Many schools expect, and most require standardized test scores in order to be considered for an institutional merit award. That’s been true/known especially since schools went test optional. It was sort of a “gotcha” (had to submit scores to be considered for merit so can’t be test optional). Most candidates seriously looking for institutional merit know this.
Not at all IME. My 25 was accepted at like 18 schools and got merit at all, never took the SAT or ACT.
My 27 is applying to a bunch of schools, I don’t believe any have that policy (of the schools that offer merit).
I think it is very regional (or that is my guess).
Adding: they are a mix of public, private and it was not our goal to chase merit at all, so not seeking out this policy. (anyway we are all way off the EA/ED topic of Tulane:)
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Don’t know where your kid applied, but yes many will offer some auto merit “bait”, but many schools that offer the large, competitive merit awards (that usually require an additional application or essay or the like) will require a standardized test score to be considered. Many schools will do some tuition discounting in the form of merit awards, but the big, competitive merit scholarships are the ones that very often will require the test scores.
I would say that if Tulane is recommending that you submit your 1300+ SAT or 28+ ACT scores and you still decide to apply test optional, then the school is likely going to assume that your scores are lower than that. I would think twice about not submitting scores in that range.
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Yep, thanks for reiterating what I noted above :” if you still choose to be test optional, they might think your scores are below their recommended benchmark.”
Yield is definitely a consideration. But Tulane has a history of wanting to appear more selective/exclusive than they might otherwise warrant. Taking away the supplemental essay and continuing to be a free app is going to skyrocket the applications when their internal algorithm is likely going auto-reject a good portion of them. Assuming similar ED numbers to past years it’s quite possible they’re going to have 40K EA/RD applicants chasing 800 seats.
I agree that with a 1300-1350 I’d hesitate to recommend submitting unless there were other components of my application that stood out. 25% of their class IS at/below the mid 1300’s so they clearly do accept applicants with those scores.
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Perhaps with less of an overall pull, they just needed to goose the # of apps to lower the acceptance rate.
I think they’ve lost some cred the last few years, due to ranking, which is a shame and the danger if US News influence. You don’t hear about them in top discussions anymore (locally) so this may be a way simply to bring that measure of lower acceptance rate to the forefront. People often tie low acceptance rate to selectivity.
I feel like with less kids in the future, more and more schools will have to take steps to try and get a bigger pot to pull from - which will also lead to have to go deeper aid wise.
Their US News ranking has actually been on the rise after the calculation overhaul a few years ago.
They used to hover in the low 40’s and in 2025 got bumped down to 73. 2026 - 69, 2027 - 59.
I’m not a big believer in rankings but certainly understand the marketing, and importance to the schools, behind them.
What happens in the future? We’ll have to wait and see. Not suggesting you’re wrong, I just don’t have a good crystal ball. 
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Yeah it was the fall I’m noting. Same happened to other schools too - and all are climbing but not back to where they were.
Time will tell. They clearly saw a need to do something. Demographics probably stand against many schools today and moreso tomorrow.
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You definitely don’t need to hide a 3.7 (not that you could). The average GPA of admitted students in the most recent CDS is 3.67. So you are right above that. Also your test score is great, but it’s also not really high for Tulane - it is above median but still within the mid-50 range. So all this to say your student has stats that are about average for those admitted to Tulane (which is great - congrats!). According to the school’s data, they awarded non-need based merit scholarships to about 1/3 of students who did not apply for financial aid, and the average merit scholarship was about $19K per year. Good luck!
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D27 and I attended a local Tulane info session a few weeks ago and there were several questions about the recent test score guidance. The admissions advisor encouraged submitting scores over 28 and 1300, but also said that is “primarily for merit consideration” and that they are still test optional for admissions. She said they want students to submit whatever they believe makes their application the strongest and will not assume that no score is a low score.
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That seems counter-intuitive. If a score of, for example, 28, is at the very low end of their admissions data, it seems pretty unlikely, to say the least, that an applicant including a score of 28 is going to increase their chances of a merit scholarship.
I completely agree. I also think there will be some applicants who submit scores close to 28 and 1300 who will be rejected and question if submitting the scores was the right thing to do. Of course others may regret not submitting. Just not sure the decision is as simple as submitting the scores they suggest. I think it really depends on the strength of the rest of the application.
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This.
The applicant will never know how much any one piece of their application helped or hurt them.
We look at the lower end of the range that gets published and think that anyone below that has no shot - and that’s simply not true. 25% is not a small number and represents the attending student body. In reality there is only about 5 percentile points between a 1300 and a 1350.
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Do we think Tulane will release ED decisions on the day before Thanksgiving like last year? 
Certainly possible but I would never bet on it.
If you aren’t already you can follow the Tulane Admissions department on Instagram or Facebook and they will usually post something a day or two before they release decisions with the exact date/time.
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Some schools release after 5 on a Friday so they don’t get deluged with messages and calls right after they release.
Was on a recent ED zoom call where they repeated that ED would be announced 1 week after TG. Dec. 4th. But ya never know!
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Interesting, I heard they said on the ED call that it would be 12/1?