<p>First son starts getting unsolicited mail from Tulane early in the year- no surprise, lots of schools send mail. But then the deadline approaches and he starts getting emails, telling him to hurry up and apply! Then the deadline comes (Feb.1) and he gets an email reminding him to apply that day, because he only has until midnight, but he can use the express application! Then today (Feb 2) he gets another email- Dear ---, the dealine has already passed. But, we're going to let you apply anyway if you click here....</p>
<p>Is Tulane having problems? This seems a little over the top.</p>
<p>Are you living under a rock? Of course, Tulane is having problems. </p>
<p>I haven't looked at the numbers, but I can't imagine that anywhere near 100% of the Class of 2009 (the one that never started) ever showed up in New Orleans again, or stayed if they did. All the kids I heard about were furiously trying to transfer. And the Class of 2010 applications and acceptances had to have been way off -- do you remember what NOLA looked like last winter?</p>
<p>But for the other colleges' willingness to take kids without collecting tuition or fees, Tulane may well have gone belly up in 2004. It has massive capital costs, and decreased revenues. I'm sure it will weather the storm, but it doesn't surprise me if it is still soliciting applications.</p>
<p>I guess I have been. No, I'm aware of what happened with Katrina, but they're still reported as being "Most Selective" with less than 50% acceptance rate in USNews. I figured that even with a drop in applications, there still should be some wiggle room. I guess not.</p>
<p>It's just pretty bizarre getting these emails, sort of like the South of the Border signs on I95- 50 Miles! 30 Miles! 5 Miles! 100 Feet! Turn around! Go Back! Pedro says, Not too late! (for those of you who have traveled up and down the eastern seaboard)</p>
<p>Tulane has used that practise for several years. For the class of 2010, they accepted only 35% of their applicants. Their yield was not good, but they decided to keep their standards and the freshman class is much smaller this year. I know they said that the EA applications for the class of 2011 were good and better than expected, but I haven't seen any numbers.</p>
<p>For the Katirna year, they had more students show up for the one semester than was typical of the second semester. They eliminated some majors which did lead to a lot of transferring. They did a survey of accepted students that had turned them down for the class of 2010 and the overwhelming response was that the parents were concerned about safety.</p>
<p>We visited Tulane last week. The admissions officer said that in 2006, they had only 1,000 freshmen enrolled. They usually have about 1400. The staff was very helpful-we got to see an admissions officer immediately.</p>
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I guess I have been. No, I'm aware of what happened with Katrina, but they're still reported as being "Most Selective" with less than 50% acceptance rate in USNews.
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<p>USNEWS agreed to use the prior year pre-Katrina ranking scores for Tulane. Part of that is that there was no way for Tulane to even prepare a Common Data Set form last fall. The impact of Katrina did not show up in this year's guidebook.</p>
<p>Tulane has downsized - but that is not necessarily a bad thing. S is a senior and finds the school to be comparable to before Katrina - with much better facilities (every building was renovated and the new student center is now open as well). New incoming freshman are more committed to the school and to the city and have created a positive culture. A smaller school is also a benefit - I think a school of 5000 undergrads is an ideal size. All the varsity sports that were cut last year are being phased back in. I think the push to get applicants will ease off in a few years as the word gets out. My next son has been admitted into the class of 2011 and it's very high on his list.</p>
<p>These are rebuilding years for Tulane and an excellent opportunity for students to get valuable experience in participating in this at the college and for the city of New Orleans as well. My opinion is that they should go ED to get a better idea of how their new class is going to shape up earlier in the season. Too many kids going EA using it as a safety school from what I can see here. Also think they should make SATs optional, join the list of Fairtest schools.</p>
<p>FWIW, doubleplay, my son is getting those same emails every day, and he has never contacted nor expressed any interest in Tulane. We just figured they're shaking any possible bush for potential students.</p>
<p>I don't have the exact figures at hand, but for the Class of 2009, somewhere over 85% returned when Tulane re-opened after Katrina. My S was one of them; he transferred after that term, but only because he HAD to: his was one of the 3 Engineering majors that Tulane phased-out in a post-Katrina downsizing.</p>
<p>He greatly lamented leaving; was aware of very few students transferring who didn't have to.</p>
<p>Their first freshman admissions class post-Katrina was about as an other poster said above - somewhat smaller than usual, due to lower yield. Totally expected.</p>
<p>The experience at Tulane appears to continue to be excellent for the kids who choose it - my S liked many things about it even more than the place where he now goes (a top 15, highly selective U). Community service is now an integral part of the Tulane curriculum, as Tulane's post-Katrina renewal has focused on being a place where you can receive a top-flight education while being part of the renewal of a great city.</p>
<p>^^^i know a guy whos a tulane student w/ a legacy his father went to tulane...he has a sister a little older then me....he started as a class of 08...i remember him saying that when they were evacuated...he just packed up some stuff and fled north...it was a couple of days into the semester classes hadnt started...he didnt even think to pack all of his stuff...he spent the semester at home in long island taking classes at hofstra...w/ one of our neighbors(this guy is our neighbor...) they both went to tulane our families were decently close...he came back to NOLA thinking i want to go back i loved it..it will be different then last yr but i want to help rebuild...he has continued his education he will graduate next yr</p>
<p>The Tulane situtation just show us you how ridiculous and subjective the USNWR competition can be. Apparently Tulane is still a fine college, and as was said, perhaps emerged stronger after the hurricane.</p>
<p>I just heard of a B to B+ student who was deferred at Tulane recently. So just because they are aggressively marketing does not mean that they are lowering their standards. Their yield might be lower and they might not be getting the number of competitive students they had in the past, but it does not appear that they are settling.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Tulane. The campus looks great and there are several new facilities, including the food court and bookstore, as well as an upgraded basketball arena and baseball stadium, to mention a few.</p>
<p>It did not appear that the standards were lowered at all. 22,000 applied to Tulane in the current freshman class. 7,000 were accepted. Only 1,000 students enrolled (the Post-Katrina fear factor was the #1 reason).</p>
<p>I had seen somewhere on the Tulane website that the current freshman class has equivalent SAT and GPA scores than in the past. Tulane could have gone back to the pool of 15,000 students who were not accepted to increase their freshman class size, but instead they decided to maintain their similar former admission standards.</p>
<p>I had read somewhere that the incoming class will be more competitive - - now that Katrina is 18 months in the past.</p>
<p>Yes, the admitted class pre-Katrina (my son's) and the admitted class post-Katrina had very similar SAT profiles. Tulane kept to its word that it would not reduce standards in order to fill seats. I think they also may have intended to downsize (perhaps not as much as the 2010 class ended up) and increase % of upperclass students who could be housed on campus.</p>
<p>I think it is being floated around that sophomores could be required to live on campus soon. Not that it affects me as I will be a junior, but that is what I have heard.</p>
<p>I went with my son on a visit to Tulane. He has been accepted there with a partial (about half tuition) merit scholarship. The figure we were told was 90% of students who left due to Katrina closing returned afterwards. The school was deservedly proud of that figure.</p>
<p>I thought the campus was very impressive and looked beautiful. Son has not made his final decision, but we receive mailings from Tulane on a weekly basis. I think they just do have a very agressive marketing campaign for good students. </p>
<p>We received the same kind of full tilt aggresive approach from UVM, which he never really considered going to. And from our our state best public college, SUNY Geneseo. They even sent him a t-shirt, for heavens sake, and he hasnt even heard about admission yet.</p>