Many of us have not seen it. Do you mind typing it up on here?
is waitlist admissions a “need blind” process?
I was rejected from Tulane as well with the message, “The Committee on Admission has completed review of your application for admission to Tulane University. Regretfully, you were not among those students selected for admission to the university. A letter with further information will be mailed to your home.” Tulane wasn’t really one of my top choices which was probably why but congrats to everyone who got accepted!!
Thanks, jjuar16. That’s what the poster in # 1565 says. These letters can be longer, shorter, kind or curt. It seems brief it to the point. Don’t see Tulane’s as rude, but it’s a hard message to deliver, no matter how it is delivered. If you google “rejection letters” you can find some funny ones, harsh ones, delicate ones, etc. Its an entertaining read.
Also, it sounds like that is the portal message, not the actual letter. Not sure if that matters, but seemed worth mentioning.
Good point, FC. A kinder, gentler letter may be forthcoming.
Most likely. Personally, I would characterize the portal message as a note, and not a rude one.
Isn’t it likely that Tulane received thousands more applications this year b/c they are on the common app for the first time (and no application fee) thus lowering its acceptance rate and maybe just throwing admissions office off guard?
Well, actually there is a lot more history to that. Tulane used to be on the Common App, switched to the Universal App, and then switched back. Along with always having their own application of course. And it has been free for a very long time.
So back around 2008 or so, Tulane not only was on the Common App and free, they hadn’t put in any essay/personal statement questions at that time. Remember, this was not very long after Katrina and there were still a fair number of misinformed people about what shape both New Orleans and Tulane were in. No sense putting up barriers to applying. That year, or maybe it was 2009, Tulane received over 40,000 applications. It was the most of any private school that year, and I think that it was 2nd only to UCLA for all schools. Maybe some of the other UC schools had more as well, I am not sure.
Anyway, the point is this wouldn’t throw admissions off guard, they’ve seen it all before. What might have caused a change in the level of acceptance is the move from 54 to 41 on the USNWR “Best Colleges” rankings list. I know early on, and I imagine it continued throughout, they were seeing higher average stats for all applicants. What is especially hard for us to know is how many of the people that applied EA and were accepted informed Tulane they were attending at a higher rate than ever. That might account for the particularly tough RD round this year, at least if what we are seeing on CC is any guide. That is always the other issue. We don’t see a random sampling of all applicants and their results. CC is skewed to the upper end.
Given that this is the first year of the bump in the rankings, only time will tell what direction admissions at Tulane will take, and if it will move even closer to the most selective schools like WUSTL, Vandy, and Duke. I am not saying it is likely to go that selective, at least not for a while. But it could be inching that way, with average stats that move in those directions as well. We will see.
This is a sidebar thought, but relates to what FC is saying about the possibility of a large # of EA applicants accepting. Several years ago ( around 2009 or 2010??) they had a strong acceptance response and consequently over-enrolled their freshman class. They had a bit of a housing challenge (this was before the construction of the new residential housing). FC can confirm, as it’s a bit rusty for me, but I believe they were then a bit more flexible/creative with housing (tripling up, letting some freshmen who were not locals live off campus-- I can’t recall) and increased enrollment impacts faculty needs, class availability, etc. I seem to recall there was a bit of enrollment correction after that. So, even though there are now more on-campus housing options, they might be keeping a closer eye on their numbers. Just a thought.
Here are the entering class sizes from freshmen entering in 2006-7 to the present. Right off one can see how devastating Katrina was to enrollment in the fall following the disaster, emphasizing my point that Tulane wasn’t about to do anything to make it hard to apply. These are the numbers after summer melt, not as of May 1 or May 2.
Also, as far as I know the target number was 1475-1500 starting in 2008-09, if not before. That target number might be a bit higher once Greenbaum Dorm was completed in 2014, but I know they also wanted more juniors and seniors to have the option of staying on campus, so that is a little muddled. In any case, 2008-09 is most likely the overflow year to which jym626 referred that surprised Tulane somewhat and required some short term measures to get everyone in the dorms. After that Weatherhead was completed (Fall 2010 occupancy I think) which made space much better.
It is a little hard to tell what the comparable number was in 2004-05 because Newcomb College still existed and they tabulated overall a little differently, but 1431 appears to be it. Katrina in August of 2005 and the closing of the School for Fall 2005 makes a number for 2005-06 not even a thing.
Freshman YearFinal Enrollment
2006-07882
2007-081324
2008-091560
2009-101502
2010-111625
2011-121642
2012-131641
2013-141609
2014-15___________1647
2015-16_______________1719 (Current freshman class. Thank goodness for Greenbaum!)
Don’t know the target these days for sure, but I feel reasonably confident it isn’t 1700+! So that might be a factor in the seemingly tougher admissions this year.
Fallenchemist,you have been an invaluable source of insight and guidance for prospective applicants. I am a little troubled by your recent statements pertaining to school rankings. I understand why Tulane wants to put itself in the best possible light:however, kids who are applying to college are making one of the biggest decisions in their lives. Everyone deserves to have options. You have stated many times that Tulane is interested in students who view Tulane as their top choice. The unfortunate reality is college admissions is a fluid process. The common app makes it possible for students to efficiently apply to many schools. Things are difficult for admissions committees at all top colleges. Denying an exceptional student who doesn’t convey what Tulane believes is a sincere enough desire to eventually enroll is disingenuous. It seems like Tulane is trying to maximize their yield and appease the folks at USNWR. The selectivity of your school speaks for itself, why the infatuation with rankings?
Wow. I am having serious technical difficulties. I have no factual basis for this opinion, but it seems inherent to the nature of a private university like Tulane to increase their rankings in order to become more prestigious. “Follow the money” is usually the answer. Tulane is successfully climbing the ranks to become a more prestigious research university, which garners more attention and leads to higher visibility for grants, donor funds, and allows itself to compete for those types of students. Nature of the beast. Bittersweet for us alumnae.
I am not 100% sure the following answers your questions, as I may be misunderstanding what you are saying. But here are a couple of responses, and you can certainly clarify if I have gotten something you said wrong.
That’s impossible, because yield has not been one of the factors used in USNWR rankings for years.
Here is the more benign, and to me far more logical explanation of having such an emphasis on interest and balancing that against stats. As has been talked about here sometimes, and in another thread just today, Tulane is known for having students that are very happy to be Tulane students. However, once you start having students enroll who got denied from the Ivies, Duke, Stanford and similar schools and used Tulane as a “safety” only, you start to poison that atmosphere. Those students are often bitter and looking to transfer from before their first day on campus. These students are usually only interested in the rankings and nameplates. And I can tell you from personal experience that being around these students is not a lot of fun. I think that is the extremely important aspect of all this that you might be missing in making your statement. I agree the process is fluid, and that applying to multiple schools is far easier than in the past. But I completely and flatly disagree that
How?? Look at what disingenuous means.
How has Tulane not been candid or sincere? How have they been deceitful? They never said that stats alone were enough to get in. They never said interest wasn’t important. They have a Why Tulane essay, and that isn’t there just for kicks. How much more apparent do you want them to make it that interest is a factor? I think they even mention it on the web site.
And who is going to make the determination as to whether that interest is there or not, and sincere or not, other than trained and experienced admissions people? Sure it is not an exact science, and they would be the first to admit they probably lose a few great students due to errors in judgement. So do Harvard and Chicago and Northwestern.
Finally, I don’t quite understand your statement
If you mean me, then you couldn’t be further off base, because I have a long and windy (as in lots of words, not meandering, although possibly that too) track record of extreme vitriol towards all undergraduate rankings. I have noted that the increase in applications might be due to the bump in the ranking, but that is an observation of fact coupled with a postulated explanation, and is not in the same universe as infatuation. If you mean the school, I think you overstate it and that @TUfamily gets it right. I am not sure I would have picked the word prestigious, although I don’t think it is wrong either. I guess I would just say that admissions departments like Tulane’s are realistic that people use the rankings, no matter what they might think about them as a department. After all, Tulane jumps from 54 to 41, and applications jump 30% AND the overall stats of the applicants are significantly higher. Did anything “real” about Tulane change that quickly that a student who wouldn’t have applied at 54 should now apply at 41? Of course not. I mean there are lots of wonderful things happening at Tulane such as new programs, profs, and any number of other things, but most people aren’t aware of these things as parents or high school seniors. It is essentially the same great school now that USNWR calls #41 as it was when they said it was #54. Unless you want to argue that a whole bunch of schools got worse than Tulane that quickly.
Having said all that, Tulane did NOTHING to game the rankings. They moved up because USNWR puts a huge emphasis on 6 year graduation rates, and the way their formulas are set up, bad numbers in 2006 last through 2016. And Tulane was hammered by Katrina. How do I know I am right about this? Because I almost exactly predicted this move in rankings 5 years before it happened. It is all in another thread that was started when the rankings came out last fall, but there are numerous posts by me over the last few years repeating that prediction. It really isn’t even a prediction as long as USNWR didn’t change their formula, which they didn’t in any appreciable manner for graduation rates. It was simply a calculation. I guess it was only a prediction to the extent that I thought Tulane would improve even more than simply getting past the Katrina effect, which they have, and I think will continue to do so.
So to sum it all up, I am not sure what basis you have for some of your statements, but I think you are on the wrong track. Tulane turns away people that could obviously handle the academics, but for one reason or another they feel are not what they are looking for at this time in terms of offering admission. To what extent space was an issue I don’t know, but I am sure there is also the factor that even taking into account students they thought met all or most of their criteria, there were more of these students than there is space at the university. Since yield is unpredictable, as my post with enrollment numbers shows, they are always guessing as to how many to offer admission. This year is probably particularly tough.
Thanks for being candid Fallenchemist. You have always been upfront about Tulane’s preference for kids who contribute to a happy academic environment. You represent the goals of the institution (I’m guessing you are affiliated with the admissions department and judging by the 21,000 odd posts you’ve made to this website, you are probably tasked with managing Tulane’s presence on social media). Most of us who follow this blog have children who are applying to school, a huge event in any person’s lifetime. People want to be evaluated on their own merits and make their own choices. Tulane has goals and priorities, so do those of us who are trying to find an ideal college home. Tulane is not the only institution that has to deal with dissatisfied freshman who would have rather gone elsewhere, that is just how it is. It’s impossible for everyone to be admitted to their first/ideal choice. No school wants people who are demonstrably unhappy, but the reality is it happens. No college wants to admit students who have problems with drugs and alcohol or who are sexual predators, but that happens virtually everywhere too.
You are completely wrong on this. Spectacularly so, in fact. Some long time participants in this forum are having a good chuckle right now, no doubt.
I have never worked for Tulane, never been paid a dime by Tulane (although they have a few of my dimes), and have never been asked by anyone at Tulane to post anything, either factual or editorial. In a couple of cases due to personal relationships I have been alerted to new developments, specifically the reinstatement of the CS major and some changes to the Honors Program, and that represents the complete and sum total of it. To be 100% clear, admissions has never contacted me with advance notice of new policies nor have they ever provided me with anything that could be remotely considered inside information. In the 7 years I have been doing this, I have probably sent a total of 10-12 emails to admissions asking questions anyone could ask. Tulane admissions has never sent me an email or any other correspondence that they initiated, i.e. that was other than a reply to something I asked. Well, they did send me a holiday card this year for the first time. I guess that makes me the ultimate insider. You did amuse me even more with thinking I could be in charge of social media. I have a Facebook account I look at maybe 2 times per year, if that any longer, and I couldn’t tell you the difference between Chatgram and Snap-yak.
So just to sew up that part, I am a proud Tulane alum from the class of 1977 and a proud Tulane parent of a class of 2013 grad. Those are my ties to the school. Pretty simple. I only got started on here when I did because I saw a lot of misinformation being tossed about regarding Tulane and where it and NOLA stood post-Katrina. Personally I am a fan of facts as opposed to mischaracterizations, and informed opinions backed up by facts.
As far as the 21,000+ posts, you might have noticed that I am a moderator for this site. Every time I take care of a complaint report or contact a member for various reasons, it goes on my count as a post. The VAST majority of posts that make up that number are in that capacity, I assure you. It was a far smaller number 2+ years ago, when CC asked me to become a moderator.
As for the rest of your post, I have to admit I have no idea what you are saying. That just because a student has goals and priorities that include attending Tulane they should admit them if they have stats that are above their average? That’s ludicrous. Or are you saying that just because Tulane cannot filter out every student that will be unhappy there or was using Tulane as a “safety” they should not even try? That strikes me as even more ludicrous in some ways. You are welcome to your opinion as to how admissions should be handled in general and Tulane’s in particular, but you lost me in there somewhere because I cannot imagine any school abdicating their responsibilities to select students who they think will best fit their school. Just because one cannot be perfect in doing so doesn’t mean the school isn’t FAR better off for the effort, i.e. 2% of “misses” beats the hell out of 10% or more.
It is ludicrous to reject someone solely on the basis that they might choose an ivy instead.
Perhaps, but I would say it is not ludicrous to deny admission to someone that is likely to choose an Ivy, etc. if offered admission to both that school(s) and Tulane. Not to protect yield, but because the “worst case” is that they get denied to all the others and “settle” for Tulane. If you cannot see that or simply don’t agree with it, then we just see things very differently. And btw, part of that judgement by a Tulane admissions person is, I would think, a best guess that the applicant IS likely to get an offer from at least one of those types of schools.
I would also point out that under your admissions strategy, predicting the number of people that will accept an offer of admission becomes exceedingly hazardous. If Tulane then reduces the number of offers to somewhat lower stat students that actually fit Tulane better, and all/most of these students that you amazingly seem to think have a right to be offered admission to Tulane decide to go elsewhere, Tulane has an undersized class which is very bad. If they still offer admission to those they normally would and unpredictably those students you are advocating for show decide on Tulane in larger numbers than expected, there is no place to put them. Unless of course you are going to back up your determined belief in how admissions at Tulane should work by offering to pay all the hotel bills for those students until a new dorm can be built, totally with your generous donation.
You might think that is ridiculous sarcasm, but it is not at all. By exercising judgement as to who they think is most likely truly interested in Tulane, admissions has a pretty good track record of what the yield will be. Doing it your way throws that all out the window because those students you are talking about are far more unpredictable. The window Tulane (and all schools, pretty much) have to get it right is fairly narrow, since too small of a class hits at the budget and too large strains capacity, especially for housing. They really like to be plus or minus 50 of the target, in Tulane’s case. Last year for whatever reason they missed by a fair amount and it was very tight on housing.
It is quite easy to throw around terms like “this is ludicrous” and “they are being disingenuous” and “it is all quite unfair” but to me at least it is clear that you have not thought through the ramifications of what you are saying in the least. Doing it your way, Tulane has far more unpredictable class sizes and far more people that had hoped to get into other schools and “settled” on Tulane, and do not fit the school. But your argument is that if the student has the stats, they have an complete right to be admitted to Tulane and anything else is simply ludicrous, wrong, and an injustice. That Tulane has no reason or right to exercise any judgement about that student if they have the stats. OK then.
to add more data to support fc’s argument, their wait list numbers indicate that Tulane seems to be admitting the right people. Perhaps even admitting too many people. I added waitlist info from the readily available CDS’s to fc’s prior data on enrollment:
Fr Yr Enrollment # on # Admits from
waitlist waitlist
2006-07________<strong><em>882
2007-08</em></strong>____<strong><em>1324
2008-09</em></strong>____<strong><em>1560
2009-10</em></strong>____<strong><em>1502 3881 132
2010-11</em></strong>____<strong><em>1625 4617 105
2011-12</em></strong>____<strong><em>1642 3745 15
2012-13</em></strong>____<strong><em>1641 3483 0
2013-14</em></strong>____<strong><em>1609 2774 327
2014-15</em></strong>____<strong><em>1647 3152 0
2015-16</em></strong>_______1719 3413 0