<p>I’m actually very disappointed with those new numbers. You would think with the current economic climate Tulane’s financial aid packages and merit scholarships would have attracted increasingly higher quality students who, in this climate, would have thought twice about attending a cheaper school. It’s possible some high quality students who would have gone to Tulane if not for the economic climate just went to their state school. Either way, I think the admissions office could have done a better job and should have taken advantage of the situation the current state of the economy presented, perhaps by awarding larger merit scholarships. And the % accepted barely budged. Seriously?</p>
<p>@bluebayou - I said anticipated based on statements by the admissions office previously. While they never said, for example, “we expect to see a 30 point rise in test scores for this class” the tone of the statements implied something of that order of magnitude. And while I agree that a no loan program is powerful, it is still based on need rather than merit and so it is different than the kind of merit aid Tulane gives. It would be interesting to see how much the aid Vandy gives compares to the amount Tulane gives, but in the end I agree with you. With a no loan program, Tulane does not distinguish itself from them on financial assistance like they used to.</p>
<p>@ ACS - I am not sure what else the admissions office can do, frankly. They offer tons of opportunities to see the campus, play up the school quite well, and have frequent contact with admitted students they really want. I suppose they could do more to pay for trips, like Wash U does, since the best recruiting tool Tulane has is a campus visit. That would probably be my main suggestion. As far as % accepted and yield, it doesn’t matter since 1500 is the class size Tulane needs and desires.</p>
<p>BTW all, don’t forget those are pretty good scores. It just seemed like they would move more. But that still represents, as was pointed out, a position in the top 30’s to lower 40’s of all universities. That’s pretty good, especially when you add that to all the other things that make Tulane special.</p>
<p>It’s just disappointing to see those results after all of the hype generated by the admissions office about how much better the class of 2013 would be.</p>
<p>Yeah, just natural reaction I guess. But Tulane is into the territory where large jumps are difficult. And that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>Ack! I just lost a long post I’d typed!! So I will recap. The May minutes (thanks for the link, btw) stated
This must have had a significant impact especially with this past year’s economic woes. They used to offer a special weekend for top students to visit and attend a football game at the dome, but I dont think thats been offered in a few years (no need to make comments about Tulane’s football team-- it still sounded like fun).</p>
<p>I agree with whoever said that the free application should be replaced with an early lower cost application (eg maybe $15 if the student applies by Oct 1) then to be followed with a full fee application. It might reduce the # of applicants but would (a) get some $ in and (2) attract the serious students. With the increased # of applications and selectivity, it makes sense that one would have expected the stats and yield to go up. If they didnt, they should rethink this strategy. The admissions staff must be overwhelmed with applications and work. If the school has the reputation of being a “let me throw in an application-- its free so what the heck” to top students, that isnt the way to draw them in. My s responded positively to the local presentation and the campus visit. IMO, students should WANT to come to Tulane. Its a great place. If they see it as an afterthought, that is not a good thing, and wont help yield.</p>
<p><strong>afterthought</strong> playing with numbers a bit. If they had a brief “no or low cost” application period followed by a regular application fee, they’d probably bring in $750,000-$1,000,000. That isnt pocket change, and might incentivize students more.</p>
<p>I think they are on to something with the free, targeted application. I know many people who did not consider Tulane until they received the surprise filled out application. Perhaps if they made EA/ED free and charged some slight amount for regular decision that would be more appropriate.</p>
<p>AC574-
Of the poeple you know who applied b/c of the free, targeted application, how many are attending Tulane?</p>
<p>i applied to tulane because it was my top choice and was always my top choice. i applied early action and would definitely payed for it…i certainly paid to apply to schools that i didn’t like nearly as much as tulane. </p>
<p>i also was a little disappointed when i saw the numbers. they are great, to be sure, but i also felt like our class was a bit hyped (even though we are AWESOME and should have hype surrounding us 
)!</p>
<p>tlanton - you got it right!!!</p>
<p>
It’s nice of Tulane to give out all that info so early, but shouldn’t they be waiting until around September 15 or so? From what I remember there is always some shrinkage of the incoming class over the summer, and I believe that it’s usually from the higher end. As the better students get pulled off the waiting lists of their first choices, they leave, and in a twisted reversal of the Will Rogers quote, wind up lowering the average scores in both places.</p>
<p>^^ May’s minutes said this:
</p>
<p>Jym - Me! Glad I ended up at Tulane but I wasn’t planning on applying until they sent the free, filled out app. Same situation for some of my friends.</p>
<p>What will be the acceptance rate?</p>
<p>Below 20%?</p>
<p>If you mean yield, it was 15%. If you mean % of applications accepted, it was 26%, I think.</p>
<p>OK, so just to get all the stats and calculations in one place: (According to admissions website)</p>
<p>Number of Applications: 39,938
Percent Accepted: 26% (approximately 10,380)
Number enrolling: 1500 (14.5% yield, 3.75% of total applicants)</p>
<p>If you go by the number in the university meeting minutes (deposits on file) of 1516, those percentages change slightly but not enough to matter.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The admitted student stats will not change. This is a different number from enrolled student stats, which are typically lower.</p>
<p>True, what they call summer melt does occur. However, it is unlikely to be enough to change the stats much.</p>
<p>I should clarify. I don’t think the stats given are for the admitted students, it is for the students that committed to Tulane and made deposits. The melt will occur from this group.</p>
<p>I was glad to see the rise (though less than expected) in the Stats for this year’s entering class at Tulane. I just don’t know that those stats will help too much in the rankings as TU had been grossly underrated (for its stats) for years. </p>
<p>Tulane (2008 Middle 50%)
**** High Low Avg.
SAT: 1,420 1,260 1,340
ACT: 31 28 29
Tulane’s US News 2009 rank: 51st</p>
<p>UVA (2008 Middle 50%)
**** High Low Avg.
SAT: 1,440 1,220 1,330
ACT: 32 27 29
UVA’s US News 2009 Rank:23rd</p>
<p>Wake Forest (2008 Middle 50%)
**** High Low Avg.
SAT: 1400 1280 1340
Wake Forest US News 2009 Rank: Tied 28th with Tufts</p>
<p>I’m not suggesting that TU admin or admissions staff should spend that much time worrying about rankings but those rankings seem evermore prevalent in today’s college search process.
I’m of the opinion that very few schools are OVER-valued but so many are UNDER-valued and Tulane is certainly one of those. </p>
<p>As far as free applications, I’m torn on this one. I like the idea of a free application but I think the money made could be put to good use very easily. If they charged just $25 for the application and they received 30,000 applications, that’s $750,000. That money could be shot right back into the General Scholarship fund. That’s $5000 for the top 10% of a class of 1500 students. It’s hard to see how a small fee could harm the school. It might deter some students from applying but the money gained from even a small fee could add up fast to help pay the tuition of those that choose to attend. I think money gained via application fees should ONLY be spent on scholarships/aid. That fact should then be spelled out on the application. Thinking back on my high school mindset, I would have felt better about giving money that I knew was going back to students directly than to the university as a whole, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>I think that is a great idea, Ben. I agree that Katrina is far enough past that a $25 fee, or even $15-20, would be OK.</p>
<p>As far as rankings, I am guessing that the reason Tulane is that much below UVA and Wake despite the stats is peer assessment? Or maybe it is something else in their calculations, like graduation rate (do they still use that?). I guess my point, or question, is does USNWR actually provide a chart on how each school did in each weighted ranking criterion. Would be interesting to see what brings Tulane down compared to those schools.</p>