<p>Ok, my early action application to Tulane was deferred. I'm surprised, and I can't figure out why I didn't get accepted. </p>
<p>Here's some info about me:
SAT (multiple test dates) R-720, M-630, W-670
My EC highlights include Speech and Debate for 2 years, and two medical internships. Last year, I spent 4 hours per week in the O.R. This year, I'm spending 4 hours per week following an anesthesiologist (some time in the O.R., some in O.B.)
A.P. English Lang--5
A.P. US HiST---4
A.P. EURO HIST---5
GPA- 3.7 UW. 4.3 W</p>
<p>I go to a school that allows me to take community college courses as well as high school courses. College classes: Intro to Molec. Bio. with lab, Sociology- Ethnic Groups in Contemporary society, and Introduction to Sociology. I also have high school gov. and an internship independent study.
Last year, I went to a regular high school. I took a ton of honors classes. </p>
<p>This is what I wrote in the "why you want to attend Tulane" section:</p>
<p>"My first attraction to Tulane was the superior quality of the academics. I have also learned that Tulane is a wonderful environment in which one can gain new experiences, and meet other interesting and diverse students. Another reason that I am attracted to Tulane is the location. All of these factors have influenced my conclusion: Tulane is an excellent match for me."</p>
<p>Definitely do so… I got accepted, and I’m of similar if not slightly less impressive academic standings than you are. Are you sure that everything got to them on time?</p>
<p>Given this pattern, I am going to openly speculate as to the reason for these unexpected results. Tulane announced that they wanted this year’s class to be 230 people smaller than last year’s (1630 down to 1400). Let’s also assume that Tulane’s application numbers are running at a similar level to last year. If that is the case, they may be seeing a pattern up to, say, the beginning of November that indicated they were looking at a class that would have been too large again. That would mean they would have to consider students they would normally admit and defer them to RD so they can see how things are shaping up. I know this seems unfair, but at least you know it is not a slap at your qualifications, only an unfortunate result of your timing. If you put yourself in Tulane’s position, they really have little choice. They cannot create dorm space out of thin air, so they really have to make sure this class is smaller.</p>
<p>Assuming I am right (and this theory seems to fit the facts so far), then for those of you that really have Tulane as a top choice or at least top 2-3, your best play is to make sure Tulane knows you really will attend if accepted. How you do that is up to you, the more it comes from you the more sincere it will seem to Tulane.</p>
<p>The other downside of all this is I can already hear all the cynics and haters accusing Tulane of doing this to manipulate their admissions numbers for rankings or public relations reasons. Oh well, not much to be done about that.</p>
<p>Your numbers are truly superior and you should get in. Don’t understand the deferral. The essay was fairly trivial, however with actually nothing specific to Tulane in it that couldn’t be substituted for by [insert name here] hundreds of other schools.</p>
<p>Kellybkk: I disagree with you on the importance of the “why Tulane” (or why any school for that matter) especially for the highly qualified candidates. If your “why” essay sounds like it could be written for any school, and you are qualified to go to more prestigious schools, what better indication for the admissions folks that Tulane is a safety school for you? Each of those “why” essays is an invitation to show your love for that school and you should take the opportunity to personalize that essay. For my son, who was accepted with the presidential scholarship, he wrote about Tulane’s impact on reviving the local community and was able to relate that to his own service to our community, and he wrote specifically about clubs that he would join, classes he would take, etc. While the framework is generic, he personalized it and I think that is important to do for a school such as Tulane which gets a lot of applications on a safety basis. Just my opinion and 2 cents for anyone that still has to write that essay.</p>
<p>2flipper2 - I agree with you about the importance of the personal statement, but I think you misunderstood kellybkk. I read what she wrote as saying “OP, you have good numbers for Tulane, but your essay sounds very generic and therefore could have been better.” That’s what I understood from her use of the word “however”. I think Kelly agrees with you, except maybe that none of us really know how important that personal statement is, since it is new. It is starting to look like it is actually pretty important, based on what VP Retif said and the results we are seeing. Sounds like it is probably a combination of that and Tulane getting full already.</p>
<p>Add one more to the deferred with good stats pile. D was deferred. 32 ACT, 2130 SAT, 4APs, solid ECs, service hours and employment, UW gpa 3.6, URM, NASF. Go figure.</p>
<p>2240 is very high, and if that 3.6 is UW, that is not low. Just goes to show that it is impossible to predict any longer. I mean one could always be wrong before, but the predictions were pretty good. Now there is just no way to know.</p>
<p>For the record, my D did not answer the “optional” Why Tulane essay. If Tulane wanted it to be mandatory, they should have made it mandatory. Not answering an optional should not be held against you, IMO.</p>
<p>I can see both sides of it. Given Tulane’s application numbers in recent years, along with its position as a “safety” for many Ivy League and similar schools, I can understand them making it a bit like a Rorschach test. If you don’t answer it, they will assume you haven’t really thought about it much and therefore Tulane is not a real “destination” school for you, not a top choice but only a back-up. As I mentioned elsewhere, a current student wrote in the school newspaper that they thought this assumption was wrong and that potentially good future Tulanians would be kept out. This is certainly debatable, but they need some way to see who really wants to be there, and if they made it mandatory, the safety students would still write a good statement, most likely. I guess they feel they have to do something.</p>
<p>But it is optional, technically, since students that say they did not fill it out got in. It is a slippery slope for sure.</p>
<p>My daughter was also deferred today. She has an ACT of 33, a 4.0 unweighted (not sure about weighted average), and she’s ranked 4th out of 300 at a very competetive private school. She’s an all-state and all-eastern musician. We’re surprised because her sister received a presidential scholarship offer from Tulane last year with a lower class rank. Her sister chose not to attend.</p>
<p>My SAT and my transcript should have been in on time. I definitely agree, I should have written more on the “why Tulane” thing. I guess it doesn’t matter too much that I got deferred, because I probably wouldn’t have gone. I just applied to Tulane because I thought that if my family all of the sudden won the lottery, I’d really like to have the option of going. I’ve never been to the South, so I don’t know if I’d even really like it. I guess I’ve just always kind of romanticized it.</p>
<p>There’s a BS/MD program in my hometown that I have really good chances for, so maybe I’ll shoot for it.</p>
<p>Perhaps, these applicants are falling into a “Tufts syndrome.” Tulane has no reason to believe these applicants will attend without a showing of interest. Filing just before the EA deadline may appear as not that interested.</p>
<p>^ I applied EA the day after the EA deadline. I also wrote 1 sentence for the optional essay. I got in! Don’t give up! Just show them your passion!</p>
<p>I applied the day of Early Action, but I’d started my app a month before that. I showed some interest. I participated in their little student chats. I don’t know. I really should have shown more interest.</p>