2014-2015 Tulane University Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I know. It seems very weird that they would show us this status and then remove it. I'm thinking they never wanted us to see it in the first place and there was a glitch in the system.

Does anyone's status still say prelim reject?
Mine is gone as well. Could be a glimmer of hope but I'll assume straight rejection until an email comes through stating otherwise.
 
Interview Invite this AM. 10/31, New Orleans for Halloween 😉

OOS, MD/MPH applicant. 32/3.5. Nontrad, Military Vet, well traveled, Master's Degree, tons of extracurriculars - research, nonprofit founder, clinical and nonclinical volunteering in US and abroad. Complete 7/16.
 
II today! 11/12

Is it bad that my expectations of New Orleans are based off the Princess and the Frog? Either way, can't wait to get down there. I've only heard amazing things about the campus!
 
II today! 11/12

Is it bad that my expectations of New Orleans are based off the Princess and the Frog? Either way, can't wait to get down there. I've only heard amazing things about the campus!

Well, the main campus is nice, but the only thing most med students do there is the white coat ceremony. Some students live near the main campus so they can go to the gym and study in the library with the undergrads. Most live closer to the med school to save on driving time. The med school buildings are about four miles away from the main campus, and they're nothing special, just typical office buildings, one of which is located next to the lovely scenic abandoned hospital. The good news is that the med school is close to the French Quarter, so there's plenty to do within walking distance.
 
I know. It seems very weird that they would show us this status and then remove it. I'm thinking they never wanted us to see it in the first place and there was a glitch in the system.

Does anyone's status still say prelim reject?
preliminary reject status gone too
 
Is anyone going to be in town on 9/13? I have a hotel with two beds so I could share. We could explore together!!!
 
Is anyone going to be in town on 9/13? I have a hotel with two beds so I could share. We could explore together!!!
I'll take you up on that offer if I get an II in the next couple of weeks.
 
so whats the word on those "preliminary rejections"? is that tulane's way of putting us applicants on hold? i had this status 2 days ago, but then it disappeared from my portal and i haven't received any sort of email
 
"Preliminary Reject" status for me has disappeared as well.
 
I know. It seems very weird that they would show us this status and then remove it. I'm thinking they never wanted us to see it in the first place and there was a glitch in the system.

Does anyone's status still say prelim reject?
Agreed
 
My "Preliminary Reject" status is also gone (not even sure why I bothered checking). I feel like from the postings of IIs and preliminary reject removal timing, preliminary reject might mean hold. I very much doubt they "made a mistake" for all of us. Still not getting my hopes up though... Gonna stop checking the secondary website before I go insane.
 
Still crickets over here. Anyone complete after 7/27 heard anything?
 
If you're a non-traditional applicant, I'd go for it. It seems like Tulane likes them from what I've heard.

Yeah, I am a non-trad. I am 26 right now...started off taking business classes for two years and then switched to medicine.

Went to community college for 5 years and then transferred to UCLA and got my degree.

A little different from the usual.
 
Signed up for the 11/12 interview! I've never been there so I plan to arrive a couple days early to roam around the city a bit. If anybody wants to join up let me know!
 
So disappointed to receive rejection today. Boo!
OOS, overall GPA 3.56, most recent sGPA 3.76 with many credits
29 MCAT
YEARS of healthcare experience
Exceptional EC
Think that MCAT killed me...
 
So disappointed to receive rejection today. Boo!
OOS, overall GPA 3.56, most recent sGPA 3.76 with many credits
29 MCAT
YEARS of healthcare experience
Exceptional EC
Think that MCAT killed me...


sorry to hear this!!
Same question as I had for above person: did you receive the preliminary reject online that some of us had received (which then was removed), or did you receive an actual rejection email?
 
sorry to hear this!!
Out of curiosity, did you receive the preliminary reject online that some of us had received (which then was removed), or did you receive an actual rejection email?

I just got a rejection email, no preliminary rejection that I know of. Last time I checked the portal was yesterday afternoon and didnt see any sort of status change from before (it just said pending or under review or something like that). Hoping you have better luck!
 
Quick question for any current students and/or New Orleans residents:

How bad is crime down there? I've heard wildly different accounts from different people.

Thank you for any info!
 
Tried to schedule my interview today... got the invite yesterday... only dates available are October 31, November 12, December 9th.
 
Last edited:
In terms of my rejection--I didn't check portal often enough to know. Just got surprising rejection. This process is a real whirlwind.
 
Quick question for any current students and/or New Orleans residents:

How bad is crime down there? I've heard wildly different accounts from different people.

Thank you for any info!
You get different accounts because it varies a lot neighborhood to neighborhood. You can literally be on a safe block, cross the street, and find yourself in a crime-infested area. You can search the internet for crime maps to get a feel for which neighborhoods are best avoided. Several maps are reviewed here:

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/nola_heatmap.html
 
Complete July 10th and haven't heard anything. Thought I really had a strong chance here :/
 
Will anyone be there Monday, October 27? I haven't booked flights yet, but I'd like to go a few days early and see the city!
 
Congrats to everyone getting II's I cannot wait to see you all on campus milling about in your fancy suits and business wear!

I just want to echo a few comments made in this thread by other students.

1. when you come to interview make sure you come to visit also! we try to schedule our interviews around the weekends so people can get a sense of NOLA. I, personally, would suggest taking any Monday interview available (it gives you the weekend to explore the city and have stuff to talk about during interviews).

2. we do have mid week interview days this year (it can be tough to schedule around T1 and T2 class times). this means if you sign up for one of these spots you should really try to find a way to take time off and come down around the interview, may be harder but I would highly recommend it.

3. As far as I know, there is actually no MCAT cut off, but, like any application, the lower your crude academic stats, the harder it will be to get in unless you shine elsewhere.

4. you get rejected here, don't worry. As has been pointed out Tulane accepts, a rough guess, 250-300 people for a class of 180. over 10,000 apply. that means that 97% won't get in. However, nationwide, in 2013 there were 48,000 applicants and 20,000 accepted which is about 42% acceptance (https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/358410/20131024.htm). This means that you have a good chance of getting in somewhere (I don't know if those numbers even include DO which is another great option if you can't get MD)!

5. Like every year, people focus to much on US NEWS! I know I did, until I did research and realized just how flawed the system truly is. a quick google search will show plenty of articles and other media that show this (I will link to three at the bottom of the comment, including one from US news itself)! basically the system is terribly set up to weight factors that, in reality, have very little bearing on how good of a doctor you will become given you education at a certain institution. 40% of the ranking is made up of reputation, but as the links below show, the reporting rate is sooo low (under 50% for deans and under 20% for resident directors!) that you have to legitimately question the usefulness of these evaluations (as a tinfoil aside, it is not inconceivable that certain academic institutions (University of Large State) with large residency program cohorts could require all of their directors to fill out a survey and then bias it towards a specific school). Additionally the use of GPA and MCAT falsely objective. GPA is not adjusted for strength of school. a 3.0 at a grade deflated school like say, Colgate University, is much different than a 4.0 at a relatively unknown smaller regional school (lets say Gustavus Adolphus). I am not saying Adolphus is a bad school, but it is unfair to just look at GPA only. additionally with MCAT, while it seems very objective, it falls into the same issues as the SAT and ACT and is not as objective or good a measure as people think. lastly using NIH funding in my opinion, is almost completely useless. for one it leaves out any other non-NIH funding a school may have, but more importantly, as medical students are you going to medical school to become an NIH researcher or to become a clinician? for me it's all about being a clinician and so this has little influence on me but the ratings still incorporate it. And all this is before even mentioning that what use is it to have rankings when there are so few schools to begin with and all have to be held up to exceptionally high standards. for undergrad, where there are literally thousands of schools, maybe the rankings are more useful, but when you are choosing between 120 schools all of whom have to be at, a minimum, excellent don't worry about ranking.

6. one last thing for Tulane, I love it! yes there are things that irritate me about the school, but on balance there are many more positives than negatives (many more is an understatement I think). If you are worried about rankings and reputations, maybe Tulane is not the place for you anyways since people here help each other out and we want an atmosphere where competition is healthy and cordial and people help each other out, not sabotage one another for personal reputation gain. But if you really are worried about reputation, know that Tulane has a good reputation across the country, especially in the south. My parents are both physicians in Rhode Island (clinical faculty at Brown) and when I was contemplating between just accepting Tulane or continuing to ride the brown waitlist they solicited opinions from their colleagues (many of whom are clinical faculty associated with Brown). They said that almost all of them had responses similar to "He got into Tulane? he should just go there, it's a great school." So our reputation is solid to great even as far away as the North East.

sorry for the long post, hope it helps!

here are the sources on US NEWS rankings, I especially recommend the last one.


from Einstein yeshiva: http://www.einstein.yu.edu/news/rel...e-and-flaws-of-us-news-world-report-rankings/

From US NEWS. they end the article trying to build themselves up, but saying that you are the best at doing the impossible is damning with faint praise: http://www.usnews.com/education/bes...ical-school-deans-take-on-the-rankings?page=2

an older paper but it outlines many of the basic flaws with US NEWS: http://medical-mastermind-community...Best_Medical_Schools__A_Critique_of_the.5.pdf
 
I just received my II today! The earliest date is Dec 4th. Does that mean I'll have a harder chance getting accepted since so many people are interviewing before me? Because I was really hoping to schedule a Monday interview so that I'd have time to explore. But would scheduling later decrease my chances?
 
I just received my II today! The earliest date is Dec 4th. Does that mean I'll have a harder chance getting accepted since so many people are interviewing before me? Because I was really hoping to schedule a Monday interview so that I'd have time to explore. But would scheduling later decrease my chances?
I think they just have a limited number of people interviewing each day. Perhaps @sazerac can comment on how large the groups are?
 
Top