Tulane Essay Guide 2025-26

Tulane Essay Guide

If you’re hoping to get into Tulane, you’ll need to write a strong Why Tulane essay. With a low acceptance rate and over 30,000 students applying each year, competition for this New Orleans school is tough. That means your essay matters — it’s your chance to stand out and show admissions why Tulane is the right fit for you.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the Tulane essay. We’ll explain why it’s important, how to approach the prompt, and share some of our top tips for writing strong supplemental essays. We’ll also point you to helpful resources so you can feel confident as you start writing.

Before we dive into the prompt, let’s take a quick look at a few key admissions facts.

Tulane Admissions: Quick Facts

Please note that essay requirements are subject to change each admissions cycle, and portions of this article may have been written before the final publication of the most recent guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on essay requirements, check the university’s admissions website.

Tulane Essay Requirements

This year, the Tulane application only includes one required essay: your Common App personal statement. That means every Tulane applicant has to respond to one of the Common App essay prompts. You can review the prompts here.

Beyond the Common App essay, you’ll find one optional Tulane supplemental essay. The Tulane essay prompt asks you to write a Why Tulane essay. While technically optional, we recommend that you complete the Tulane supplemental essay to maximize your Tulane admissions odds, especially given the low Tulane University acceptance rate.

In short, students are only required to complete the Common App essay in their Tulane application; the Tulane supplemental essay is optional.

Need some help writing your Common App essay? Get great tips from our Common App essay guide.

What are Tulane’s supplemental essays?

You can find the Tulane essay prompt on the Common App site. The Tulane supplemental essay is an essay that may seem familiar to you depending on where you’re at in your college application journey. Let’s take a look at the prompt:

This Tulane essay is a pretty standard Why School essay. In these types of essays, admissions wants to know two things: why their school is right for you and why you’re a good fit for their school.

So, what do you love about Tulane that makes you want to attend? And why would you be a great fit for Tulane? What do you bring to campus? As we mentioned, this Tulane essay is optional; however, the prompt even states that it is recommended that you write it. So, if you want to submit the strongest application you can, your essay should include a response to the Tulane essay prompt.

The Tulane supplemental essay is an opportunity to show the admissions committee who you are beyond what you already wrote in your Common App personal statement. Successful Tulane essays will present a clear, cohesive, yet dynamic picture of your interests and values.

Tulane Essay Prompt: Why Tulane

Describe why you are interested in joining the Tulane community. Consider your experiences, talents, and values to illustrate what you would contribute to the Tulane community if admitted.

This Tulane essay is a classic “Why School” essay. The word limit is 250 words, however, your Why Tulane essay will be more effective if it is focused and concise instead of long and rambling. Generally speaking, you’re better off submitting a polished 150 word essay than 250 words of filler.

An effective Why Tulane essay will think beyond the Tulane University acceptance rate and Tulane University ranking. Though these factors may have been important in your college search process, they do not matter to your application. Successful Tulane supplemental essays will reflect the mission and key values of the school — a strong research institution with a tight-knit campus community and small class sizes. In your Tulane essays, capture the essence of Tulane’s demanding academics and community engagement.

When answering this Why Tulane essay, don’t just write about why you want to attend Tulane. Think of this Why Tulane essay as a “fit” essay. Your college experience is a two-way street; you will both contribute to and benefit from the Tulane community. So, don’t be afraid to make direct connections between the school and what you have to offer.

Be specific

When writing your Why Tulane essay, be specific about classes you want to take, research opportunities you want to pursue, clubs you want to join, and places you want to serve. Successful Tulane supplemental essays will take these a step further, however. Don’t just name-drop. Instead, connect them to your experiences and goals.

Strong “Why Tulane” essays will incorporate some or all of the following questions: How and why will you choose to spend your time at Tulane? In what ways will your involvement help you pursue your major? How will the ways you spend your time light up your curiosity to learn? How will they spur you forward in your career? In your Why Tulane essay, describe specifically how Tulane’s offerings will help you succeed.

For instance, if you are committed to serving others, Tulane is an excellent place for you — and this Why Tulane essay is a perfect opportunity to discuss your commitment. The school has many opportunities to explore service learning courses, service research projects, and service abroad.

Make it personal

Avoid cliché phrases, generalizing, and overly emotional appeals. Don’t discuss traditions that are too well-known or frequently written about, either. Instead, make it personal. Perhaps you attended a campus tour that left an impression on you or you attended a webinar that inspired you to apply. Mention these specific and personal connections to Tulane in your essay. What put Tulane at the top of your college list?

This essay prompt is so broad that you have lots of freedom. Make sure to discuss both academic and non-academic reasons for applying to Tulane. No one expects you to have your future fully planned when writing the Why Tulane essay. However, the admissions team does want to see that you can articulate a genuine plan based on your interests and goals.

For each Tulane essay, brainstorm, research, outline, draft, and proofread before submitting. Your Tulane essays should represent your best content and writing ability.

How do I write the Tulane supplemental essays?

The admissions team evaluates Tulane supplemental essays for both content and writing ability. So, what students choose to write about for their Tulane essays matters as much as your writing skill. Proofread your Tulane essays for all grammatical and syntactical errors. Finally, remember to review your essay for the message it sends to the admissions committee.

With just one Tulane supplemental essays, you don’t have that many chances to impress. Therefore, take the time to make your one Tulane essay count. Consider your application as a whole package. Tulane supplemental essays should provide a new and deeper window into who students are.

It may feel overwhelming to complete Tulane supplemental essays. However, if you give yourself adequate time to plan, draft, and revise your Tulane essay, you can eliminate much of the stress in the application process. 

Additional tips for Why School essays

The Why School essay is one of the most common types of essays that you will see during the college application process. This type of prompt asks students to elaborate on why they want to attend that specific university.

In a Why School essay, you can talk about the school-specific programs that have caught your interest. Or you could discuss what clubs you would get involved in on campus. Alternatively, you may want to incorporate specific values and missions of the university. How do you personally resonate with that mission? What will you gain from attending that school? And what would you bring to its campus?

Here are four tips to help you tackle any Why School essay:

How important are Tulane’s supplemental essays?

The Tulane acceptance rate is just 14%. The slim Tulane acceptance rate comes from the school’s widespread acclaim. Given the low Tulane acceptance rate, the high Tulane University ranking, and the school’s holistic admissions approach, Tulane essays can make a major difference. Your essays can strongly influence your admissions results and your chances at beating low acceptance rates.

Students should approach Tulane supplemental essays with thought and care. In your response to the Tulane essay prompt, you get to make a clear case for why you belong at the university. This makes the Tulane essay one of the most valuable parts of your application. 

There are several application requirements that you must fulfill in addition to your Tulane supplemental essays. Read the complete checklist of Tulane application requirements to make sure you have everything you need. When reviewing the checklist, you’ll notice that Tulane is test-optional. This makes your essays even more important. Many students will have impressive test scores, GPAs, etc. You can use your Tulane essays to stand out from the pack.

Check out these college essay examples to see what makes a successful college essay. 

Does admissions care about Tulane essays?

In short, yes! Even though the Tulane essay is technically optional, admissions clearly states in the prompt that they want you to answer it. This Tulane essay is an opportunity for students to share more about themselves, their interest in Tulane, and why they would be a great fit.

College essays serve an important role in the admissions process. Where other parts of your application may highlight your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, your essays show who you are and what you care about. For example, admissions knows you got straight A’s in your biology class, but they have no idea that it was on a fishing trip with your grandpa that you knew you wanted to pursue a career in that field.

The Tulane essay in particular is important since it is a Why School essay. Admissions wants to see that you’ve done your research on Tulane and know exactly why you want to go there. They also need to see what you’d contribute to the campus.

Essays can seriously impact college admissions odds, and the Tulane essay is no different. Take this supplemental essay seriously. Be specific and authentic when writing your Tulane essay. While you want to impress admissions, that doesn’t mean you should fabricate what you care about. Use this opportunity to find out exactly what you would partake in on campus at Tulane if you are accepted. And, if you already know, then be sure that your passion for Tulane comes across in your Tulane essay!

More resources to write the Tulane essay

When you start to write your college essays, it’s important to use available resources to see what works and what doesn’t. After all, college essays are a very specific type of essay that you probably aren’t familiar with when starting your college applications. Perfecting the Why School essay is especially important because it’s a type of essay that you’ll probably see in other applications.

Why School essay examples

One way to understand the Why School essay is by reading those types of essays. Check out this article where we highlight various Why School essay examples and why they worked. Remember, the goal isn’t to copy the essays you see, it’s to understand what stands out to admissions and inspire you to share your own story.

Short college essay examples

The Tulane essay is a short essay. While you may be relieved to see that you don’t have to write a 500-word Tulane essay, sometimes it’s actually more challenging to write short essays. You need to use your words carefully, making sure that you answer each part of the prompt while also crafting a compelling narrative. Using specific anecdotes is important in college essays, and with shorter word counts some students find it more challenging.

Read these short essay examples so you can see the ways in which students have successfully tackled shorter essay prompts. Remember that just because it’s a short essay, it doesn’t mean you can slack. Indeed, you might have to spend more time writing an impactful essay that falls within the word limit.

Writing better essays

Learning how to write the Why School essay will serve you well beyond your Tulane application. Becoming a better narrative writer can help you tackle all kinds of application essays. While each prompt may be different, there are certain tips you can follow. Check out our article How to Write Better Essays to be sure you’re writing your best essays possible!

Common App personal statement

Just as a Why School essay will likely appear in various college applications, the Common App essay will be sent to various schools. However, the good new is that you can submit the same essay for different applications. Since the Common App personal statement gets sent to all the schools you apply to via the Common App, you truly want to make it the best essay possible.

We have plenty of resources you can use to write the Common App essay. To get started, read outstanding Common App essays. These essay examples will allow you see what impresses admissions. However, like we mentioned, don’t read with the intention of copying the essays you see. Instead, take note of the tactics these students apply to their writing, such as telling personal anecdotes, hooking the reader, and highlighting attributes not seen elsewhere in their application.

In addition to ample articles to help you in the college application journey, CollegeAdvisor also has plenty of useful webinars. Choosing a topic, crafting a narrative, sharing anecdotes, and completely answering the prompt are all a part of writing the Common App essay. In this webinar, you’ll get to see how exactly to craft a compelling Common App personal statement. And make no mistake about it: the Common App personal statement is a crucial part of your college applications!

Five tips to make your Tulane essay stand out

Writing the Tulane essay may seem overwhelming. After all, you only have one opportunity to shine. You may even be tempted to not add it to your Tulane supplemental materials as it technically isn’t part of the Tulane application requirements. However, that would be a huge mistake when it comes to your admissions odds. Competitive Tulane applicants need to consider the Tulane essay as “required.”

Tulane Essay – Final Thoughts

In their Tulane supplemental essays, students should show the admissions committee who they are as a person, student, and community member. Research Tulane so you can write the most tailored and specific Tulane supplemental essay. Choose topics for the Tulane essay that genuinely get you excited about attending. 

Remember that the Tulane application requirements include the Common App essay prompts. Leave yourself plenty of time to write thoughtful responses for not only the Tulane essay, but for the Common App essay as well.

Don’t forget to check out helpful resources like the Tulane University admissions blog. There, you’ll find Q&As from the Ask the Dean event and other helpful information for applicants. There is not one successful type of Tulane student, so be yourself in your Tulane supplemental essays. Good luck!

Still not sure how to approach the Tulane essay? For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources, click here. Want help crafting your Tulane University supplemental essays? Create your free account or schedule a complimentary advising consultation online.