For someone who admittedly has no personal experience with Tulane, what is this comment based on?
Lots of research! I attended around 20 Tulane virtual events during the application cycle and I researched the school extensively throughout my college process. Iâve also noticed a pattern on forum sites of students reporting much lower stats for the ED rounds. I emailed someone from my school who currently attends Tulane and though she said she has had an amazing experience, she also informed me that most of the kids are not very focused academically. In addition, my private college counselor who has worked in the field for around 20 years explained their admissions strategy and extreme yield protection as soon as I told her I was applying. Though I donât personally have experience attending the school, I do think the admissions process has taught me a lot and I experienced firsthand the pressure that they put on students to apply ED or EDII to protect their yield. It is still a great school though! I donât want anyone to get that wrong haha.
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Iâm sorry, but so many statements in this post are simply untrue and the actual data can be found in the CDS. The ED acceptance rate is thereâŠthey publish it every year. Since you have no statistics in your statements about the school, only your impressions, what would you assume the ED acceptance rate to be? Iâll be happy to provide the actual rates and those of competitors (of your choice) for the last few years. Also included in the CDS are the stats for the incoming class and the academic profile of each class is getting stronger every yearâŠavgs of the 2025 class will be 33 and almost 1500. Thatâs got to be tricky with all of those âvery low stats kidsâthey are filling their class with via ED.
I truly hope you were admitted to a school where you will be happy so you can begin focusing on the journey ahead of you rather than dwelling on the schools you did not.
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My interest in this conversation has been finding the Tulane admissionâs process somewhat distasteful, not that there are any issues with the quality of students who attend, their achievement in being accepted, or the rigor of the education.
I Googled âTulane common data setâ and obtained this document for the 2020-21 class (i.e., last year). Here is some relevant information that has been discussed in this thread. Note, the past two admissions cycles have been non-typical and I am not providing information from peer institutions that would provide context to this data.
Total applications: 43,892; total acceptances: 4877 (11.11%); total enrollments 1801 (yield = 36.9%)
Early decision applications: 2163; total acceptances: 720 (33.3%). Thus, a 3-fold enhancement if you apply ED. Note 720 represents 40% of the entering freshman class of 1801 students. Is that a lot compared to peer institutions that also offer ED? Regardless, after this admissions round, it leaves only 1081 spots for the remaining 41,729 applicants. I am not sure how to calculate the residual acceptance rate for those who apply EA or RD, but I would guess it is around 6%.
Interestingly, numbers for EA applications and acceptances are not included; there does not appear to be a section to fill out this information. There is no way of knowing what the acceptance rates are for EA vs. RD to determine if there is an edge to applying early. Did not find any information on EA deferrals either.
Number waitlisted: 12,813. That is 29.2% of total applicants! None ultimately were enrolled!
Admissions interest in applicants âInterviewâ and âLevel of Interestâ are âconsidered.â Thus, this is supposedly not emphasized by Tulane despite being bombarded by emails from them. ('Very important" and âimportantâ are above considered). Also doesnât make sense, since they fill their 40% of their class with ED, which is the ultimate in âlevel of interest.â
SAT (25th/75th percentile): 1360 - 1470
ACT(25th/75th percentile): 30 - 33
pishicacaâs post suggests the the average SAT for this years class will be 1500. I have no idea where that data comes from, but the CDS does not support that statement, since the 75th percentile for last year is still 30 points below.
Percent of students with a 3.24 GPA or less: 19.3%.
As stated, I am sure the academic profile is getting stronger every year, and this is true at many institutions. But there is still room for non-high stats kids to be accepted (this is probably a good thing since these students are likely offering other abilities to round out the class).
Data about the stats of ED vs. EA vs. RD is absent and at the crux of the matter regarding how admissions handles applications. I also think the financial profiles of applicants and how an institution handles it need- and merit-based resources is a HUGE consideration. If that last statement is true (and I donât know), it means that the admissions decisions our students receive from schools like Tulane are not based simply on their own academic and lifeâs achievements, but something entirely out of their control.
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The numbers are not totally out of line with some high end schools. Regardless, it is well discussed locally by guidance counselors that if a student wants to attend Tulane, they need to apply Early Decision. It is also often discussed that Tulane considers a set of students as âoverqualified.â These students will get waitlisted if they do not apply Early Decision. If Tulane thinks the student is only using them as a backup and the student is a good candidate for an Ivy, then beware. It negatively impacts applicants who canât afford to assume they will get a full scholarship or havenât made a decision. We were told this would happen to us and it did. My D21, who from a variety of scenarios we can confidently say was deemed a top 200 applicant to Columbia, Duke, and Georgia Tech, accepted to other highly ranked schools, was waitlisted only at Tulane. They have done their research and know who will likely turn them down. They assign the spots to great students who consider them their first choice. Iâm sure that approach is great for school spirit.
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Oops! I meant EA acceptance rate sorry! Please check out Mickmanâs post right below you he explains the stats behind their admissions strategy perfectly. Just the fact that about 20% of their class had a 3.24 or lower completely proves my point. By the way, where did you get those test score stats?? Thereâs no chance those are accurate. I was admitted to plenty of schools and I am actually committed to my first choice right now so definitely not dwelling on my other schools haha. Iâm just trying to help other people understand the process a little and not get pressured into applying ED if you arenât completely sure. I know I almost did and it wouldâve completely ruined my admissions process. It definitely can be the perfect fit for a lot of students but a lot of kids end up applying ED without being super familiar with it.
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Thanks for this thoughtful response. Itâs interesting that EA acceptances are not reported. But if any college you were interested in offers EA, why would you apply RD instead of EA . . . unless youâre just not organized enough to be ready to submit for a November deadline? EA is definitely the way to go with Tulane, if ED is not an option.
@pishicaca - I get it, haters are gonna hate. And nobody wants to believe the numbers, or that Tulane is ANY different from many/more âeliteâ schools trying to manage their yield, or claims that they âplay gamesâ. One of the first things I remember our sonâs counselor telling us was âTulane is a wonderful school that manages and protects their yield fiercely. If itâs your first choice, prepare to consider applying ED. If not, be prepared to wait and not get too disappointed by the process.â Having been through it twice now, it is not for everyone.
In the end, everyone here in this forum is smart enough to know that nobody will or should be pressured into applying ED. The issue is always clouded by the fact that each year, a large number of people add Tulane into the mix simply because itâs a free application and (at least on paper and in rankings) is backup to some VERY great/tough schools.
I was excited for my daughter when she got waitlisted instead of rejected, but then I read the 2020-2021 Common Data Set for Tulane. For last yearâs applicant pool (class of 2024), Tulane put 12,813 kids on the waitlist, of which 4,486 accepted a spot on the list. And then they ended up not going to the waitlist at all. They literally have a waitlist pool 3x the size of the incoming Freshman class. Any ideas on why they need that big of a pool? Seems a bit overkill, and providing a lot of false hope (however small) to thousands of kids.
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I donât think a waitlist is ever providing âfalse hopeâ. Any school will tell you to essentially make your plans to move on. Most schools have a similar size WL relative to the size of the class theyâre looking to create. Keep in mind that as soon as 5-7 years ago, many schools DID pull significantly from the waitlist.
For Tulane specifically, those waitlist stats on the CDS are particularly bleak because they can/do admit kids to their spring scholars program from that list, as opposed to the fall class, which would not be reflected in the CDS stats. My guess is that about 2-3% of applicants are offered spots to spring scholars.
The CDS does not include EA data (for any school). Many schools, including Tulane, will report the EA admissions statistics independently.
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You may find these data regarding ED acceptance rates and percentage of incoming classes filled via ED interesting. Provides an opportunity to gauge a schoolâs numbers within the context of others.
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These stats are very interesting. Thanks for posting this.
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I DO find it interesting, and it provides that context that my prior post did not. For many who do not have access to a good college counselor, and are interested in elite colleges, this information is incredibly useful.
Among the top-ranked schools that offer ED, there appears to be a range of a 2-4 fold increase in acceptance rates relative to ED. Tulane is right in the middle of that range. This could set off a whole discussion about the merits of having an ED system, but I promise I am not going to start that!
Some of the schools that fill 40% or more of their class with ED (like Tulane), AND have a 12% or lower RD acceptance rate: Vanderbilt, U Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Northwestern, Rice, Middlebury, Claremont-Mckenna, Pomona, Swarthmore.
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Just one student here, but will share his stats to illustrate an EA profile kid. Son accepted EA with 3.8 unweighted GPA, higher if weighted. Solid APs. 31 ACT, lots of Community service, athletics, orchestra and a part time job. Seems to fit the profile of accepted student. What was truly different, IMHO was his âwhy Tulaneâ essay. He really wanted to be there. We, as parents, read his other college essays, we could tell that this school was where he wanted to be. It jumped off the page. All of the other college essays were fine, he did his research. But this one was WOW. He was awarded scholarship, too. When he got in, he said he was done. He withdrew from other acceptances and declined some wait lists and we supported his decision given how crazy this year has been and giving up a spot somewhere else that another kid could really want, like he wanted Tulane. This was where he wanted to be. He considers himself super lucky to have gotten in EA and we went back and forth about the ED1 issue, but there was one other school he was considering. So we rolled the dice with the EA, and thank goodness it all worked out. He would have done ED2 had he been waitlisted. It seems people feel that they deserve to be admitted for some reason. That their high stats alone demand an acceptance. There are many qualified applicants, the school can decide however they want who to accept. Fortunately, in our case, they picked up on our sonâs sincere excitement to be a part of what Tulane was offering for his interests. And he canât wait to step on campus and learn. Also, the profile of the other kids we know who got in from our neck of the woods all have similar stats to my son. When you look at Naviance, kids above and below him were rejected, so I go back to the âWhy Tulaneâ portion of the application process. What is also different about this year (from our school) is that everyone who got in is attending.
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One variable you have to be mindful of when making comparisons using these data is the difference in additional admissions plans and the resulting impact on the ED to RD acceptance ratio. None of the other schools you list has EA, while Tulane fills the majority of its classes through EA which drives down its RD acceptance rate relative to those without EA (and inflates the ratio).
Just as a point of comparison, in the cycle before the data I provided, Tulane filled only 28.8% of its class via ED, so this most recent data set reflects a greater than 10 pt increase on that metric, while the number of ED applications increased and the academic profile improved. It was posited earlier in this thread that Tulane uses ED to admit very low stats students, but these data seem to suggest otherwise since with a significantly greater proportion of ED admits YOY the stats of the class improved over prior year.
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Yes - I agree that this IS interesting and revealing data, especially in the context of other schools that offer ED admissions programs (ie. most private schools). To your point about the merits of having an ED system, I donât think itâs going away any time soon, so students and parents (and counselors) alike should all understand how to work within that framework. It may appear that the schools are holding all the cards, but good students have powerful choices too.
Although I do believe that (on average) it benefits those with the means, resources and financial flexibility to make their college decisions, I strongly believe that the simple exercise of 1) using the schoolâs NPC (net price calculator), and 2) understanding where they fall on the âneeds metâ spectrum (Tulane around 90%, several elite are 100%) allows students and parents to be confident in the process⊠With these two pieces of information, plus the conviction to know whether a school is a definite fit, ALL kids (regardless of means) should be able to determine whether they can/should/want to apply ED to any school to increase their chancesâŠ
I canât tell you how many times Iâve seen people negate the ED process for money alone. It is a factor, certainly the most important one, but if a school is 90-100% âneed metâ, youâve done your homework on NPC, and they donât stand up to that number, you DO have a choice to opt out. I will tell you, NO schoolâŠnot ONE⊠wants to accept a student ED and have them back out because the school hasnât met their financial needsâŠ
I said I wasnât going to engage on the ED issue, but here I goâŠ
There is no need to debate the benefits to the school (I am only using Tulane as a representative of all schools that have ED) - they get to choose the students they want at the price they want. There is literally no competition. And Tulane gets to fill 40% of their class this way. Huge benefit to them.
Second, only 5% of total applicants applied ED in 2020, so quite a small fraction of students are taking advantage of this option.
I agree with your second paragraph about obtaining the necessary financial information (i.e., NPC and how much need the school meets) to make an informed decision if ED makes sense for your family.
I think ED benefits those on the ends of the financial spectrum (i) those who require significant need-based aid in order to be able to attend (ii) those who have the means such that they will willingly pay full price. The problem I see is that those on the low financial end of the spectrum may not read College Confidential (!), nor have the time or resources (e.g., private, or good high school college counselors to guide them) to even recognize that ED may be a great opportunity for them.
Meanwhile, for those in the financial middle, I am sure that many think their âexpected financial contributionâ is excessive, if not fiscally irresponsible. I try hard to look at it objectively, but really cannot justify what these college calculators think is appropriate for my family. I mean if you look at how banks consider personal finances before giving loans or mortgages to families, and how much of their monthly income can be applied to the debt, there is no comparison.
So, I am not disagreeing with you at all, I just think the benefits are much greater for the school and high net worth families than for the vast majority of people. Regardless families need t find the necessary information and maintain perspective about the entire college applications process. My daughter was deferred EA at her first choice and agonized over whether to switch to EDII, knowing that the odds would significantly increase of her being accepted, but that we might be on the hook for the schools âlist price.â She decided to just join the RD pool, and fortunately was accepted and received a decent merit-based award.
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@Mickman - you make some excellent points, and I think weâd agree on much more than weâd disagree on for sure⊠For example, I think youâre spot on that those on either ends of the spectrum are the ones that benefit most, while the middle suffers (BTW, that is us). What we may lack in financial resources is made up for in doing a heck of a lot of research to navigate this processâŠ
The way I see, each schoolâs black box NPC is potentially a bargaining chip for those students who have decided (for one reason or another) to apply ED and increase their chances. Everyone goes in eyes open and awareâŠI agree though that the EFC for us âmiddlersâ seems daunting, however flawed the formula may be. Clearly we didnât save enough to write that check and are not considering this a ârainy dayâ either. It impacts our bottom line more, so the stakes are higher.
I think itâs a valuable life lesson. Tulane doesnât purport to be âfairâ in their process. They run their process in a way that best meets their needs, which they have every right to do.
If itâs deemed âdistastefulâ to some that they use the process to select good applicants who have signaled an ability pay full price over candidates with better stats / qualifications then so be it. They still get an excellent group of students while bringing in more money to the university.
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