If you’re reading this post, things did not go to plan. You applied to Tulane Early Decision or Early Action because you really want to attend the university. Now, you are stuck in this weird middle ground where you aren’t accepted, but you also aren’t rejected. You can still get in, but getting to the point of an acceptance requires hard work. Lucky for you, we’re here to help.

First, though, let’s break down the situation you’re in as a deferred applicant to Tulane. The university offers two types of early application: Early Decision and Early Action. In recent years, the number of students applying early to Tulane just as the acceptance rate has plummeted. For the Class of 2028, the overall acceptance rate was only about .

As a result of the increase in interest in early rounds of admission, Tulane has actually to accept fewer students early “in order to provide more opportunities for students who were deferred EA or applied RD.” This is an interesting situation, because one of the reasons Tulane is deferring more students is to give students like you more of an opportunity to get in through a later round of admission. This doesn’t tell us anything about the strength of your application, though. We don’t know if you were deferred because you’re unlikely to get in, or if you were right on the cusp of getting in but, for some reason, they pulled back from making a final “yes.” And there is no way to know where you fall on this spectrum. They don’t give you a report with your deferral. So, we have to operate from the positive-minded perspective that you truly do have a chance of getting in—if you take decisive action.

Before you get into strengthening your Tulane application, though, you need to take equally strong action getting the rest of your college applications in order. Since you were deferred by Tulane, you must apply to a well-balanced list of schools in the regular decision cycle to ensure that you have a perfect-fit college to attend in the fall. Below, we’ll break down what you need to step-by-step.

Getting into a dream school requires a strong strategy, especially after a deferral. Contact us to get yours.

Before you strengthen your Tulane application, you need to get the wheels moving on the rest of your college application process. It’s possible that you’ve been working on applications for months, but chances are there is work to do — especially now that you’ve been deferred from Tulane. These are the three key steps.

Review Your College List

First, you need to go back to basics. Your college list is the foundation of a successful college application experience. Without a well-balanced, strategic college list, you’re trying to sail without, well, a sail. So, you need to look at whatever college list you put together before applying to Tulane and seriously assess whether it is both realistic enough and aspirational enough — yes, both. A solid college list should be grounded in a foundation of schools you are likely to get into, and topped off with a handful of schools you’d love to attend but that are a bit of a reach (Tulane included).

Reassess Your Common App Essay

Once you have your college list set, it’s time to look back at the most important piece of writing in your college application process. The Common App essay is the only piece of writing every school you apply to (through the Common App) will see. So, while the supplements are critically important, the Common App essay is the core.

There are infinite ways to write a Common App essay, but there are only a handful of approaches that will be right for you. What a friend is doing, or a sibling did in the past, does not mean it will lead to an effective, acceptance-winning essay when you take on the same approach. Give our 2024-2025 Common App Essay Guide to get a sense of whether your essay is working for you, and what you need to do to improve this critical piece of your application.

Press Submit

This next step should sound obvious, but we regularly see students torture themselves by dragging the application-writing process out far beyond the point of reasonable delay. This ultimately results in repeated rounds of edits and additions that turn into contortions, rendering strong writing into a sloppy mess. Do. Not. Do. This. When it is done, submit. Then turn back to Tulane.

WHAT TULANE WANTS

If you are wondering whether it’s worth doing extra work for Tulane after a deferral, let’s us assure you — it is. You have a chance because Tulane wants to accept deferred students. Truly. They that they have “made an effort over recent years to accept fewer Early Decision students in order to provide more opportunities for students who were deferred EA or applied RD.”

The reality of the situation, though, is that they can’t let everyone in. “We could fill multiple freshman classes,” , “with the number of applications we get from academically strong, involved, and interested students.” This tells that they will make the decision on your deferred application in the Regular Decision round will have less to do with being impressive, and more to do with being a strong fit for Tulane.

Tulane cares a lot about demonstrated interest, as to label it as an “important” factor in admissions decisions. They want students who want them. Getting a deferral decision in the early admissions round tells you that you are the type of person they look for. Now, the best thing you can do is to underline how Tulane is exactly what you’ve been looking for. You can show them this both by strengthening your application, and by simply restating that Tulane is your dream school clearly and directly. 

Continued Interest Form

The continued interest for is the place to let Tulane know that you will absolutely attend if accepted. “This form is quite important and carries a lot of weight,” , and it should be submitted well in advance of any deadline.

Connect with your Admissions Counselor

Next, Tulane asked for something pretty rare when it comes to a deferral. They want you to reach out to within a week or two of your deferral. This is important, especially because it is rare. Most top colleges discourage deferred students from reaching out directly to an individual in the office. Tulane is different — .

This email should include any important updates that you would like added to your application. We suggest breaking the email into three parts:

Part 1: Assert very clearly and directly that Tulane remains your top choice and that you will attend if accepted.

Part 2: Then, update them. “Please be conservative,” . “We don’t necessarily need to know everything that happened this fall, but major life changes, new academic information, or serious awards are worth telling us about.” Updates should not include strong quiz grades, and they don’t want to hear from you more than once or twice. After reaching out, you’ll need to be patient.  

Part 3: Reiterate again that you will attend Tulane if accepted and respectfully sign off.

Test Scores

If you took the SAT or ACT after submitting your Tulane application, you may want to send updated scores. Take a look at the average SAT and ACT scores of who submitted scores for the Class of 2028. How do yours measure up? If you have scores that are at or above the average, you should submit them by sending official score reports.  

Consider Early Decision II

You also have the opportunity to switch to Early Decision II, instead of going into the general regular decision round. We highly recommend this if you want to get into Tulane after a deferral.

Be Patient

Once you’ve updated Tulane, you need to be patient. Bugging them will not advance your chances of admission. You may not hear from them until April, so hang tight.

And should you visit campus to strengthen your interest even more? You could, but you don’t have to and it’s not the best way to strengthen your application. Tulane emphasizes that you do not need to visit to reinforce your interest. If you are local, you could — but you probably already have.

Getting into Tulane after a deferral is possible with the right strategy and a healthy dose of perseverance. It also helps to have a team of experts on your side. That’s where we can come in.

Applying to college is stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Email us to learn more.