My daughter received a free application waiver with an invitation to apply to Tulane. She has never expressed interest in this school and I don’t now how they found her. I’m assuming maybe her ACT. We don’t know much about this college. Do they have a reputable business program or are they more of a liberal arts college?
My D received one as well and we think her SAT triggered it. We looked into school and seems very solid academically. I believe they are really trying to attract high stat students. My D decided not to apply because they were recently voted #1 party school. For whatever that means my nerd girl took it off list. Didn’t want that association (parents crying at thought of lost potential big merit aid and parents weekend in New Orleans).
If she is going to apply best to do early action as they accept hardly any students regular decision…less than 100 last year if my memory serves me right. Personally I think its a great school.
Thank you for the info.
Tulane’s application is free for everyone. Many colleges buy lists from ACT and collegeboard and what have you. Its marketing. If your child is interested, apply if they have programs that interest her (yes, they have an undergrad business program). It is a great school.
If your D received a pin with the application invitation be sure and have her use it. I thought this was a marketing scam but our consultant said it is not (she recently visited Tulane).
Tulane is a wonderful school. The Freeman business school is currently being expanded. Tulane is bigger than the small liberal arts schools yet smaller than the big universities. Don’t let the “party school” label sway her, every school has its share of partiers, Tulane gets some of its reputation simply by being in New Orleans.
Tulane app is always free to everyone. As pointed out, many colleges use that “free” term as a marketing ploy. Then every year parents and kids come back here disappointed that they weren’t accepted and they received a “priority app”. Tulane is really big on demonstrated interest, don’t consider it a safety, it’s very competitive and every year high stat kids are surprised that they are not accepted.
As for the party school, well every college is a party school if that’s what you decide to make of it. The #1 spot given to a different school every year, don’t pay much mind to it. Tulane’s administration has recently taken a hard line on underage drinking and is cracking down on on campus drinking.
It’s a great school with so many unique opportunities and well known for generous merit aid. Check out the Altman Program in the Business School- "The Altman Program in International Studies & Business is a special four-year interdisciplinary undergraduate course of study that integrates advanced language training, business, and liberal arts education. Altman Program Scholars earn two degrees – a B.A. from the School of Liberal Arts and a B.S.M. from the A. B. Freeman School of Business "
To me, what’s important is that Tulane may be a party school for some, but it’s a school of a decent size in a major city. That means that there are plenty of other options for all kinds of students. Very, very different from schools in remote locations where fraternity keg parties are the only game in town.
Tulane does have a solid reputation academically and people I know have enjoyed going to the school. Do keep in mind that free applications are not uncommon at Tulane and the school does like to see some demonstrated interest.
@Veryapparent - I want to circle back on your comment and provide your D with some information that will hopefully be helpful to her in making a decision about applying to Tulane. I went to Tulane and got the ‘party school’ question all the time. I would hate for her to not apply to Tulane based off the ‘#1 party school’ ranking so I will pass on some information that you can send her way - from the perspective of a former Tulane student:
Coming from the midwest, I never thought I would be going to school in New Orleans. After spending 4 years at Tulane and in NOLA, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. At first, I was nervous that Tulane was just ‘another party school.’ It only took one week for me to realize that I could not have been more wrong. Like every school, Tulane can be a party school, but more importantly, Tulane students learn how to perfectly balance all of the distractions (free concerts/festivals everyday/etc.) of NOLA with their academics.
What separates Tulane’s ‘party scene’ apart from every other school is that you will not just be sitting in a dorm on a weekend. Instead, you will be going to one of the 412 festivals in New Orleans, or seeing a world famous Brass Band at a nearby bar, or walk down to The Fly (park on the Mississippi River) and have a Crawfish Boil with friends. There is never a dull moment in New Orleans and Tulane students take advantage of this amazing city and everything it has to offer. One of my favorite Tulane memories was when I went to my first fraternity party and instead of listening to EDM, everyone was dancing to a live brass band. These little things are what make Tulane very different from anywhere else.
One thing I want to make very clear is that Tulane is not a party school. We are a ‘party city’ that Tulane happens to be located in. This is a city that celebrates the little things. If you ask any Tulane student what the nightlife scene is, their answers may surprise you. They will not talk about the fraternity parties, or playing drinking games in their dorm. Instead, they will tell you about a concert they went to downtown, or how they went Paddle Boarding in Lake Pontchartrain, or how they went to Po-Boy Festival (my favorite festival) over the weekend.
Like any school, there are students that choose to go out and have a good time. After all, ‘there is more to life that just books’. With that being said, a Tulane student will quickly find their balance between going out and staying in. You will never be alone if you decide to stay in on a weekend to study/hang/etc. Like @DebmomNY said, ‘don’t let the party school label sway her.’
I know this was a lot of information, and I apologize. In short, I want to stress that Tulane ensures that students make academics a priority, but understand that there is more to life than sitting in the library every weekend. Students come down here because they want something new and something different, while growing as a student and more importantly, as a person. Tulane and New Orleans have a special way of capturing your heart and you will see the love students have for this amazing school. It is a different world down here, and I woke up everyday loving this school more than the previous day.
I hope your D (and you) find the above information useful. Please let me know if I can help with any other questions.
@nostolgicNOLA
Thank you for that wonderful description. The funniest thing about my D is that if it were not for Tulane University she would not exist! My husband and I were set up on a blind date by two friends who both are Tulane grads. The story is actually really intriguing because the grad my husband knew he actually met when said person’s car broke down in rural Indiana by my husband’s farm (family). My husband fixed the car and Tulane Grad ended up staying with family he had never met before while a part was ordered. Pretty random! I knew the other Tulane grad through work. They conspired to fix us up many years later. What a great why Tulane essay…I’ll read her your post! Sounds like a fabulous place to go to school.
My son is a freshman there and since we are from Wisconsin with Madison as one of the alternate schools he looked at, the party school title didn’t bother me. When we visited it was described much like @nostalgicNOLA described - as a university within a party city. Yes, my son has found parties in the two months he’s been there, he’s also found jazz clubs, coffee shops, the Fly, and numerous other interesting places to go and things to do. The catholic kid has visited a jewish celebration with friends there, seen accapella concerts and improv shows on campus and overall fully immersing himself in what NOLA offers. Interestingly, he was not a “joiner” through high school but feels comfortable trying a lot of new things there.
If your D is at all interested, it is worth applying but demonstrated interest is big with Tulane as others have mentioned. I would say however, that Tulane and NOLA in particular, is a school that I think is very essential to visit before committing. My older D visited and loved NOLA and the tulane program she wanted to study at the time… she was pretty much set to go there until another college came out with with an incredible offer that in the end ultimately made her switch plans. My younger D also got in and was seriously considering Tulane. She loved the school and program she wanted to study, but in the end could not at all see herself in NOLA for a variety of reasons. NOLA is a very unique place and as others have mentioned, a city you tend to spend a great deal of time in, so I think it’s a good idea to see if the area and school are a good fit. But as far as reputation goes, it is a great school with some great programs.
We are Louisiana residents and my daughter just applied ED. For those that talked about demonstrated interest, what does that mean? We visited Tulane and did a campus tour in the Spring. Last week at her high school’s college fair, she was hoping to visit with the rep but for some reason they weren’t there. Should she reach out to admissions?
@samandryanmom - demonstrated interest means showing Tulane that the applicant has a genuine interest in attending Tulane. Your D is already showing demonstrated interest by going on a campus tour. Your D should definitely reach out to her admission counselor to let her know that she attended the fair with the hopes of meeting her Tulane admission counselor. This would also be a great time for your D to ask her admission counselor a question or two.
When you have over 30,000 people applying for only a couple thousand spots, it is very important to separate yourself from the ‘typical applicant.’ One way to do this is by having a genuine interest in attending Tulane - ED is another great way to achieve this.
Sounds like your D is doing all the right things when it comes to showing demonstrated interest! Best of luck to her!
@samandryanmom Louisiana residents have specific requirements for automatic admission to Tulane. Check with the admissions department to see if your D qualifies!
Thanks to you both for your replies! Sorry to post on someone else’s question.
Thanks again!
It’s considered one of the Ivy Leagues of the South so it has a wonderful reputation. It’s a tough school to get into about a 26% acceptance rate. My daughter is on the wait list there. We have our fingers crossed!