Your daughter has some amazing choices to make. But I’m not sure why what you described is "playing games. For last year’s class (class of 2024), Tulane received 44K applications. So surely anyone applying this year was on notice that chances for anyone are slim, right? I agree about the irritating amount of emails. Tulane has clearly lost out by not admitting your daughter, but I’m not sure that means they are just “playing games.” How is what Tulane does materially different from other schools? Is it the sheer amount of their outreach to potential applicants? My D21 applied to several scholarships at other schools that required special essays and did not land any of them (and in fact, didn’t even get in to some of the schools). But that’s just part of the process.
We had no idea about all this demonstrated interest business and yield games. We just applied thinking it was a good target school for the twins with very high stats and EC activities. We invested a lot of time in writing the scholarship essays and called into the virtual events. We will not be applying to Tulane for my D23.
The game is pushing and pushing to engage with the school and show interest. Hello, interest is applying.
I started hating Tulane when I had to sit through days of a zoom fly in as my daughter wanted me to help show interest. That is ridiculous.
I never wanted her to go to Tulane (humidity, crime, hurricanes, cost) but felt roped in to their crazy pressure to engage.
Just telling other parents to opt out (or never opt in) to the Tulane game.
I didn’t spend hours with other schools online and my daughter was quite successful.
Exactly! What a waste of time!
Don’t mean to interrupt the feud going on right now, but I just read Jeff’s blog and about 50 people got off of the waitlist last year. So I guess it’s not super likely to get off.
FYI 44k apps is not that many. UCLA received 139,000 for their freshman class. I didn’t have to be on email lists or attend zoom sessions!!
I think your daughter is in similar situation with my twin boys- what school is she leaning towards? We are conflicted with UCLA vs Cal vs USC. Due to cost x 2 and no financial aid, I think we are leaning towards UCLA for premed/pre health. USC would be amazing but the cost would outweigh the benefits.
I’m pushing UCLA! I’m a biz school alum and my husband is an alum undergrad.
My daughter was admitted to a dual BA program through Berkeley. 2 years at Sciences Po in France and 2 years at Berkekey. 2 degrees. Or she can do 4 years at Berkeley.
She is also waiting on 1 Ivy.
No financial aid here either and I have a son in college too.
I went to USC undergrad. I loved it! But it’s so expensive and she wants to go to grad school too.
@parentjunior17 , I’m very happy to hear your daughter got in with a high merit scholarship. I’m sure she will enjoy her four years in New Orleans at a strong academic school. However, Tulane did play games with us and I’ve heard many stories from others. Tulane “didn’t notice” my daughter’s academic records sent in October via Navience by her counselor, then after we got in contact with them and they promised to consider her EA if submitted via their email, which were done within a matter of minutes, they sat on them for a few weeks and then notified her that they would not evaluate her for EA because her academic documents were “late”. After many emails exchanged, there was little we could do. I understand deadlines exist for a reason, but I was disappointed to see their unwillingness to account for their own mistake. I spoke to others in academia who echoed this sentiment.
It is what it is. I’m sure all of our students will end up at schools they’ll love and Tulane will continue to produce strong graduates. I was just underwhelmed with their process.
Congratulations to those who made it. For those of you who didn’t, the reject or wait list message can be one of great disappointment. But think of it as a silver-lining for you a better suited school for yourself and your future.
I find this comment to be a bit offensive to students who worked hard to earn a spot in Tulane’s class. While the disappointment of getting rejected from a school is difficult, putting down other students accomplishments like this is hurtful. Every school looks for a specific type of student and requirements are not always solely academic. Tulane has an acceptance rate of 11%, so while I don’t attempt to compare it to an ivy, it operates on the same principle that no everyone with a 4.0 can get in.
It’s not a feud. It is sharing information for future applicants and their families.
I totally agree… while I think the application process is unfair in certain ways, I dont think it’s right to invalidate others and their accomplishments. I got waitlisted and I’m upset but I think people on this thread are upset and bashing it too far. Let’s face it: you put in all this time and energy to Tulane and you didnt get in. But the same thing happens with other top schools… people donate literal BUILDINGS and their child still doesnt get in. At the end of the day, they may prefer ED applicants, but people still do get in EA. Every school looks for different things in applicants so just because your child got into other T50 schools doesn’t enable Tulane to let them in. There’s a fine line between sharing your perspective and bashing a school because your child didnt get in… some of yall need to let it rest and move on. After all… this is college admissions, it’s ALL a game.
I don’t mean to offend and I certainly don’t mean to put down the hard work of those who are admitted. All kids who apply to Tulane work hard and have great stats - just look at the other top schools where these kids were admitted on this very thread. But one thing is for sure: those admitted to Tulane worked harder than anyone else at playing Tulane’s game. Personally, I don’t think it’s healthy for a kid to be required to obsess over any one school just to see if they can get admitted.
I too was annoyed by the incessant emails to my own inbox before the application deadline. Also the pressure to attend a million virtual sessions by my already zoomed-out kid. But the icing on the cake was when literally the DAY AFTER my daughter applied EA, the emails flowed in for ED2. Tulane, please respect our decision on how to apply for at least 24 hours! We know what ED is, and we did not apply ED for a reason. Their marketing is shameless and it continues after they quickly defer most so they can barrage you to go ED2. What other conclusion can I possibly come to?
Above poster is right: UCLA got almost 140,000 apps, not 44,000. My daughter got in there as well. But all she had to do was fill out the application.
D was admitted EA with fairly generous merit, but the climate of Tulane in all of it’s forms (crime, political, weather) has the scales tipped in other schools’ favor. The application process seemed to fit what my daughter’s strengths were… community involvement & strong academics. Only attended one virtual event. Did not visit in person. I will agree that they sure do the hard sell on e-mail. But, it seems like they all do after acceptances go out.
It’s not about being upset, it’s only about calling out the process. Literally no other school behaves this way. My kid was turned off pretty early on, and while she opted in during the deferral process last fall, she saw through it and literally said, “This isn’t a school, it’s more like a business.” So no sting here, I promise.
I hope this thread can move on from put-downs like this. There is a randomness in this process that is frustrating and sometimes mind boggling. But it is not okay for anyone (especially parents!) to express their disappointments or frustrations by putting down other students by suggesting their admission was based on anything other than merit.
@Uggsrwarm, I agree. The challenge for most middle class applicants is they won’t give you an estimate on merit aid. It’s hard making a binding commitment when you could be stuck paying over $300k out of pocket for undergrad. I understand why schools do it, but it really benefits the wealthy who can afford to pay full freight for each of their kids.
What is the deadline to decide if you want your spot on the waitlist? Can’t find it anywhere