A little help? My chances at NU

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>So I'm a prospective student for admission to Northwestern this coming year and I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me how they think I might fair. </p>

<p>A little pretext: My mom is an NU alumni - she's not a heavy donator, but she gives what she can. We recently visited the campus and I had the pleasure of sitting in on a class, and in doing so I got the professor's name (should I mention him/this experience in my supplement?). I don't need to tell you all how great it was there - you wouldn't be posting in this forum if you didn't already know that. But anyway, I've posted my resume below, so I'm very interested to see what you guys think.</p>

<p>Class of 2013
White - Upper Middle Class</p>

<p>Major: Most likely biology - Following a pre-med path
Class Rank: Our school doesn't rank, but within top 5% (Top 17 kids - unknown beyond this specificity)
Average: 94 through junior year</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2270 (800 CR, 730 Math, 740 Writing)
SAT II: Math I 700, US History 770, Biology-M 680</p>

<p>AP Scores: AP US History - 5, AP Physics B - 4</p>

<p>Honors/AP Classes Taken:
Spanish 2H - 93
Spanish 3H - 92
Spanish 4H - 94
English 11H - 94
H Geometry - 87
H Algebra 2/Trigonometry - 92
H Pre-Calculus - 91
AP Physics B - 94
AP American History - 94</p>

<p>My school only offers 2 AP courses through junior year so I've taken every single honors and AP class my school provides through junior year (most rigorous schedule available).</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP US Government
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
AP Spanish Language
College Composition/Art of Film</p>

<p>Clubs:
Red Cross Club (2 years)
Habitat for Humanity (2 years)
Midnight Run Club (Charity club; President, 3 years)
Students for Senegal (Charity club; member 2 years, board member 1 year)</p>

<p>Other ECs:
Food Pantry Volunteer (4 years)
Youth theater group (3 years)
School Planning Council (2 years) - work with administrators to develop programs at school
Student Interviewer for new guidance counselors applying for job at my school (2 years)
Varsity Cross Country (3 years)
JV Tennis
Varsity Indoor Track and Field
Varsity Spring Track and Field</p>

<p>Awards:
National Honor Society
Introduction to Architecture Award
Research Scholarship from Cornell Medical Center</p>

<p>Work experience:
-Soccer Referee (4 years)
-Internship at Weill Cornell Medical Center (Recommendation letter from the doctor I work for and 1st author on pending publication of 2 academic papers + acceptance into national meetings on area of study)</p>

2

<p>Presume you are applying ED. You have a great shot. It helps if you can improve your
SAT II score in Biology (as your goal is Pre-Med).</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>Being a legacy, with those numbers and ECs you will be a great candidate for ED.
If you go RD, being a legacy will probably not be worth much.</p>

4

<p>Your in-class experience</p>

<p>First – did you send a thank-you email (or letter) to the professor after the class. If not, I would recommend this. Second – did you introduce yourself to him/her after class (not critical if you didn’t). Finally – when you apply to NU, you can send a second note to theProf, reiterating how much you enjoyed the class and that you’ve applied (mention ED if you’re applying ED). I don’t know whether the NU profs forward these notes to the admissions office, or whether it will help you materially, but I doubt that it would hurt.</p>

<p>In the supplement – When my D applied to NU a couple of years ago, she did mention the name of the professor and how much she enjoyed his class. She added that she was excited that she even understood most of it (even though it was a science class beyond what she had taken in HS). She felt that this showed a specific interest in the school, which is what they’re looking for. If nothing else, it showed that she took the time to write something specifically about the school as opposed to taking the same essay she was using everywhere and (hopefully!!) change the name of the school in the right places.</p>