TULANE TALK

February 18, 2011

Good Morning:

We are starting to get a good idea of the character and characteristics of our new first-year class that will arrive on campus this fall. This yearís applicant pool should translate into an entering class whose average SAT score will be higher than any in Tulaneís history. Couple this with the fact that approximately 70 percent of admitted students rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class and you can see why we are so excited.

By design, this class will be smaller (between 1,450 and 1,475 students) than the previous two years. Since we will accept significantly fewer students than in 2010, our selectivity index (accepted students vs. number of applicants) will likely improve, again making us one of the countryís most selective schools.

Women make up 56 percent of the admitted class and 17 percent are from underrepresented groups. In addition to Louisiana, the states supplying the bulk of our new class include New York, California, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The average admitted studentís home is nearly 900 miles from New Orleans.

After receiving more applications than any private university in the nation last year, we decided to require this yearís applicants to answer more questions and write an essay on why they wanted to attend Tulane. This was done in order to ensure that our applicant pool was made up of students sincerely interested in attending Tulane. Even with this, we still received nearly 38,000 applications, ranking us in the top five among all private universities in the nation.

As their essays show, our new class is brimming with enthusiasm to join the ranks of Tulane students. They too want to make a difference by applying the skills and knowledge they acquire in the classroom to help solve the problems in their community and in the community of nations. I canít wait to welcome them to Tulane.

And while I am on the subject of great Tulane students, donít forget baseball season begins at Turchin today at 6:30 p.m., as our nationally ranked Green Wave take on Sam Houston State for a three-game home series.

Have a great weekend,