As the new class goes through move-in, I thought it would be good to post some stats about the class as outlined in the Hullabaloo recently http://www.tulanehullabaloo.com/news/article_880b8442-46cd-11e5-8ca0-6f2310979fb2.html
Class size: 1730 (Largest in Tulane history)
Average ACT: 30
Average SAT (CR + M): 1340
Percent in top tenth of class: 59%
Number admitted from wait list: 0
Number of international students: 54 (more than double last year’s 26)
Percent of non-Caucasian students: 17.5%
States most represented, in order: New York, Louisiana, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Illinois.
School of Science and Engineering has the most declared students, followed by Business and Liberal Arts.
I am surprised at the small number of international students.
Compared to last year’s median numbers of SAT Composite 1960-2140 and ACT Composite 29-32, it looks like the stats took a bit of a hit this year, but they may rise next year because space limitations may necessitate a smaller class, and especially if that 54 in USNWR can be improved, even if just by 4 or 5 spots, to get back to the top 50. (as humble a goal as that may seem!)
@NJDad68 It is hard to compare 25-75 ranges and means. You can’t say that because the range was 29-32 that the average was 30.5, and besides that just because they report a 30 doesn’t mean it isn’t 30.4 compared to who knows what before. That is one thing I don’t like about the ACT and the custom of only reporting it to two significant figures. Seems to me it would be a little more useful if they reported the scores either with one decimal place, or just to make it easy to read do that and report it as 304 or whatever. I suspect that this class is virtually identical to past ones within a fraction of a standard deviation. They won’t finalize the numbers until October when they take out any students that don’t show up (summer melt) or leave after only a week or so, since they can still get a full refund, I think. The point being the class isn’t considered final until after a couple of weeks into the semester. But I find it very hard to believe that the numbers move more than a tiny fraction.
@TomSrofBoston Tulane (obviously) doesn’t have the name internationally that e.g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford do. They have only started seriously investing in international recruitment in the last few years. I would call efforts before that fairly token in nature. So while I agree the total number is small, 26 to 54 is clearly a big jump. It will be interesting to see how that tracks over the next few years.
NJ – Don’t know if the stats were up or down. Back in May Tulane admissions was indicating that SATs were going to be up but didn’t say anything about ACTs.
“The class is a bright one! Again, it’s too early to release the final SAT average, but it is looking like it will be 6 points higher than last year’s incoming class (on the 1600-point scale). It’s too soon to tell if this is the strongest class we’ve ever recruited based on SAT scores, but it certainly looks like this may be the case.”
TU does have a chance to get back into the top 50 since the newest data set will finally start to reflect the post-Katrina new normal on six year grad rates (TU’s USNWR albatross). Might happen this year, more likely next year.
@fallenchemist Here in Boston, Northeastern and Boston University are reporting that about 18% of their freshman classes are international. There are two reasons for this 1) Greater diversity on campus and 2) International students are not eligible for need based aid and are generally full pay.
I have little doubt that both of those reasons are in Tulane’s thinking as well. Not sure what NEU and BU provide, but Tulane has Global scholarships which are full tuition (approx. 9 of these) and internationals are equally eligible for DHS and PTA scholarships. In fact this year one of the DHS winners is from Korea, I think it was. Still, I am sure that internationals on balance represent strong positive income for Tulane. Hopefully those attending will have good experiences and Tulane and New Orleans will become a choice for foreign students more along the lines of Boston, NYC, and the west coast.
I looked again at those median numbers of SAT Composite 1960-2140 and ACT Composite 29-32. They are for the applicant pool and not the admitted pool – not the most relevant. That being said, I would still guess a modest decline in stats due to the fact that the statement in the Hullabaloo shied away from the oft heard “most qualified class ever” language. The admit rate climbed to 30%, while the yield did go up a point. (Didn’t say what it was – not an accident either.). That uptick in yield, combined with the sheer size of this class, might very well make next year’s application process more competitive, especially with the aforementioned hoped for relief n the USNWR front.
Entirely possible @NJDad68. Hopefully we will see some stats in October that say what exactly is happening. Although at the risk of repeating myself (hardly the first time) any change up or down is going to be pretty small. I would be a bit curious as to why the admit rate was higher this year. Yield is obviously hard to predict unless you are Harvard, and while the 1% uptick is, as the article says, about 80 students and therefore significant in that sense, it is also another small change in a statistical sense. But I wonder if the availability of more dorm space is leading Tulane to now target somewhat larger classes. Even if true, I suspect 1730 was more than was being targeted.
Bottom line, when kind of stepping back from academic stats, admit rates, etc. seems to me that Tulane remains a strong target school for a highly capable academic group and it continues to grow in popularity in the West and now, perhaps early stages, in some international areas. One can certainly attribute a lot of this to the admissions department and their execution of a strategy that keeps Tulane healthy in this area. Not all schools are being as fortunate to say the least. But I see all the really strong and exciting improvements and changes that Tulane has undergone since Katrina, and I would like to think that some of that is getting back to the market as well.
@fallenchemist - that’s a very unusually written article. It would appear the writer is innumerate based on the way he used mathematical terms and left out the key statistics featured. Interesting the focus was yield.
The focus? Hardly. It was mentioned once, and not in the first or second paragraph where any journalist will tell you is where they put the lead.
Now there is an internal contradiction if I ever saw one. How can someone have left out something that was featured?
@fallenchemist - what was the headline?
That use of yield meant largest class size. You know, like “my land produced 3 tons of corn this year, and that was my largest yield in history”. They are saying this admission cycle yielded the largest class size in Tulane history. Not a great headline I admit since that term has another meaning, but it does match the focus of the lead paragraph. It didn’t mean yield in the sense of percent of admitted students that enrolled. It couldn’t have since, as you well know, it is far from the largest yield (using that latter definition) in Tulane’s history. Total misinterpretation on your part. Now let’s stick to the topic of the thread, please.
OP: Any breakdown in terms of male/female ratio for the incoming class? I didn’t see it in the Hullabaloo article, and I was wondering whether you might have that information from another source (or could point me in the direction of finding it). Thanks.
I have not seen that, but I would bet it remains around 60% female. If I find out I will post.
Man, I am good! 
40.31% male. @gandalf78
^ I knew you were the best!