“I have a lot of awards… I worked my ass off, I worked harder than probably everybody I know to get those things. But nothing feels like my child saying ‘Mommy’—no, nothing feels like when I look at my husband in the eyes. Nothing feels like when I’m respected, when I get on the stage and see I’m changing people’s lives.” Thus spoke Beyoncé, describing the motivation and inspiration for her self-titled fifth album. She as...

This summer, I heard a story about Tulane’s School of Architecture on NPR, and I actually gasped. This story described Tulane’s program’s revitalization and its shifting emphasis to community development and engagement following Hurricane Katrina—exactly the program I am searching for. Tulane, a school a didn’t know before, was suddenly one of my first choices. I have wanted to be an architect since I was a young design-loving child. But recently, as I have been...

(Prompt: UC students are dedicated to enhancing their academic experience by being active members of the campus community, often through participation in student-run organizations. If you were given the opportunity to create your own student club or organization at UC, what would it be? Discuss why your choice is of particular interest to you and how it would be a positive contribution to the UC community. (Please limit your response to approximately 250 words)) One in six people in America are...

(Prompt: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.) My mother is the director of a local nonprofit food pantry. A very intelligent and hardworking woman, she could easily be making much more money than she is in another job. However, she has chosen to sacrifice pay for meaning: she wants to do work that has an impact on the community, work that...

(Prompt: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?) Last summer, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a school trip to Italy. Traveling with my school’s Classics Department to Rome, Florence, and Sorrento, I was ecstatic to be able to explore two of my interests, art history and urban design. ...

(Prompt: 4. Tulane values interdisciplinary learning for its emphasis on innovation, creation, and discovery. Over 40% of Tulane undergraduates double major. Pick a pressing problem in the world today and describe how combining two unlike subjects can help solve it.) In 2014, over 2,000 Palestinians—between two-thirds and three-quarters of whom were civilians—were killed in Operation Protective Edge, an Israeli military offense. Israeli settlements continue to expand into occupied Palestinian territories, while Palestinians live under apartheid-like conditions. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has persisted as...

(Prompt: 5. Pretend you are a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Choose one of the three recent rulings below and write either a dissent or majority opinion based on that ruling: Fisher v. Texas) I dissent with the ruling of this Court that Fisher v. Texas be remanded to the Fifth Circuit Court. I assert that the University of Texas’ affirmative action policy is well within Constitutional bounds and that the decision to allow it to continue need not...

(Prompt: How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying. (400-650 words) ) With an extensive heritage of interdisciplinary learning alongside groundbreaking initiatives—like the Penn 2020 Compact—that emphasize integrated and impactful learning, The University of Pennsylvania offers phenomenal opportunities to study my primary academic interest, Architecture, in a flexible, liberal-arts context that allows extensive exploration beyond my major. At Penn I...

Essays 1 (Tulane); 2 (University of Cincinnati); and 3 and 4 (University of California–Berkeley) led to acceptances. Essays 5 and 6 (Paul Tulane Award scholarship app.) led to awarding of Full Tuition scholarship. Essay 7 (University of Pennsylvania) led to waitlisting.

Be realistic AND be ambitious! These are often presented as two opposite approaches to the application process, but they can benefit one another. Begin the process knowing how your application looks—your grades so far, your extracurriculars so far, and your test scores—and realize the types of schools those...

A note about selective schools, and the Ivy League in particular: DO NOT apply to an Ivy League school, or any school with a particularly formidable admittance rate, unless you WANT to go there. A large part of the Ivy League admissions decision is based on your academics, test scores, and extracurriculars (the qualitative portion that many people assume determines your acceptance). However, a strong record only gets you a metaphorical seat at the table when it comes to getting the decision you're looking for. To seal the deal, your essays and interviews must prove you are a good FIT...

I interviewed for Penn, Harvard, and Columbia. The biggest thing interviewers look for is whether you would fit at their school; whether your personality, your values, your goals, your interests, and your intellect match those desired by the school. Interviewers are alumni who loved their schools—they want to talk about them. If the school you are...

The admissions process, after determining whether a student is academically capable of attending (which any student browsing this type of website almost certainly is), is really mores about figuring out whether a student's personality and values fit those that define the school. At Tulane, this means a commitment to bettering the world around you. From our motto of Non Sibi Sed Suis, meaning "Not For One's Self But For One's People", to the community service requirement for all undergraduates, to the countless clubs and organizations focusing on...