2016-2017 Tulane University Application Thread

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First rejection. Added the school as an afterthought anyways, maybe they could tell. Oh well. Good luck to everyone!

LizzyM 75, complete 7/17, for reference.
 
gribear said:
First rejection. Added the school as an afterthought anyways, maybe they could tell. Oh well. Good luck to everyone!

LizzyM 75, complete 7/17, for reference.
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Same here, with same Lizzy M. Feels pretty bad. Strange bc I have received interviews at schools w higher averages/rankings.


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dranonymous44 said:
Same here, with same Lizzy M. Feels pretty bad. Strange bc I have received interviews at schools w higher averages/rankings.


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Having a ~80 LM puts you at the 99th %ile of applicants.

Tulane probably didn't bother with you because you would likely matriculate elsewhere.

There's strategy at play for interviews.
 
WineLover777 said:
I have a really hard time believing that any school would reject someone for having too high of stats.
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You really don't?

Tulane is an awesome school. I'd be happy to go there.

For others--not like me--who have 99th percentile MCAT scores and 4.0 GPAs, they are applying to Tulane not as a first choice but as a safety school.

If I am Tulane (or any other school for that matter), and I only have X amount of interview slots at my disposal, I'm not going to necessarily interview every single 4.0/40 MCAT candidate.

Of course Tulane (again, or any other school for that matter) could interview them, but unless they have some strong ties to NOLA or to the university, why would they waste their time on that kind of app?


----

From the MSAR:

Tulane matriculant's median GPA is a 3.6, and their median MCAT is a 33. Those are solid stats for anyone (i.e. a median LM of 69). By definition, 50% of students have higher GPAs/MCAT scores than that. However, when you're dealing with 4.0, 40+ MCATers (i.e. a LM of 80) who are well beyond their IQR, why would they waste their time? Those candidates are shoe-ins for GPA/MCAT focused schools like UChicago, UPenn, and BU.

----

#Statsatwork
 
To be MD said:
You really don't?

Tulane is an awesome school. I'd be happy to go there.

For others--not like me--who have 99th percentile MCAT scores and 4.0 GPAs, they are applying to Tulane not as a first choice but as a safety school.

If I am Tulane (or any other school for that matter), and I only have X amount of interview slots at my disposal, I'm not going to necessarily interview every single 4.0/40 MCAT candidate.

Of course Tulane (again, or any other school for that matter) could interview them, but unless they have some strong ties to NOLA or to the university, why would they waste their time on that kind of app?


----

From the MSAR:

Tulane matriculant's median GPA is a 3.6, and their median MCAT is a 33. Those are solid stats for anyone (i.e. a median LM of 69). By definition, 50% of students have higher GPAs/MCAT scores than that. However, when you're dealing with 4.0, 40+ MCATers (i.e. a LM of 80) who are well beyond their IQR, why would they waste their time? Those candidates are shoe-ins for GPA/MCAT focused schools like UChicago, UPenn, and BU.

----

#Statsatwork
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No one is a shoe-in. If you think schools are trying to read into everyone's motivation, cool, but I doubt they just see LMs of 80 and say 'nope'.

If you aren't really the best fit anyway and have an LM of 80... maybe.

Edit: Schools care about why you're applying but auto rejecting high stats applicants is only possible if they make a huge assumption about those people.
 
SydSing said:
No one is a shoe-in. If you think schools are trying to read into everyone's motivation, cool, but I doubt they just see LMs of 80 and say 'nope'.

If you aren't really the best fit anyway and have an LM of 80... maybe.

Edit: Schools care about why you're applying but auto rejecting high stats applicants is only possible if they make a huge assumption about those people.
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I don't agree that schools screen out high stats people.

However, I DO think that most schools will make sure you match their mission/could be a good fit before they extend an invitation.

So while high stats won't keep you out, they also won't guarantee you a spot- interview or matriculation spot.

For MOST schools. Obviously, Vandy, WashU, UChicago etc etc have proven that for some schools, it is enough to have high stats.
 
sammiesings said:
I don't agree that schools screen out high stats people.

However, I DO think that most schools will make sure you match their mission/could be a good fit before they extend an invitation.

So while high stats won't keep you out, they also won't guarantee you a spot- interview or matriculation spot.

For MOST schools. Obviously, Vandy, WashU, UChicago etc etc have proven that for some schools, it is enough to have high stats.
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That's essentially what I was trying to say. A high stats person with a half-assed essay or that doesn't fit is likely just throwing that school in as a fall back. That's where I could see them being rejected.

But just grades? Nah.
 
Out of curiosity, does anyone here have ties to Tulane?
 
SydSing said:
That's essentially what I was trying to say. A high stats person with a half-assed essay or that doesn't fit is likely just throwing that school in as a fall back. That's where I could see them being rejected.

But just grades? Nah.
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Dude or dudette,

Shoe-in means having a 90%+ chance of getting in. Look at the AAMC data if you want to, but if you have a LM of 80+ you have over a 90% chance of getting into a medical school if you're white or Asian and have a close to 100% chance if you're a URM.

Nowhere did I say, "students can half-ass their essays". We're talking about the best candidates by the numbers. I don't have a metric for ECs and essay-writing capabilities, but, in general, someone with a 4.0 and a 40+ MCAT has the intelligence to write a good application essay, etc.

No one's--cough, almost no one--is applying with a 99th/100th %ile MCAT and a 4.0 GPA and writes "I want to be a doctor because, f you, I'm super smart. Tulane [School X], you better let me in or else."

----

Again, if I'm a school like any other, I am going to extend interviews to candidates that fit the university and its class. If you're mister or miss HYPSM, with perfect stats and a couple articles published in Nature, with no ties to New Orleans or to Tulane, and you are submitting your app to my school, I may or may not interview you. You can get rejected for being overqualified. And yes, there are people who are overqualified. And no, that doesn't apply to normal candidates. And yes, the LM ~80 (i.e. 99%ile+ candidates) are abnormal by definition).
 
To be MD said:
Dude or dudette,

Shoe-in means having a 90%+ chance of getting in. Look at the AAMC data if you want to, but if you have a LM of 80+ you have over a 90% chance of getting into a medical school if you're white or Asian and have a close to 100% chance if you're a URM.

Nowhere did I say, "students can half-ass their essays". We're talking about the best candidates by the numbers. I don't have a metric for ECs and essay-writing capabilities, but, in general, someone with a 4.0 and a 40+ MCAT has the intelligence to write a good application essay, etc.

No one's--cough, almost no one--is applying with a 99th/100th %ile MCAT and a 4.0 GPA and writes "I want to be a doctor because, f you, I'm super smart. Tulane [School X], you better let me in or else."

----

Again, if I'm a school like any other, I am going to extend interviews to candidates that fit the university and its class. If you're mister or miss HYPSM, with perfect stats and a couple articles published in Nature, with no ties to New Orleans or to Tulane, and you are submitting your app to my school, I may or may not interview you. You can get rejected for being overqualified. And yes, there are people who are overqualified. And no, that doesn't apply to normal candidates. And yes, the LM ~80 (i.e. 99%ile+ candidates) are abnormal by definition).
Click to expand...


Yeah I have seen the data, thanks. I also never said that you said that, it was my train of thought on the matter.

Someone who is intelligent does not automatically write a convincing essay. They may just not put in as much effort because they are busy with more pressing applications. Or they don't have ECs that back up the mission so can't back up their alignment with the mission.

My entire post was just to say that I don't think many people are weeded out purely due to high grades. As with anything... my opinion is just that.

It really isn't that serious to be honest. I'm bored and forum derping.
 
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Aad21 said:
Out of curiosity, does anyone here have ties to Tulane?
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Not really a tie, but one of the doctors I am close with and did a lot of shadowing with is a graduate of Tulane SOM, he wrote me one of my LOR.
 
Not sure if it happened today or yesterday, but I finally got my green checkmark. And now the wait continues.

Complete 8/2
 
rhlehgusl said:
My guess is that they rejected people with high LizzyM who did not do CASPer. A wild guess though.
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To throw my own experience into the pool: I have a 99th percentile MCAT, 3.9 GPA, and did not do the CASPer exam but did receive a II. Granted, I fit the mission well and do have strong ties to the community/school.
 
Just to chime quickly about this high stats thing, I post this all the time but...

If you look at the very top end of applicants, your chances of getting in are actually less then people with slightly lower stats. I'm sure part of it has to do with, not to stereotype, but applicants with a LizzyM of 80+ a lot of the time have other aspects lacking. Be it they are ultra gunners who leave a bad taste with interviewers, to being so busy studying they don't have time to do ECs etc. Again, it's not a universal...

But I can say from my experience as pres of our premed honor society, that there are a lot of people with very high stats, that are lacking in the social skills department. Several of my members didn't get any acceptances with 75+ Lizzy's and it wasn't surprising to me at all. Again that's a broad generalization but

ImageUploadedBySDN1471540295.914328.jpg



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mavric1298 said:
Just to chime quickly about this high stats thing, I post this all the time but...

If you look at the very top end of applicants, your chances of getting in are actually less then people with slightly lower stats. I'm sure part of it has to do with, not to stereotype, but applicants with a LizzyM of 80+ a lot of the time have other aspects lacking. Be it they are ultra gunners who leave a bad taste with interviewers, to being so busy studying they don't have time to do ECs etc. Again, it's not a universal...

But I can say from my experience as pres of our premed honor society, that there are a lot of people with very high stats, that are lacking in the social skills department. Several of my members didn't get any acceptances with 75+ Lizzy's and it wasn't surprising to me at all. Again that's a broad generalization but

View attachment 208059


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Although I agree with the sentiment of your post, it does not bear out in the actual statistics the way it does in that table. The table you have linked is of UWSOM's stats, which are probably skewed by UWSOM's focus toward underserved regional primary care. The stats for all white applicants do not follow the same trend; each GPA and MCAT step down has a lower % accepted than the one above it. https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstablea24-4.pdf
 
rcordova said:
Although I agree with the sentiment of your post, it does not bear out in the actual statistics the way it does in that table. The table you have linked is of UWSOM's stats, which are probably skewed by UWSOM's focus toward underserved regional primary care. The stats for all white applicants do not follow the same trend; each GPA and MCAT step down has a lower % accepted than the one above it. https://www.aamc.org/download/321518/data/factstablea24-4.pdf
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Totally agree, however, I would add that the statistics for amcas are only representative of an applicant matriculating somewhere - which isn't indicative of odds at any single school. I would venture to say that many schools would follow the trend of UW (such as Tulane) - where other parts of the application have a greater weight (not greater in the sense of more important than GPA/MCAT stats, but in the sense of more than at other places). Rush is another school that comes to mind as well - if you don't have strong volunteer/community service, I would venture to guess you'll be at a greater disadvantage then the advantage of having a 40 mcat instead of a 37

You also have to keep in mind that a 38 all the way to a 45 is only 1 percentile, and from all the info I've gathered, the percentiles are what adcoms are really looking at, especially at this point having mixed old/new scores and trying to compare.
 
mavric1298 said:
Just to chime quickly about this high stats thing, I post this all the time but...

If you look at the very top end of applicants, your chances of getting in are actually less then people with slightly lower stats. I'm sure part of it has to do with, not to stereotype, but applicants with a LizzyM of 80+ a lot of the time have other aspects lacking. Be it they are ultra gunners who leave a bad taste with interviewers, to being so busy studying they don't have time to do ECs etc. Again, it's not a universal...

But I can say from my experience as pres of our premed honor society, that there are a lot of people with very high stats, that are lacking in the social skills department. Several of my members didn't get any acceptances with 75+ Lizzy's and it wasn't surprising to me at all. Again that's a broad generalization but

View attachment 208059


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Click to expand...

This picture is from the UWash website which is not an accurate picture of all MD schools at all.
 
About how long after the green check mark do they inform you of their decision? It's been more than one week for me...
 
SydSing said:
I just want them to pull the damn trigger....
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Me too..
I just got the green check this morning, so the decision from Tulane should come sometime soon? Ugh. My stats aren't the greatest but I just hope the decision comes quick, no matter what it is 🙄
 
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happyducky said:
Me too..
I just got the green check this morning, so the decision from Tulane should come sometime this week? Ugh. My stats are the greatest but I just hope the decision comes quick, no matter what it is 🙄
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When were you complete btw?
 
Yorick said:
II!!! Complete 7/14 and got the green check about a week later. Love New Orleans and Louisiana ever since I saw Live and Let Die 😀
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Were your interview dates starting in December? I feel like that's so late. :dead:
 
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