my school wind ensemble for that long.
- Tri-M Music Honers Society member (Head of Public Relations)
- Head of the tutoring program at my school for all instruments
- Several orchestras outside of school, including the John Phillips Sousa International Honors Band 2011 and 2013, John Phillips Sousa National Honors band New England 2012, UMass Amherst Honors band, and the MIT Concert Band (my high school conductor is also a conductor for it and he invited me to join)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I am a volunteer EMT. I go on call around 10-20 hours/week. I took a year long course offered outside of my high school in addition to my courseload and passed the state test and join my town's ambulance service.</p></li>
<li><p>Speech and Debate Club </p></li>
<li><p>National Honors Society</p></li>
<li><p>Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field (currently the captain of both)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some additional info:
accepted people from my school have an average GPA of 3.57 and have never been outright rejected, only deferred.
I probably will not have the opportunity to visit but I am planning on going to every regional event possible, interviewing, contacting admissions officer, and anything else possible!</p>
<p>I think my application is pretty solid overall except for my awful GPA! Do you think I still have a chance at Tulane? Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to answer this.</p>
<p>I think your chances are reasonably good, because you have a strong resume except for the GPA which, while obviously not terrible or anything, is somewhat below the Tulane average and below what the rest of your record would seem to indicate it should be. I think besides your SAT score, which is a definite plus, the French Horn ability along with music involvement in general is really good. Of course the EC’s are also a plus. You have the right idea with the regional events, etc. and I am sure you know that a strong Why Tulane essay will be important.</p>
<p>So the key questions center around your GPA, and there are two I can think of. 1) Why is it lower than your SAT score would indicate your capabilities are, and 2) what is the trend? Did it start out low and it has been rising, or has it been fairly steady at that level? Or (and this would be the worst case) has it been declining? If the last, then again you would have to have a very good reason for that. Anyway, rather than speculate maybe you can expound on why the GPA is what it is.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I took a rigorous schedule throughout high school… in freshman/sophomore year I had trouble managing my ADHD and in sophomore years I had some family issues which caused me to miss a lot of school and had a big impact on me emotionally. I think overall my school is pretty tough and I don’t think the high school learning style is a good fit for me.</p></li>
<li><p>My GPAs were roughly a 3.5 in freshman year, a 3.1 in sophomore year and a 3.3 in junior year. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Overall the reasons for the low GPA are passable at best and not really that strong. Without a good excuse do you think I would still have a shot?</p>
<p>I think you do, but very hard to predict. It is always a fine line between sounding like you are “explaining” vs. “giving excuses”. I think you should see if you can talk to the admissions counselor that runs your local session by making a separate appointment. If that works, you should talk about your strengths. It would probably be best to quickly explain what happened sophomore year especially, but focus on why things are better now and why you will be successful at Tulane.</p>
<p>To be clear I meant SCEA not EA. Do you think I would have a better chance with just RD so they can look at my senior year grades as well?</p>
<p>Also how else can I express my interest? I registered for the only “Tulane Comes To You” event near Boston. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, and for all the other information you’ve posted throughout the forum :)</p>
<p>You are better off with SCEA. If they decide you are borderline and move you to RD, you are no worse off than if had applied RD to start with. I really doubt you would be outright denied SCEA.</p>
<p>That’s good you will be at the Boston area event. It is one of the biggest ones, though, so if you want to meet with the admissions person separately you probably need to contact her now and see if it is possible. That one will be run by Antoinette Abboud.</p>