I’m going to be a senior in high school and I really want to get into Tulane! I’m really nervous about being accepted so if anyone could tell me if I have a shot that would be so helpful!
Weighted GPA 4.6
SAT 1360
8 AP courses
Extracurriculars:
Tutor for three years
Hopefully a Tutor Leader senior year
Secretary of Spanish Honors Society
National Honors Society
Pep Club-3 years
DECA-1 year
Volleyball- 2 years
Work as a tutor/receptionist at after school job
Babysit as after school job
Community Service:
Aid a Sunday School class at my church
Other:
Graduated from “Greek School”
Did Kumon for 6 years
Awards:
On honor roll for Spanish all 4 years
95th-99th percentile class rank
Prolly low reach. Your SAT is a little lower than Tulane’s average (1410).
Also, how well did you do on your AP’s? If they’re all 5’s, then that would significantly boost, vs if they were 3’s and 4’s.
The only thing is your EC’s are very basic; they’re mostly just volunteering.
I would mention that Tulane is big on community service, so the ECs should be fine. Most of my ECs were honor societies and community service when I was accepted, and I had similar stats to yours.
Tulane has become more and more selective over the past few years. Admissions just posted this “Due to a 37.5% increase in Early Decision applications for the fall 2018, Tulane’s acceptance rate for the class of 2022 was curbed to 17%, creating the most selective class in the University’s history.”
Tulane is becoming a reach for many students who probably would have been admitted a few years ago. And although no one mentioned this it needs to be said- no applicant should be considering Tulane a safety anymore.
And to further emphasize @dolphnlvr6 's point, that 17% resulted in significant over-enrollment due to a significant increase in yield % (4% YOY). The larger than expected yield increase and resulting over-enrollment has occurred for the last few years, so to adjust for that going forward, the acceptance rate is likely to decrease even more. Demonstrated interest is your friend.
For greater quantitative context, for the most recent admitted class, average SAT was 1456 and ACT 32.
You must absolutely do a campus visit. Your SAT scores are about the same as my daughter’s (incoming class of 2022) so a campus visit will show the “demonstrated interest” that Tulane considers very important. Also, when you apply take your time and get as much help as needed for your “Why Tulane” essay, they read every essay that comes in. Lastly, service activities are very important so what you have is good, and anymore you can add before you apply is even better. My suggestion for applying ED is don’t do it. Apply EA.
Your chances can be significantly altered by whether you apply ED, EA or RD.
ED is only a three years old at Tulane, so it is hard to know for sure how it is going to work. Also, Tulane is unusual in that it offers all of the above – EA, ED1, ED2. Most schools have EA or ED but not both.
With all those options, my guess is that EA is becoming the preferred path for hi stat kids (like 75th percentile) who are shopping for Tulane merit awards.
With ED being the best path (if you can do it) for kids with average or below average stats. In the last cycle, Tulane filled 25% of its seats via ED for the 2018 incoming class – that number was zero for the 2015 class! You’d think that number is only going to go up in the future. Schools a little higher in the pecking order from Tulane (Vandy, Emory, Duke) typically fill 40-50% of their seats via ED.
Tulane has always been big on demonstrated interest. Applying ED is of course the ultimate expression of interest an applicant can make.
Bottom line. Since your current SAT is below 25th percentile (middle 50% is 1390-1500), I think ED would be your best chance. But you need to make sure ED makes sense (especially for finances). If ED does not make sense, visit campus, apply EA and see what happens.
I would recommend applying ED if Tulane is your top choice! Also, people aren’t kidding when they say demonstrated interest is key–visit if you can, or attend a local information session, email your admissions rep, take part in the live chats they offer throughout the year…this is really important. A strong “Why Tulane?” essay will help you as well. Having applied this year, I saw people who were accepted ED with a similar SAT score, but I wouldn’t consider it a guarantee by any means.
so please give me my chances with my original 1360 *