May 27, 2026

Aid, Access, and Admissions at Tulane with Shawn Abbott

What makes a university's admissions process truly unique? How can students from Louisiana access one of the country's top research universities without breaking the bank? And why is obsessing over admit rates one of the biggest mistakes you can make? Shawn Abbott, VP for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions at Tulane University, answers all these questions and more in this week's episode.

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About the episode

In this episode, VP for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions at Tulane University Shawn Abbott pulls back the curtain on what makes Tulane a unique institution, from its university-wide admissions model that lets students choose their academic path after arriving, to the Louisiana Promise, a suite of programs designed to make Tulane accessible and affordable for students from the state of Louisiana. Shawn also discusses how Tulane has simplified its scholarship application process, eliminating a separate merit scholarship application so more students can be automatically considered for aid.

Shawn then shares practical advice students shouldn’t miss: why treating financial aid applications with the same urgency as admissions applications is critical, how demonstrated interest actually factors into Tulane’s process, and why obsessing over admit rates is one of the biggest mistakes a student can make in the admissions process.

Mentioned in this episode

Host

Will Geiger

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut.Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.

Guest

Shawn Abbott

Shawn Abbott is the Vice President for Enrollment Management & Dean of Admission at Tulane University. Shawn started his career in higher education at a community college in the Boston area before transitioning to a position at Drexel University in Philadelphia. His first position in college admissions was at Boston University. He then served the admission office at Columbia University for nearly a decade before becoming Director of Admission at Stanford University from 2006-2010 and then Assistant Vice President & Dean of Admission at New York University from 2010 to 2018. Before coming to Tulane, Shawn was the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Temple University in Philadelphia.
He is a first generation college student and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and the University of South Carolina. He also holds a Doctor of Education degree from Columbia University.