Hey, so I just retook the ACT and jumped from a 30 to a 34, and so this opens up more options for me.
I have read enough of the Tulane threads to see that people with stats that line up with the ivy league schools can apply EA as a safety, just to get deferred and later rejected in RD pool.
Thank God, money is not an issue for my family, but if I were to apply ED, then my chances of receiving merit-based aid are reduced significantly, correct?
But if I were to apply EA, I run the risk of being seen as someone who is just using Tulane as a safety, when in reality I just want to take advantage of any opportunity that arises to save my parents tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars over 4 years.
Also, I have visited campus, emailed my admissions rep, and went to our school’s information session last year, and plan on going again.
Hey me and you are almost in identical situations! Down to the same ACT even! My family makes juuuust enough that we don’t qualify for aid, so that means we have to pay the whole $70k that private universities cost. And so my parents and I agreed I can only attend a private university if I get a merit scholarship. That was the whole reason I got interested in Tulane: their massive scholarships was very enticing.
Personally, with their change to Early Decision, I think you should just go Early Action and write a really good “why Tulane” essay. That’s what I’m doing. I can’t bind myself and like you said, there is no way they’ll be giving out scholarships easily to ED applicants. The whole reason they’re there is to entice good students who might choose elsewhere; if you’re contractually bound to go if you’re accepted, better cough up the cash mate.
Apply early (September-ish?) to Early Action with a really good Why Tulane essay and you should be good!
I was playing with the idea of emailing my regional admissions rep with what I outlined in this thread, but I figured it would sound kinda snobby like “I can get into your school ED, but I want money so I am doing EA”. In other words, it sounds like I feel that I am entitled to this merit based aid, which is something Tulane probably doesn’t want prospective students to believe.
I agree with Hopeful that such an email probably wouldn’t come off right. It is still early; we really are not into the next admissions cycle yet. So rather than me providing any thoughts right now, there could be developments or clarifications from admissions that would affect how this gets approached. Certainly anyone is welcome to an opinion, but I would simply suggest that it is premature at the moment.
This is very much on my mind, so I will use this thread to get back to the issue before the next cycle gets underway. Fair enough?
@2021Hopeful I think a more proper way to phrase it would be, I’d like to apply ED since Tulane is number one on my list, however, I am concerned about my ability to afford the tuition and will therefore have to apply EA.
The problem with that is it makes assumptions that might not be correct. Tulane certainly hasn’t said they won’t be giving major merit to ED applicants. It is an assumption that they have no incentive to do so. But that isn’t exactly true. Everyone, including Tulane, knows that the one reason to “break” an ED acceptance is if you cannot afford it. And they won’t know for sure at the time of accepting people ED exactly what kind of financial aid they will require.
There have been endless discussions about these kinds of issues elsewhere, and I am not trying to start a new round of that debate. I am just saying there are potentially still “tension factors” that can move Tulane towards providing generous merit to ED applicants. Also, I know some schools that basically use formulas based on SAT/ACT and GPA/course rigor to set the merit award offered. While they don’t say so, it doesn’t take a lot of study to know that this is what Tulane is doing as well, in the past, with few exceptions. But that is the past, before ED.
My point is that there are still a few variables out there that could be addressed still, and waiting a bit might be a more prudent use of our time and energy than speculating at the moment. Jeff is one of the best admissions people I have seen when it comes to communication, so let’s give this a chance. Plus there is a new VP of Enrollment Management starting in June, I believe, so that might be a factor as well. Patience is called for.
I emailed them about this and the officer said that they aren’t looking to change their merit aid methodology for now, but they said they’ll keep me updated. Probably best to ask again in August, looks like this shift to ED hasn’t been 100% sorted out yet.