<p>A word of caution to those considering applying for the Deans Honors Scholarship: This is primarily a merit based scholarship. You will not qualify for this scholarship without first having stellar standardized test scores, GPA, and class ranking. No matter how creative a project you turn in, without these things you will not get the DHS. Do not believe your creativity will “put you over the edge.” If you do have top tier stats, your project may distinguish you among other top scoring applicants, that’s all.<br>
So if you’ve been cruising Utube and wondering why so many outstandingly creative projects did not make the cut while other mediocre ones did, this is your answer: Tulane is not primarily looking for creativity. Tulane wants high stats.
Should you still bother turning in a project for the DHS? Absolutely! You’ve got nothing to lose. However, don’t devote too much of your life and time to it. Instead spend that energy applying to other universities and scholarship programs as well. Maximize your opportunities.</p>
<p>While my opinion might differ somewhat on some aspects, the main point is certainly correct. I get inquiries every year from people that have a 2100 SAT and a 3.7 UW GPA that puts them at about 12% in their class asking if they have a shot at the DHS. The published guidelines are (or at least were, I assume they haven’t changed) that a person should have 2250+ SAT (33+ ACT) and rank in the top 5% of their class. I try not to be discouraging, but I certainly emphasize that it is a long shot at best with those kinds of stats, and like @BFHS83 I emphasize that it can take valuable time away from other things.</p>
<p>I always assumed that there are more than 75 people with great stats vying for the 75 DHS awards Tulane gives, and the project is used to decide between that group of “finalists”. Could a great project get someone with 2200 SAT and/or ranking slightly below top 5% of their class into the finals? Sure, I have heard of that happening. But stats that are too far off the mark are just not likely to make it at all.</p>
<p>I think Tulane values creativity quite a bit, but this is primarily an academic merit award. They make no secret of that.</p>
<p>Agree with both. Stats are the first threshold to clear. But creativity then counts. I thought my s’s was pretty creative and it was successful.</p>
just to give any outliers out there a glimmer of hope…my son received DHS with 2170, 3.7UW, & class rank between 10-20%…has loved Tulane so far…socially & academically…4.0 first semester…admittedly with bias, at this point, I think both the school and student got a good deal with the match!
Yep, your son is one of the exceptions I have in mind when I mention that I have seen slightly lower stats win! 
So glad things are going well so far. Did anyone ever find out what is going on with the Dean’s List?
Nothing regarding Dean’s List as far as I am aware…my son hasn’t mentioned & nothing to the home address either.
Congrats vandyeyes!
@fallenchemist …fyi…Tulane’s Dean’s List notification (for the fall semester) did come out earlier this week (via email to student and supposedly hard copy in mail to permanent address afterward)
@vandyeyes
Thanks! Someone else mentioned the email on Thursday or Friday I think it was, but that is good to know about the letter. We were speculating maybe Tulane was trying to go more green!
Great news, vandyeyes!
I am a current freshman who got the Deans scholarship, and my stats were lower as well (though not bad)
SAT: 2090, 2120 superscored
ACT:34
I was 4/517 in my high school class with a 4.0
National Merit Commended and AP scholar with distinction
And I didn’t have a huge amount of extracurriculars–I played tennis through high school, was fairly involved in my church, and did theatre for two years. My big thing was art which isnt really an extracurricular, but I did have several awards for that as well. So I think my project might have helped
@porquekay (love the name)
Those are not lower stats, lol. When you have an ACT of 34, they just ignore the SAT. That is like a 2300 SAT or whatever. And you had straight A’s and 4th in a large class, with a lot of AP courses. And your ECs sound decent, especially since tennis and theater probably took up a lot of time. So congrats on the DHS, hope you are enjoying Tulane. But your stats are definitely more towards the top. Those are Ivy level stats, in fact.
@fallenchemist
Thanks! And yes, I’m enjoying it a lot!