Am I on track for Northwestern University?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>Am I on track for acceptance to Northwestern University looking at my first two years of high school? Here is a list of things I have done in my freshman and sophomore years of high school:</p>

<p>Freshman Year</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<ul>
<li>Two Honors Courses (Chemistry Honors and Geometry Honors) </li>
<li>Two Electives (Multimedia Design and Concert Band) </li>
<li>Maximum Number of Credits </li>
<li>Community Service Honors (50+ Community Service Hours) </li>
<li>GPA - 2.957</li>
<li>Chemistry Honors (usually taken by strong juniors at my school): C+</li>
<li>Geometry Honors: C-</li>
<li>World Civilizations: A-</li>
<li>English I: B</li>
<li>Spanish I: B-</li>
<li>Multimedia Design: A</li>
<li>Concert Band: A+ (counted as half of a course)</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<ul>
<li>Elected Ninth Grade Class Council Officer</li>
<li>Volunteer at the Children's Section of a local library </li>
<li>Judge in the Elementary School Science Fair</li>
<li>Performed in the School Spring Drama Production</li>
<li>Member of a Church Youth Group </li>
<li>Host at a School Open House</li>
<li>Wrote and Acted for two different short plays in the Instant Drama Festival (less than 24 hours to write lines and less than 12 hours to learn lines)</li>
<li>Member of the Chess Team</li>
<li>Summer Volunteer at a hospital</li>
</ul>

<p>Sophomore Year (so far)</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<ul>
<li>Two Honors Courses (Biology Honors and Algebra II Honors) </li>
<li>One AP Course (World History AP) </li>
<li>Two Electives (Computer Science and Concert Band) </li>
<li>Maximum Number of Credits </li>
<li>Community Service Honors (50+ Community Service Hours) </li>
<li>GPA - ? </li>
<li>Biology Honors: B+/B</li>
<li>Algebra II Honors: B/B-</li>
<li>World History AP: B/B-</li>
<li>English II: B+</li>
<li>Spanish II: B-</li>
<li>Computer Science: A/B+</li>
<li>Concert Band: A+ (counted as half of a course)</li>
<li>PSAT - 184 (without prior preparation)</li>
<li>PLAN - 22 (without prior preparation)</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<ul>
<li>Elected Executive Council Secretary (Highest Student Council Position Available to a Sophomore; Planning to run for Executive Council Vice President next year)</li>
<li>Elected Tenth Grade Class Council Officer (served until elected Executive Council Secretary)</li>
<li>Member of the Cross Country team</li>
<li>Member of the Swim team</li>
<li>Member of the Tennis team</li>
<li>Weekly Volunteer at the Children's Section of a local library</li>
<li>Performed in the Fall and Spring Drama Productions</li>
<li>Member of the Set Construction/Technical Crews for the Fall and Spring Drama Productions </li>
<li>Member of a Church Youth Group </li>
<li>Founding Member of a Junior State of America chapter (Appointed to the position of Chapter Secretary & Director of Debate for next year)</li>
<li>Appointed to lead the chapter at the JSA Spring State Conference</li>
<li>Model United Nations delegate</li>
<li>Wrote and Acted for two different short plays in the Instant Drama Festival (less than 24 hours to write lines and less than 12 hours to learn lines)</li>
<li>Staff Writer for the School Newspaper</li>
<li>Staff Writer for the School Literary Magazine</li>
<li>Member of the Community Service Board </li>
<li>Member of the Future Business Leaders of America chapter </li>
<li>Founding Officer of the 30 Hour Famine Chapter </li>
<li>Member of the Chess Club </li>
<li>Host at School Open Houses and School Orientation</li>
<li>Vice President of the Sports Writing Club</li>
</ul>

<p>Summer Plans </p>

<ul>
<li>Teen Leadership Summer Volunteer at a hospital</li>
<li>Mission Trip in Nicaragua for one week during the summer</li>
<li>(Hopefully) Attending the Junior State of America Northeast Institute on Leadership and National Security at Princeton University in the summer</li>
<li>(Hopefully) Attending the National Student Leadership Conference in Law & Advocacy or Intelligence & National Security</li>
<li>Attending the U.S. Naval Academy Swim Camp</li>
</ul>

<p>My overall goal is to enter the U.S. Navy as an Officer after graduation, serve for a few years, then transition to the U.S. Navy Reserve and attend a top law school.</p>

<p>Thank you for your time.</p>

2

<p>Are you asking for Northwestern’s Law School or Northwestern undergrad?</p>

3

<p>Undergrad.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA is currently WAY too low.</p>

5

<p>Not at all. Your GPA is far too low. A competitive GPA would be 3.8+ which is already too late for you. Your EC’s are generic laundry lists. Find few EC’s to truly shine at and show leadership and passion.</p>

<p>*Can’t believe you posted this at pretty much every single top college.
Bottom line, no, you’re not on a track to Northwestern or any other top school.</p>

6

<p>Your ECs and such are good, but you have to start getting straight As in order to improve that GPA. Also, do really well on SATs and SAT IIs, hopefully that will lighten your bad GPA a bit… :/</p>

7

<p>If you got straight As and a high ACT score, you still have a chance. I got into NU with a C freshman year but had far better grades than you.</p>

8

<p>Unfortunately, your grades are far too low to be competitive or even be on track for Northwestern. If it’s any consolation, even students with a 3.9+ (unweighted) GPA and a 32 ACT are now on the low end of the admissibility scale. 4.0+ and 34+ students are routinely denied or waitlisted. I definitely don’t envy you for having to apply at a time when the odds have gotten crazily low. In fact, I’m not even sure I would’ve gotten into Northwestern this time around, despite that just 5 years ago, I got into Yale and Columbia. The admissions process has simply become far too unpredictable.</p>

<p>The only exception I could think of is if you attend Andover, starting making straight As from now on in the most difficult courses, have your counselors and teachers write glowing recs about you, and on top of those things, you also apply Early Decision.</p>