Ten Application Tips from the "Experts"

Our entire admission team is seaux excited for the application to be live! 

Our application is live! Starting today, you can begin applying to Tulane for the Class of 2022. Remember, we accept both the Common Application as well as our own application and don't have a preference between the two. There's also never an application fee here at Tulane. 

In this light, the blog today features my top ten tips for making yourself the strongest applicant you can be! First, check out my five reasons why you've got to apply to Tulane this fall in the video below. Oh and by the way, yesterday's Princeton Review rankings also had some great reasons to apply. Here's a few of the rankings we received this year. 

Best College City: #1
Most Engaged in Community Service: #1
Best-Run Colleges: #4
Happiest Students: #4
Best Quality of Life: #9
Most Active Student Government: #12

Now on to making yourself the strongest applicant you can be!

Jeff's Ten Application Tips 

1) Do the optional statement: If the application asks "Why are you applying to [insert school here]?," take the time to write a thoughtful, insightful answer. Show you have done a little research, and really make your case as to why you think said school would be a good fit for you. If there isn't a question like this on the application, then send in a short paragraph as if this question was asked. Tulane does have an optional statement that asks why you are applying—fill it out! You can read all about this in detail on my blog entry here. 

2) Explain everything! If you had a real tough semester in your personal life in your sophomore year and your grades suffered, let us know. If AP Calc wasn't your thing, but you got two tutors and worked every night for two months studying but still got a C, let us know. The more insight you can give into your grades the better. The best spot to do this is in the "additional information" section. 

3) Pick an essay topic you love to write about, no matter what it is. We're more likely to love reading something you loved writing. We read thousands and thousands of these things, so make sure you get us going right off the bat. And remember, sometimes the best essays are the simplest ones. No need to dig for a tragedy, over embellish anything or try to change the world. Just be yourself. And I hate to tell you all this, but I must have read a thousand essays about summer camp, Harry Potter, grandmas, and your service trip to Fiji last summer. Think outside the box! You can read all about my tips on the best college essays here. 

4) Make a ZeeMee page. There's been a shift in the world of college admission and Tulane is a part of that. We want to know your authentic story, beyond just your scores and your grades. We've partnered with ZeeMee this year so you guys can do just that: share your story. I bet you'll really love making your page—be sure to add it to the section that we ask for it on the Common App or on our application. You can see my ZeeMee page here. 

5) Avoid application redundancy. Take a 30,000 foot view of your application. If your activities section is all about tennis and your counselor letter of recommendation talks about tennis and your short answer is about tennis, what do you think your essay should be about? Anything but tennis! Decide where each "piece" of your application should fall and where your stories, passions and strengths will be shared. This might mean connecting with your school counselor (and it's a good time to get to know them better!) We read 38,000 applications a year, and as soon as we see something in your file that is repeated throughout, there's a chance we'll skip over the repeated parts. 

6) Be purposeful in your communication with colleges. Got questions? Let us know! Don't over do it, but research your top schools and meet with admission reps during their high school visits or regional receptions in your hometown. You can reach out to your Tulane admission counselor here. Want to know the best (and worst) questions to ask your admission counselor? Read all about it here. Also, don't forget that our ED and EA applicants this year can qualify for an alumni interview. My advice here is that if you want to set up an interview, consider submitting your application before the deadline. Apply in early October, for example, and that gives us way more time to take care of the interview process. The process of getting the interview set up, completed and into your application takes a while, so applying early will help ensure your interview is included as we review your file. Side note, you don't need your rec letters or transcripts submitted to set up the interview, so don't stress your school counselor out trying to get those in early. 

7) Visit a college or university nearby. This will give you a sense for what college campuses are like. I know it's hard to visit every school on your list, especially with a tight budget. Check out a school in your hometown or somewhere in driving distance to get a sense for what a college campus feels like. It will make you better prepared as you start filling out applications. You can read my top tips for visiting colleges here. 

8) Be professional. Get a college email address. Something professional. While the email I received a few years back from cupcakez or LaxStud6969 may sound cool to your friends, it looks silly to me. And I'm actually pretty cool, too. Just put your best foot forward. Same goes for Facebook, Snapchat, Insta, Twitter—we don't generally check your social media platforms here at Tulane, but keep make sure your picture is something you'd be okay with your grandma seeing. What usually happens each year is we'll get screenshots of dumb things students put on Snapchat or Twitter. Just be smart, nice, and treat your peers with some compassion. Sometimes, it can get your admission decision rescinded. Speaking of connecting with admission reps, here are five emails you should never send us. 

9) We like jobs. So if you have one, tell us about it. Working 15 hours a week at your local Subway as a Sandwich Artist carries just a much weight as playing a varsity sport. Whatever takes up your time, we want to know about it. I have some additional resume tips that you can read about here. 

10) Pick your passion. We don't care what you do, as long as you do it well and you love to do it. What makes you tick after the bell rings? Where do your strengths lie? What makes you... you? See tip #4, or send us a nice, clean, one-page resume with the above listed. Keep this resume simple. Just give me a quick description of those three or four big things. Do not send me a six page resume listing out every time you donated blood. I won't read it, and few colleges will. We don't need a list of everything, just the most important things to you. On the Common App, there's no need to fill in every single blank on the activities section. Less is more. I've got a blog that goes into more detail about the best ways to fill out the activities section here. 

Hope this helps guys! Feel free to email us if you ever have any questions. Happy applying! 

Look at all these students cheering for these application tips. 

Look how happy these Tulane students are that they listened to my application advice.