Daughter applied common app August 1. Acceptance on Gibson today. Class rank 42/504 at a very competitive school. 2270 SAT (800M 750W 720R). AP scholar with distinction. I was convinced she was being deferred. Now we have to wait to see about merit award.
I’ve logged in so many times to see that blue box that I can’t imagine that it will ever change haha
I applied November 4 and heard back today! Hopefully this will make some of the other SCEA applicants feel a lot better about their chances because I was positive I wasn’t getting in.
[color=green]Decision: Accepted/color=green
Merit Scholarship, if received: Haven’t gotten letter yet, but I’m probably not getting anything
School/major: Undeclared
Objective:
- []SAT I (breakdown): 1890 (620 CR, 640 M, 630 W)
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.33, 3.67 W
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5 Psychology
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Economics (Micro/Macro), AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, Honors English 4, Honors French 4
Subjective:
[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): School Spirit 2 years (Founder, President), Madrigals 2 years, Concert Choir 4 years, Spring Musical/Fall Drama 4 years, Peer Leadership 1 year, Wellness/Prevention (anti-drug and alcohol use) 1 year.
[]Volunteer/Community Service: Over 200 hours (100 hour service award Sophomore year); service in San Francisco, Australia, and Southeast Asia; Assistant director in middle school play w/ theater teacher.
[]Summer Activities: National Student Leadership Conference at American University, Service in SE Asia/Australia/San Francisco, Youth Advisory Counselor at a leadership conference
[]Essays: Common App 7/10 (nothing special but still pretty good), Why Tulane 8/10 (also nothing special but really long, wrote about service)
[]Teacher Recommendations: 8/10 and 6/10
[]Counselor Rec: 9/10 (talked her a lot and she had great stuff to write about me)
[li]Additional Rec: School Spirit club advisor/leadership conference advisor/head of Peer Leadership 10/10, Choir director 9/10[/li][/ul]
Other:
- []State (if domestic applicant): Northern NJ (since NJ is split up between North/South for admissions counselors)
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender: M
[]Income Bracket: >200k
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Submitted a musical supplement, lots of emails with admissions counselor, SCEA
Reflection:
[ul]
[]Strengths: Made it very clear that Tulane was my top choice (shown in my Why Tulane essay, submitted musical supplement to show that I care about the school), international service, pretty good ECs/started a club, upward trend in grades (did horribly Sophomore year which is why my GPA is so low, but then did very well Junior year).
[]Weaknesses: GPA, SAT, and only took 1 AP Junior year.
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My counselor was very clear that I really loved Tulane and it was my top choice. I submitted 4 recommendations (not including counselor) that showed me in the classroom, as a musician, and as a leader.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: American & South Carolina (already accepted). I also applied to some others but I’m probably withdrawing those since Tulane and American are my top 2.
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t count yourself out, and do everything you can to show interest. Last night I was convinced that I wasn’t getting in. Last year they accepted 1 of 6 people who applied. I had already heard that 4 other people from my school had gotten in and I was so ready to apply ED2 to American. Also, I emailed my admissions counselor that day and asked when I could expect to hear back, and I was accepted hours later, and the same thing happened with my friend today (emailed last night, heard back today). Just don’t count yourself out, because you never know!! Just don’t count yourself out because I don’t have outstanding stats or ECs, I just showed a lot of interest. Hope this helps!!! I just wanted to post here because there aren’t too many admitted people on here with low stats or who applied SCEA.[/li][/ul]
Just to clarify, is the Paul Tulane due today at midnight or tomorrow before midnight? The deadline on the website says 12/5.
@SnapApp tomorrow before midnight. Just to be super clear, If you emailed it at 5:00 PM (17:00) December 5, you are fine. Anything postmarked with tomorrow’s date is fine, even though they wouldn’t get it until Monday at the very earliest.
I know these kinds of things require context. For some schools, including Tulane, your scores are lower than most. But not that much, and I just feel compelled to keep pointing out that 620, 640, 630 are exceedingly solid and excellent scores, as is your GPA. You obviously took a lot of honors courses, and are now taking a good number of APs. Don’t ever lose sight of the bigger picture.
You sound like Tulane is a fantastic fit for you. They are lucky to have you as well. Best of luck.
@fallenchemist You mean December 5th?
Fixed, thanks. That is what I get for planning my trip to see my D this summer with posting on here! - FC
@SnapApp I believe so. It was part of the summer of professional studies.
just from reading this forum, it seems to me that Tulane really values community service
A bit of an understatement. I believe they are still the only school to have it as part of their graduation requirements, and it is infused throughout the school. Disastrous hurricanes can do that. It is also the reason Tulane and the residents of NOLA have some of the best “town and gown” relations that I have seen.
speculation time: do you guys think Tulane considers any merit scholarship recipient a possible ivy or top 20 contender? Or only the dhs/pt type applicants (top end of the merit spectrum). D received 20k award (31 ACT and ~3.8) - my guess is she’s a possible for top 20s but maybe not probable.
I assume that Tulane’s main goal in using their dollars is to draw students away from other schools in their peer group, which includes top 20s, but maybe the lower awards are intended to draw away from lower ranked peers.
To be honest, usually only the highest partial merit scholarships go to students that have the stats for the extremely selective schools. I try to avoid saying rankings, since once you get past the top 20 or so selectivity and rank are not as highly correlated. You nailed it, I think, when you said the lower awards are to differentiate Tulane from schools of similar or even lesser selectivity. The similar part is obvious I think. The lesser comment is for the cases where a student might get a lower cost of attendance at a school with lesser selectivity, but the Tulane offer helps balance out the “cost versus peer group” decision, or whatever might make them want Tulane more but can’t justify if the cost difference is too high.
help! I applied EA on oct 1 and live in the northeast and still haven’t heard back yet.
SAT: 2040 super score
UW GPA: 3.9
W GPA: 4.6
Took 2 AP’s this year and 3 this year. Visited Tulane, went to presentation with admissions counselor, and went to school meeting with admissions counselor. Tulane has been my number 1 for a few years and is still.
About seven other students from my school got accepted this week (some with higher, some with lower stats than me), but they all had seemed to apply within a week before the deadline which is quite some time after I sent mine.
I really thought Tulane was a great fit for me with my stats but I can’t help but to get discouraged now 
Tulane is my number one, but for many other students at my school that have gotten in, Tulane is a safety or lower down on their list. I went out of my way to apply early and apply to Tulane first hoping this would help me receive a decision sooner but that doesn’t seemed to have helped.
Could the fact that I applied at a very different time from the rest have anything to do with it?
Should I be worried? 
[color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]
Merit Scholarship, if received: Haven’t gotten official letter detailing this yet.
School/major: Business, Finance
Objective:
- []SAT I (breakdown): 2030, 740 M 650 CR 640 W
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses):
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[]AP (place score in parentheses): AP gov, AP stats
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP gov, AP stats, calc honors, English honors, engineering, religion, leadership theory
[]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:
-
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS (Vice president), varsity ball (captain), Spanish club (treasurer), campus minister, business leaders club.
[]Job/Work Experience: Caddy, 3 years
[]Volunteer/Community Service: 100+ hours, 4 day trip to DC
[]Summer Activities: Campus ministry, work, summer business program at umich.
[]Essays: Personal Statement was okay, but my Why Tulane Essay was excellent
[]Teacher Recommendations: Good
[]Counselor Rec: good
[]Additional Rec: nope
[]Interview: Didn’t have one
Other:
- []State (if domestic applicant): NY
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Private
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: 200,000 per year combined parents
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Reflection:
-
[]Strengths: Essays, Extracurriculars, SAT
[]Weaknesses: GPA, few APs
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Essays, extracurriculars and sat scores
It doesn’t look like you should be worried. You are right that you look like a great stats fit. Maybe drop a quick note to your admissions person and make sure your folder didn’t get mislaid.
@fallenchemist Wow, that’s incredible. I know many schools say that philanthropy is one of their core values, but I admire how Tulane truly lives up to that standard.
Makes me want to go even more.
@makingains Congratulations on getting accepted! Thanks for posting; you standings seem pretty similar to mine (my SAT and GPA are just a tiny bit higher but I may have a little less of the subjective stuff) so this makes me hopeful! If you don’t mind me asking, are you from upstate NY (is Nora your admissions counselor?) and when did you apply? Thanks!
[color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]
Merit Scholarship: Presidential, $32,000/year
School/major: Biology or International Relations
Objective:
- []SAT I (breakdown): 2190 (710 CR, 730 M, 750 W), didn’t send
[]ACT (breakdown): 34 (36 E, 32 M, 34 R, 32 S, 9 essay)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): Biology E 720, US History 800, World History 780
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.919
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/31
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5 AP Lang, 5 AP World History, 3 Chem, 4 APUSH
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP u.s gov, AP Bio, Psychology, PE
[]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar with honor, National Merit commended scholar, some regional FTC robotics awards
Subjective:
- []Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS, We the People, internship at a biology lab at Stanford, Science Bowl 4 years, Science olympiad 4 years, FTC robotics 2 years
[]Job/Work Experience: none
[]Volunteer/Community Service: 120+ hours
[]Summer Activities: internship
[]Essays: I thought mine were pretty bad lol
[]Teacher Recommendations: I’m assuming it was good, from an English teacher I have known for 4 years
[]Counselor Rec: Probably good
[]Additional Rec: none
[]Interview: no
Other:
-
[]State (if domestic applicant): NV
[]Country (if international applicant): USA
[]School Type: Charter
[]Ethnicity: white
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: ~130k
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none really
Reflection:
[ul]
[]Strengths: ACT and SAT II, GPA
[]Weaknesses: essays
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ACT and SAT II most likely, extracurriculars maybe
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied:
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t write the essays in 2 hours like I did[/li][/ul]
I applied in September and still haven’t heard back. I have an ACT score of 33 and my unweighted GPA is 3.95 and have many extracurriculars, too. I am started to get worried that I will be deferred.
[color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]
Merit Scholarship: Don’t know yet
School/major: School of Science and Engineering/ Mathematics
Objective:
- []SAT I (breakdown): didn’t send
[]ACT (breakdown): 33 (33 E, 36 M, 29 R, 32 S, 8 essay) superscore
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): Biology E 700, Mathematics II 780
[]Weighted GPA: 4.36
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1%
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5 AP Microeconomics, 4 AP Macroeconomics, 5 Chinese
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Comparative Government, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Physics I, Honors English, Chinese, Visual Arts, Current Events, PE
[]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Japan invention gold medal, igem (host by MIT) gold medal, Ukraine invention gold medal, fourth place of national chinese calligraphy, AMC 10 top 5% and AMC 12 excellent award, APCYS (Asian Pacific Competition of Young Scientist) Gold medal etc…
Subjective:
- []Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): founder or cofounder of several clubs, including rotary club, mun, reading club, WSC
[]Job/Work Experience: Taiwan Business Bank, Title - Assistant of Investment Department; College Consulting Institute, Title - Math Teaching Assistant; Kuan Tong Industrial Co., Ltd., Title - Financial Assistant
[]Volunteer/Community Service: cleaning our district for more than 180 hours (2 hours a week for consecutive 4 years, been to China to deliver jackets and took care of the orphans, volunteer to be librarian of the school etc…
[]Summer Activities: Philips Academy Andover, internship, volunteer works
[]Essays: writing about my transition from childhood to teenage age, and also about how Chinese culture influences me
[]Teacher Recommendations: pretty good, from an English teacher I have known for 5 years and a dean who guild me to participate in science fairs
[]Counselor Rec: Probably good
[]Additional Rec: none
[]Interview: no
Other:
-
[]State (if domestic applicant):
[]Country (if international applicant): Taiwan
[]School Type: Private
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: ~100k/
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection:
- []Strengths: GPA, extracurriculars activities
[]Weaknesses: ACT
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: extracurriculars most likely
[]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: do more extracurricular activities, write essays beforehand