Daughter planning on ED to Tulane. Should she take a pre college program at Tulane to show more Demonstrated Interest?
Or is it better money spent to take Spanish 2 over the summer so that she can take higher level Spanish 3 Senior year?
Demonstrated interest is generally a yes/no checkbox; there is no option for âexhibited massive amount of DI.â
Spending that kind of money in the hopes of showing DI has a crappy ROI, particularly given that applying ED is the ultimate expression of DI.
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I donât think thereâs a need to display more demonstrated interest if applying ED. Colleges care about demonstrated interest because they care about their yield - they donât wonât to offer acceptances to students who are unlikely to attend. ED removes all doubt about attendance. Therefore no need to show more demonstrated interest.
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These summer programs are essentially money makers for colleges and typically donât move the needle on admissions.
And ED is the ultimate form of demonstrated interest.
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I was going to have S24 take a summer session class at UCLA to see if he likes the campus and environment, but then COVID happened.
Many schools will allow HS kids to enroll in actual classes and live in the dorms. IMO that may be more useful than a summer camp type of deal, more for the kid to see if thatâs the right type of school to aim for for the future. If you pick the ârightâ classes, it wonât even be that difficult. Financially, you pay the same as a regular student would for summer session.
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I recommend taking the Spanish class (assuming she is for sure going to do one of the two choices).
If she were going to do a pre-college program, make sure it is run by Tulane.
Plenty of other ways to demonstrate DI at TulaneâŠsign up for the mailing list, do virtual sessions (they offer many good ones beyond the standard admissions spiel), visit in person especially if considering ED.
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Read/listen to this: Tips for High School Juniors | Tulane Office of Admission
Do Spanish this summer
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There are several âultimateâ expressions of DIđ
OP I would not waste your money. Attendance will have no impact.
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Am thinking that guy is not a âprospieâ 
In your case, since they want 3-4 years of language, your better to get to 3 years of language - in my opinion than 2 plus I went to your pay to play summer program.
A pre college program is good to help a student see and feel the campus vs. just thinking - this is my top choice school. In other words, really experiencing Tulane can help cement the choice or reverse that top choice feel if for some reason it wasnât what they expected. So there is benefit on a personal level.
In most cases, it wonât make up for being academically below what the school is seeking. And without Spanish 3 (and just looking at the language component), the student would be.
There are many ways to demonstrate interest in a school - but the student should set up the best application they can.
Based on what youâve written yesterday and here, I would surmise Spanish and a part time job in the summer would be a better combo for admissions purposes - although and as I noted yesterday, one cannot make a true assessment on GPA and rigor alone (without knowing the comparator to the high school attended), but based on #s and expected test score, your student will have a hill to climb regardless.
Best of luck.
Good points, thx
Yep, sheâs done all the virtuals, sheâs met with the AO locally, sheâs going to visit and do official tour in a few weeks and has contacted the AO to try and set up an in person meeting after her tour.
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Thanks again. This has all helped us decide to go with Spanish over the summer vs. a pre college program. TO , summer job, and more volunteer work!
Fingers crossed.
not sure shes willing to go that far!
So apparently there is an even greater example of demonstrated interest than applying ED. All the best!!
What? You donât like the goat tee?