Is it worth it for someone with my stats to fill out these applications? I know they are very selective.
From your earlier chances post:
To be honest, probably your chances would be exceedingly low. Most successful applicants have ACT 33+ or SAT 1500+. UW GPA would more likely be in the 3.8-4.0 range, unless high school was well known for very tough grading. In any case, top 5% of their class.
Sorry, but I know you would rather hear an accurate opinion.
No, thank you. Rather have what I already thought confirmed than to go through the whole process! I appreciate it.
@fallenchemist - Are you saying that if you’re not top 5% of your class then you don’t have a chance? My daughter’s school does not rank and is known for being very competitive. Although they don’t rank, GC will tell students their percentage if they ask. I don’t know if they release percentages to colleges. My daughter was top 5%, but is now top 10% due to a B+ last semester in an extremely difficult AP science class at her school. But otherwise she has an unweighted gpa of approximately 3.9 (I don’t really know how people are calculating it. Her weighted gpa is 5.52) and her SAT is 1510. Her recommendations and ECs are excellent, in my opinion. She is planning on applying for the Paul Tulane Scholarship. Does she really not have a chance? Are decisions based exclusively on meeting specific criteria?
G8tr2mom: why don’t you call the school (Tulane) and find out in details regarding such scholarship like what are the requirements, success rate if your kid not in top 5%, etc.
If you don’t get such scholarship, no worries. There lots of ways to get the money. Your kid can apply inside and outside scholarships, and get the money from research like REU (done in summertime), internal research, or get PT job inside and outside the school, etc. All you need to do to get the money is doing internet research and find such information.
Anyhow, Tulane is great school and don’t get hung up on one scholarship. If you really want to go to Tulane then there are ways to get your school funds. Life is good.
No, I am not saying these are absolute criteria, but general guidelines as to the stats of typical winners in the past. Have people with ACT top score of 32 won in the past? Definitely. And many schools do not provide class rankings. That is meant more to convey that a very high GPA along with strong rigor of classes taken is of great importance. Here is the exact wording from the Financial Aid page:
Just so you know, it used to say "…and scores of 2250+ on the SAT or 33+ on the ACT. " I think they changed it in anticipation of the SAT changes, but that 2250 would now be 1500. And again, these are not in concrete but more meant to show people such as the OP of this thread what they would be up against if they applied for the scholarship with a 31 and a GPA of 3.50. A very strong high school record to be proud of, absolutely. But in the world of these highest level scholarships, just like Ivy et al. admissions, it simply isn’t quite enough.
I would say your D’s stats place her in a very competitive position for either award. Frankly, unless time is just crushing her ability to work on a box project, I would have her apply for both. I have seen many, many winners in the past with stats like hers.
@Tulanefan101 - Of course, there are other options to pay for college. And Tulane is already a very generous school with its automatic scholarships. My question was specifically regarding the top 5% number because she attends a small, very competitive, private school where 1/4 of the senior class is NMSF or commended scholar. I really wasn’t asking how to pay for college.
@fallenchemist - Thanks for the clarification. She will definitely apply for the Paul Tulane, but is nervous about the Dean’s Honor Scholarship because of the creative project. But I’ll try to encourage her. She’s super excited about Tulane. She knows a couple of former schoolmates that attend now, and absolutely love it!
FC – could you give me a read and some guidance on the Tulane schollies for my youngest who has just applied?
35 ACT. 4.0 UW, 4.75 W. NM commended but not NMSF. A lot of community service and service oriented ECs. But overall, I’d say a pretty normal/regular kid. Hasn’t cured cancer or founded Facebook. An average/excellent student if you will.
We don’t want to spend a lot of time and effort chasing low probabilities. So we were thinking of targeting the community service schollie (15 per year), which I believe can get stacked on top of any normal merit offer that TU might make. Also the DHS (75 per year, 1,000 supposedly apply each year), although we’d rather stick pins in our eyes than mess around with the required “creative” project.
Since my kid really is normal/average, we weren’t feeling the Stamps (5 per year). And coming up with five new clever essays for the PTA (50 per year) is quite unappealing.
Thoughts?
Hello my good friend @northwesty. I certainly think the chances for the DHS are very strong. Those stats are compelling drivers, and given the family history with Tulane, I think that will also play a slightly helpful role. And, in actuality, he would be automatically in the running for the Stamps by applying for the DHS. I do not believe the Stamps requires an extra step as far as application. They just select a certain number of semifinalists for the Stamps from the pool of DHS winners. If a person doesn’t get the Stamps after the interviews, they still get the DHS.
Of course I would encourage applying for the PTA anyway, but I get there is only so much time and energy to be devoted to this process. I do agree that with a strong community service record and the strong stats, he could achieve full tuition+fees with the CSF + the Presidential merit award, the latter of which is almost undoubtedly what he would get. Looks like all is on the right track. Also, I thought the CSF was $20K. But I’ll double check that.
Truth be told, once the idea for the box project hits him, it will flow pretty easily. It did for my D and I have heard the same from dozens of others. I think the trick is to actually not overthink it.
don’t want to bother you more @fallenchemist, but, do you think I would have a shot at the community service scholarship with my resume of CS? Or does it pale in comparison to the students who usually receive it?
Thanks FC as always.
I’ll try to pump the kid up for the box project for the DHS. But after a dozen or more essays for the normal applications, there’s not much insight or cleverness left in my 17 year old’s tank.
The CSF is $20k and stackable with regular merit awards, so it would approach full tuition if it happened.
If you have a strong record of community service, you certainly have a chance. I don’t really get to see the details of those that do end up winning, I have only gotten to know a few. But it is a substantial award, so you should go for it.
FYI to you and @northwesty and others, the DHS and PTA awards are given a couple weeks before the CSF. So if someone such as northwesty’s child won a DHS or PTA, they would automatically be pulled from the pool of CSF contenders. One cannot win more than tuition plus fees, except for the Hainkel (Louisiana only) and the Stamps.
@northwesty,
I believe the Paul Tulane only requires your dau to select 2 of the 5 prompts. If that helps, LOL. And fwiw, when my DS won his DHS, he wasn’t in the top 5% of his class. Top 10% maybe, but not top 5%. That said, he was a strong candidate in many other areas (very strong SAT, was a NMF, very compelling community service for which he won a well respected local award, etc). So while he was no slacker, top 5%, a least then, wasn’t a deal breaker. Good luck!