Featured Supplemental Essay Prompt For Tulane University Applicants:

Please describe why you are interested in attending Tulane University. 650 Word Maximum.

Successful Supplemental Essay Example From Our Accepted Alumni Student:

I set foot on campus, and my friend greets me warmly. We chat over coffees from a local shop, and our conversation jumps from one topic to the next. We discuss dorm living, the challenges of rigorous projects, and the excitement of meeting students from all over the world. Our conversation circles around outstanding professors and courses that have changed her view of the world. She tells me of the heartwarming feeling of touching the Victory Bell after convocation, as she embarked on her first semester at Tulane.

While we touch on many topics during our talk, the one aspect that resonates most throughout our conversation is the pulse that runs through Tulane: its home city of New Orleans.

I want to become a part of the Tulane family not only to push my boundaries intellectually, but also to be a part of a community that is ingrained in the culture that surrounds it. Tulane has a perfect unity of academic rigor and community involvement that no other school possesses.

Since I was young, I have dreamed of becoming a Tulane student. I would love to unite with all freshmen in the Newcomb-Tulane College before embarking on our individual academic journeys. Before diving deeper into my major, I would be incredibly excited for my Tulane Interdisciplinary Experience Seminar (TIDES). We would learn how much the city of New Orleans can truly teach us. I would love to participate in a course like Identity, Power, & Community Engagement and many other Service Learning Courses. It would be rewarding to learn about social issues, complete hands-on service projects, and share those experiences with my peers.

I would also love to work with young students in New Orleans. I hope to become part of education initiatives including The After-School Newcomb Tutoring Program (ANT) and the FairED Foundation. Through after-school tutoring, I hope that I can help students and learn from them about the heart of the New Orleans community. I also would be passionate about helping with the FairED Foundation, working to close the achievement gap through efforts that Tulane embraces.

The unity between Tulane and its home city is one of the primary reasons I dream to be there. Before I started high school in [State], I had occasionally ventured into the city of [Local City]. Discussions in high school, however, showed me a side of the city that influences my town and many others. We talked about the drastic changes that had occurred in school systems across the United States, in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and New Orleans. We talked about the disparities between schools and poverty that exists only miles away.

Our class discussions were eye-opening. I never knew the long-standing reasons for so much economic inequality that exists throughout the United States.

After class discussions, our teachers would remind us that there were ways to get involved in the community. I was thankful to go into the city—not just to visit, but to meet new families and make a difference in their lives. In [City], I was able to work in bilingual classrooms. I was able to help prepare food for families during holidays. I was able to meet families of all backgrounds and situations, and to learn from them.

From these experiences, I knew that I needed to go on to a university that connects with and gives back to its home city. I found that in Tulane. I was inspired to read of Tulane’s role in helping to rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina. I am amazed by Tulane’s continued involvement in helping New Orleans families.

I dream to be a part of Tulane, a school that truly and wholeheartedly embraces its city.