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| The entire Enrollment Management team is seaux excited to have you apply! |
In this light, the blog today features my top ten tips for making yourself the strongest applicant you can be! And remember... it all starts with a click:
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. You can read all about my tips on the best college essays here.
4) Less is More. I have a sneaking suspicion that Tulane will see over 40,000 applications this year. Schools like UCLA and NYU get 75,000+ applicants. We go through applications somewhat quickly, so sending in a lot of extra stuff won't benefit you. So, how can you best share your story without overselling yourself? Resist the urge to send in multiple essays, 4-page resumes and multiple additional letters of recommendation. I even boldly suggest that you shouldn't feel pressured to fill out every blank on the activities section. Some of the best applicants we see are concise, precise and get to the point. You can read more about what I mean by this 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) Get Engaged with Tulane. I don't mean ask us to marry you. I mean take some time to purposefully research Tulane to find out if we are a good fit for you. We want to see applicants who are authentically and genuinely interested in Tulane. You can easily engage with us by attending a Tulane Comes to You event, a MET tour (with our friends from NYU, GWU, SMU, Northeastern and Miami!), or checking if we'll be at your high school or Community Based Organization this fall. The most important thing to keep in mind is be purposeful in your interactions with colleges. Got questions? Let us know, but only if you really can't find the information elsewhere. Don't overdo it; simply research your top schools and meet with admission reps during their travels to your hometown. 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 some time, 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.
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 some time, 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. Speaking of connecting with admission reps, here are five emails you should never send us. 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. This summer, I rescinded admission to multiple students because of their commentary in a social media space.
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) Begin to identify 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? You're welcome to 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. 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!
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| Look at all these students cheering for these application tips. |
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| Look how happy these Tulane students are that they listened to my application advice. |
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