I think this year will be slightly different than last year in a few respects, particularly in the timing of decisions by Tulane, and also the option to convert to ED2 by January 6th by EA/RD applicants. I’ll try to elaborate:
Last year, ED was due 11/1, EA was due 11/15 (same this year)
ED was informed ~11/25 (accepted, deferred, or rejected)
EA was informed ~12/20 (accepted, deferred, or rejected)
On/Around 12/20 notification, EA deferred candidates were offered the option to convert their open apps to ED2 by 1/6, attempting to increase their yield by binding the most qualified candidates who were rejected or deferred elsewhere.
Tulane's selling point: If you had been deferred or rejected from another institution (ie Vandy, Notre Dame, etc.) and Tulane is NOW your 1st choice, then by all means go ahead and let us know by committing to ED2 and we'll give you an answer by 1/15 (or near there)
I think the BIG difference for this year is that admissions have stated that final EA decisions won’t be released until some time in January, so AFTER (as opposed to ~12/20) you would have to decide to commit to ED2…
To continue someone else’s analogy above, this creates a scenario where the student would have to decide on “Door 2” before having seen what’s behind “Door 1” (where Door 1 is a non-binding decision).
Unfortunately, yield management is a luxury that Tulane can afford lately with 40k+ applications for 1,800 spots.
I’m not convinced that EA decisions will be later in January this year (i.e., after the 1/6 deadline for declaring ED2), as predicted above. In fact, the recent admissions blog entry suggests that EA decisions will be announced sometime before that 1/6 ED2 date. Specially, the blog states: “You don’t have to let us know until January 6th, so you may wait until you receive a decision from us about your Early Action application, and then be in touch.“. To me that sounds like EA decisions will be communicated before 1/6.
For what it’s worth, my son applied EA and like others we received the ED2 email.
@aewlmom then I stand corrected, and the decision becomes much more to the benefit of the student (which it should be)…
For what it’s worth, my son got in EA last year (luckily!), and his roommate converted his EA deferral to ED2 (and got in obviously) and both are really happy at Tulane.
@jym626 thanks, I think the point I was trying to make was that according to the admissions website, EA decisions are still showing to be due by January 15:
… whereas Jeff’s blog (which is awesome and typically very current and with more color) discusses it in the context of decisions from other schools before 1/6.
Aside from that, we also know that (historically, at least) EA decisions from Tulane are more likely received ~12/20 (not 1/15), which would allow the students to make a decision on ED2 after a deferral from Tulane…
A slight disconnect in some of the published information, but I’d be surprised if Tulane didn’t inform EA applicants by 12/20 as in the past.
P.S. I don’t recall if there were more than 1 decision dates for EA last year as you suggest
In the past, until about 2 years ago, many EA decisions were released through the fall/winter and onward. IIRC, and this is from memory, they changed to specific announcement dates, and I think one was in around mid Dec and the other early Jan (again this is from memory- not 100% sure). THe website says the EA decisions would be released “BY Jan 15 (so I would take that to mean its likely they will be super). I agree the blog and website dates are a little confusing.
I actually called admissions yesterday to ask these questions. They told me the ED2 email was sent to all applicants, and we should not read into this- it has nothing to do with deferrals. They also told me they will release all EA decisions on Dec. 19th.
@pamela2128 If you get invited, I would recommend doing it, especially since Tulane puts a lot of emphasis on interest. My D was invited and responded but hasn’t heard back yet.
Re: the interview - My son was offered, completed the form on 11/13 and was matched today.
We came to Tulane late in the game. My son had previously been focusing on large schools, but after visiting a nearby mid-sized school this fall, switched his focus. I feel like we missed the “show interest” boat, and am now thinking we should try to squeeze in a campus visit before 12/19. However, we are 900+ miles away so it requires some effort. Thoughts? Is it too late? Is a campus visit super important?? TIA
@aewlmom How long after applying did your son get the interview form? There is nothing in my son’s Green Wave portal about an interview, but we are in an area where there are probably not many alumni.
We also were not able to make a trip to visit due to distance. My son received a handwritten postcard from his admissions counselor and replied with an email (with no response, but we now realize his counselor has changed three times since then, so I don’t know if it made into his file). He directly sent one of his free score reports to Tulane when he took the ACT and filled out a raise.me for Tulane with the hope that would show interest. He also created the scholarship applications, but that may have been a mistake because I am not sure he will end up completing them.
Quote from Tulane: “You don’t have to let us know until January 6th, so you may wait until you receive a decision from us about your Early Action application, and then be in touch.”
For those asking about interview details… My son applied 11/10, saw the alumni interview application in his portal under forms on 11/13, and was matched with an interviewer today (banner appeared at the top of his portal with alum contact info.). We live in a large metro area with (I assume) plenty of alumni. Hope this helps.
For what it’s worth, I am 90% sure that the EA decision release deadline USED to be listed as 12/15 on the site. I have been helping my D with a spreadsheet and have had 12/15 as Tulane’s EA decision release date from the initial research. SO I think they later updated the website to say 1/15 but actually plan on more like the 12/15 or 12/19 date.
My D got an opportunity to register for an alum interview, which surprised me since we are in CO (recent stats show only 3% of recent students from mountain states). She submitted it 11/17 and the message said she would get an email with details, but has not yet.
@TheFrenchChef – not necessarily. My son was never offered an alumni interview (and we live in the Chicago area, so plenty of alumni are here), but he was admitted EA last year.