My daughter wants to ED to Tulane. She is coming from small independent all girls Catholic school that generally sends 2-5 girls per year to Tulane. She is just an average student with a current GPA UW of 3.5 and weighted 4.02. She is taking 2 APs this year and 3 APs senior year. She is planning on taking spanish 2 over the summer so that she can take spanish 3 Senior year. Her “story” is that each year her grades have improved and her rigor increases. extra curriculars
Spring Dance team sophomore, junior, senior year
Works at retail store summers and weekends 2023-through senior year
Volunteer Camp Counselor for underserved youths summer 2023 and 2024
Model UN
Starting school club supporting special needs orphanage after visiting this spring
ACT-will take this spring/summer but projected score is between 24-26
Will taking spanish 2 over the summer help her case?
Does she stand a chance if she ED’s? Or is she “wasting” her ED
If a school is the top choice - and if you (the parent) can afford the school and wants to afford the school, then it’s never wasted.
The worst case is - the student doesn’t get in. ED does not mean an assured admission.
One cannot tell chances from a GPA and # of APs. For example, how does that GPA rank in the school? How does the rigor (2 APs) compare vs. others in the school or what was offered? Per the CDS, only 45% of kids submitted a test - and you would not submit the ACT you mentioned.
On paper, it does seem the odds would be long - but decisions aren’t made on paper.
And worst case is - she EDs there and gets turned down. Not the end of the world…she gave it her shot. But if you don’t want to be committed financially, then she shouldn’t ED.
To answer your point on language - they want 3-4 years - so yes she should take. But that is to get minimum consideration.
If she likes Tulane, a College of Charleston might be a realistic substitute - while it’s a much smaller and more urban campus, the two cities do share similarities. Also, neighboring Loyola may be another to look at - and offers cross registration with Tulane. I’d also look at UT Chattanooga - much smaller than New Orleans - but has a music scene and a lot of tourist activities in the immediate vicinity.
So obviously she has a lot of time before actually having to make this decision.
Personally, I would try asking her counselor what sorts of credentials the girls admitted to Tulane usually have.
If she is not in that range but still wants to try, and it would be comfortably affordable, that is still fine–I would not worry about “wasting” ED because I don’t think it usually has anything like the benefits some hope.
But if it is a very long shot at Tulane, then obviously the really important thing is to develop a robust list of other colleges she would really be excited about. And maybe as that happened, other ED possibilities would emerge.
If she really wants to apply to Tulane (and nowhere else) ED, its not a “waste”. They take a lot of their class from ED. That said, the predicted ACT is not competitive. She might consider TO.
I would suggest test optional with this ACT score.
Is your daughter absolutely sure she wants to attend Tulane? This, and your ability to afford the costs, should be very certain before an ED application is sent.
Why does she like Tulane? If it’s location, then the suggestion of Loyola NOLA is a very good one.
Before she applies ED, have her make a list of the criteria she wants in a college. You can start a thread asking for suggestions that have those criteria. Folks here will give you a lot of good ideas for your daughter to research.
IF she applied ED, I would strongly suggest that she have most of her regular decision applications submitted. If she gets accepted ED, she can always withdraw any pending acceptances or applications. If she doesn’t get accepted, it won’t be much fun to complete college application!
If Tulane is her far and away #1 school she wants (and the family can afford w/o hardship), ED is the way to apply to them. With that ACT score, TO is the way to go. I’m not sure how much the Spanish 2 will help - but unlikely to hurt.
Going ED your family will have the added benefit - should she NOT get in - to know early on in the process and be able to mentally move on to other options rather than hanging around until April waiting on the most desired option.
Should she NOT get in ED, it’s more than likely she’ll get a crack at another school for ED2.
As many of us have said, TO will be the way to go. IMO, she is picking the school, not the city. My S and his w went to Tulane. They did enjoy going to Frenchman St for music (they don’t really go to the French quarter all that much) but they only went to Loyola for some food (and I am not sure if they still offer the opportunity to use pelican bucks at Loyola). Do go visit. They are big on demonstrated interest.
Thank you. Helpful advice. She is already looking at C of C too. The idea of “wasting” the ED was that she can only ED one place. If she is such a long shot a Tulane, maybe the ED would be more effective at some of her other choices: TCU and Cof C.
We will definitely do TO. But, if she is just throwing away her ED at Tulane (meaning she just doesn’t stand a chance)perhaps we should ED at some of her second choices where she has more of a “chance” like at TCU or Cof C.
We are full pay and we are going to visit in two weeks. She loves New Orleans, she loves the size, the school spirit, the vibrant social life, all while having a solid academic reputation from a very reputable institution. Size, location, climate, greek life, academics are checking all her boxes.
Yes/No. Many schools that offer ED also have an ED2 round.
If you look at the timing of these applications and notifications the ED acceptance/rejection will come out before the due date to apply ED2. So strategically could apply ED to a school and if rejected still apply ED2 to a different school. Depending on the schools in question it might or might not work, but worth looking into.
Completely get what you’re saying though - why bother with ED if there’s no chance. I would say that based on your daughters profile there is a chance but not a sure thing.
I think with a 3.5 you have a shot with ED. Something that might improve your D’s chances is to concentrate more on her volunteer and community service ECs. Tulane is big on community service and that might help her over the hump.
For Tulane, it seems that digging deep into impactful community service and being able to articulate why Tulane is special to her via supplemental essay, would go a long way, especially compared to many other peer institutions. Is there something she can do this summer to increase the impact of her community service? It won’t totally make up for lower stats, but could really enhance her app. Also FWIW, TCU seems to be harder and harder to get into with big increases in apps. Maybe add a tour of Loyola while you are in NOLA, just to check it out. Good luck!!
Or maybe she would get into those colleges without ED at all.
Just by way of example, C of C appears not to be reporting this in their latest CDS, but in their 2022-23 CDS, they reported 180/245 admitted in ED (73%). That means non-ED, they admitted 16486/21775 (76%). Yep, they actually had a higher non-ED admit rate than ED admit rate.
This is less atypical than some seem to realize outside of the more selective ED colleges in the most popular markets.
Of course if one of those ends up her clear favorite and is comfortably affordable, great, go ahead and ED.
But I think people sometimes talk themselves into having to use ED somewhere, and then not “wasting” it on their actual favorite, and then they end up committed to a school that was not their favorite, where maybe they would have had the option to attend anyway without the commitment.
If your daughter likes Tulane then doing ED is your best chance getting into Tulane. My daughter loved Tulane after the first visit and she did ED1 this year(2023-24) and got in. She is headed to Tulane Fall of 2024
Demonstrated interest in big for Tulane.Try to attend in-person events in your city and applying ED is the best way to show demonstrated interest.
Tulane cares about community service but they care about quality and not quantity. Focus on one or two things and do that. Don’t try to do too many things.
The biggest advantage at Tulane that nobody tells you is they allow you to change your major without costing a penny. If you get into Tulane, you can switch majors with just a “checkbox” and you are in a new major
The average SAT is 1480+ and classes are definitely competitive from what we heard.
Make sure you do the “Why Tulane ?” essay and apply for all the competitive scholarships.
Something to keep in mind is that the campus is not diverse (more girls than guys)
If you have any more questions, I am more than happy to answer.
100% that Tulane admissions focuses a LOT on those “why Tulane”. Though I would think they’d also interpret a kid applying ED as the ultimate form of demonstrated interest.
The student isn’t even IN their major until the end of Sophomore year. You may have researched this more in depth but I’ve not run across schools that charge to change a major. The student always runs the risk of having to extend their program/more semesters if they change their major late in the game - that’s no different at Tulane.
One of the things that leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth is the admissions guidance that “unless you’re in the top 50% of scores, don’t submit them to us”. Over time this will push up the published average scores for the kids that attend and make it look more selective than it really is. YMMV.