I have a high school Junior who is very interested in Tulane. Can someone explain the difference between applying SCEA versus EA. From reading the posts it does not appear that you will receive your decision earlier with SCEA than EA. What is a benefit of applying SCEA?
Also if you apply SCEA to Tulane does that mean you can not apply ED to any colleges that offer ED. I know Tulane does not offer ED. Is their SCEA a way to show (like ED) that if accepted you truly want to attend. In other words a way to truly show you are interested. Does applying SCEA make it easier for someone to be accepted to Tulane than EA or regular decision to Tulane?
@ecgaltodfw
That is correct, if you apply to Tulane SCEA you are promising not to apply to other schools EA or ED (or. of course, SCEA or REA, which is another name for SCEA). From the admissions page:
So in essence, it enhances your chances in that it tells Tulane you are more sure about attending than students that can’t pull that trigger. And Tulane really values that kind of interest. It still doesn’t mean you have to attend Tulane if accepted; it isn’t ED. But it also doesn’t mean that if your stats are a little below what Tulane normally accepts it offsets that. It probably won’t.
Thank you @fallenchemist my daughter has a very highclass rank (top 3%) of her high school (large public school), and an amazing resume, but is struggling to raise her ACT score up from a 30 (after several attempts). She recently visited and loved it, so was wondering if doing SCEA would help boost her chances for acceptance assuming her score stays where it is after her next ACT test in April. I don’t think her stats are necessarily “below what Tulane normally accepts” but just trying to do whatever she can to increase acceptance chances since she really fell in love with the school, atmosphere, vibe, and attended 2 classes and was very impressed.
She definitely has the stats. SCEA sounds perfect for her. @ecgaltodfw The biggest advantage to raising her ACT if possible is getting a larger merit scholarship.
My thoughts on this are that Tulane tends to not accept “overqualified” candidates, because they think they could potentially using Tulane as a safety school that they’re not going to consider, which would alter the enrollment rates of the school. Your daughter being 3% could potentially classify her as “overqualified” (although many students at Tulane are from the top percentage of their high school class), but the 30 is on the lower side for Tulane (but it sounds like she is going to raise it). Therefore, applying SCEA would definitely show that she’s not simply using Tulane as a safety, so it would definitely be beneficial! Also, make sure she writes the optional “Why Tulane” essay. This will also reinforce her demonstrated interest for Tulane.
@TheMosby I agree; I visited, did online chat sessions with admissions, wrote the WhyTulane Essay, and was genuinely interested in the school, yet was still deferred and rejected. However, I was admitted to Yale-NUS, other schools with lower acceptance rates. Being a qualified candidate does not assure admissions–apply to a range of schools.