Chance an ED applicant?

<p>me:
- caucasian male attending prestigious private school in CT
- no financial aid necessary
- junior year (class of '13)</p>

<p>gpa:
3.6 (89.75%) UW. i know it's really low. bad freshman first semester.
frosh year: spanish 2h (b-, a); algebra 2h (b-, b+); history (b, b+); english (b-, a-); biology (b-, a); band (a-, a-).
sophomore year: spanish 3h (a-, a); english (a-, a); history (a, a-); chem (a+, a-); geo/trig (a-, a-); choir (a, a-).</p>

<p>(frosh and soph year, only more rigorous classes i could've taken were: ap modern euro- <em>may</em> take senior year, honors bio, honors chem, honors geo/trig)</p>

<p>junior year: ap envi sci, ap us history-- <em>MAY</em> drop. i know it's bad to drop it but i'm not sleeping as much as i should be..., honors english, pre-calculus, honors spanish 4, choir, international relations.
senior year: ap spanish, ap english, fundamentals of calc & ap stats, poetry fiction & playwriting, global thesis seminar, physics, chamber choir.</p>

<p>high honors society both semesters sophomore year and second semester freshman year.</p>

<p>headmaster's list (contributes most to overall classroom learning environment) both semesters sophomore year.</p>

<p>inducted into foreign language honors society at the end of sophomore year.</p>

<p>class rank:
no idea, school doesn't release ranks. probably top 12% at least. (top 20% usually get into 'good' schools).</p>

<p>SAT's (based on predictions... but pretend like they're real, because tey'll be something like the real one (which i'm taking in january). i WILL be retaking in may and october.):
720 CR
700 M
750 W</p>

<p>would like to major in business and minor or double major in creative writing.</p>

<p>extra curriculars (in order of importance):</p>

<ul>
<li><p>founded literary magazine at beginning of sophomore year that donates proceeds to organization that works to alleviate child labor in third world countries; remain founder and editor-in-chief; expanding project to include around 20 associate staff editors.</p></li>
<li><p>runner-up for 2011 elizabeth bishop prize in verse sponsored by the blue pencil online- attended their inaugural ceremony to read work; they published my poem</p></li>
<li><p>2011 scholastic art & writing awards- gold key for five poems</p></li>
<li><p>editor of high school literary magazine starting junior year (earliest you can do it); staff member sophomore year.</p></li>
<li><p>writing in over 115 independently-owned publications (some are extremely selective); featured on my school's website, being featured in school's annual report magazine this year</p></li>
<li><p>will graduate high school with concentration in global studies (will have taken global service trip, up to 4h of language (spanish), will have analyzed current global issue and written thesis about it (senior year seminar).</p></li>
<li><p>leadership position in global education community service club at my high school starting junior year.</p></li>
<li><p>bass/bairtone in all-male a cappella group at high school starting sophomore year; won 3rd place in all-state a cappella championship sophomore year.</p></li>
<li><p>played piano in young musician's festival (competitive musician program in march every year) freshman year-- intermediate 10/10 stars.</p></li>
<li><p>model un- travelled to georgetown's naimun conference sophomore year, will again junior year.</p></li>
<li><p>attended middlebury's new england young writers conference as a sophomore (meant for juniors)</p></li>
<li><p>stanford epgy sophomore summer (studied creative writing intensively, three weeks; no college credit)</p></li>
<li><p>volunteer camp counselor freshman summer- took care of autistic child for six weeks</p></li>
<li><p>member of columbia university's student film actors pool (act in student films there)</p></li>
<li><p>in-depth research of cuban poetry scene sophomore spring (they are silenced due to cuban rule; wrote up short thesis/report about it complete with interviews and analyzed data, in spanish)</p></li>
<li><p>two improv groups (will lead both senior year)</p></li>
<li><p>perform songs often at coffeehouses and school performances</p></li>
<li><p>played piano in band freshman year; sing in choir sophomore year through to senior year.</p></li>
<li><p>photography in dickinson college's foreign language magazine.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>essays and teacher/counselor rec's will be great.</p>

<p>i also know somebody on the board of northwestern that may be willing to help me (he probably will, i've known him for a really long time). would this increase my chances?</p>

<p>i really love northwestern, i think i may apply ED because i've heard it's a lot easier to get in ED... and the reality is, brown and dartmouth (my other favorites) even at the ED level are probably too large of reaches.</p>

<p>thanks for your opinions in advance :).</p>

<p>Unless you are enamored with the Ivy League mystique, Brown and Dartmouth (while both great schools) have nothing on NU. Your chances are decent, and I wish you luck!</p>

<p>Only thought – NU doesn’t have a business major (thought it does have a certificate program with Kellogg)</p>

<p>“Only thought – NU doesn’t have a business major (thought it does have a certificate program with Kellogg)”</p>

<p>Right, I would major in econ and then (perhaps get the certificate?) take creative writing classes, as well as theater classes.</p>

<p>“Unless you are enamored with the Ivy League mystique, Brown and Dartmouth (while both great schools) have nothing on NU. Your chances are decent, and I wish you luck!”</p>

<p>Oh really? I’ve read that they’re more difficult to get into, haha. Although all three, of course, are top-tier and challenging in their own right to get into.</p>

<p>Also, how negatively would dropping AP US History affect my chances of admission? How much emphasis does NU admissions place on AP’s/rigor? I would hope that my dropping the class would at least be a little bit justified by my healthy range of EC’s (as I am VERY busy with both of the literary magazines that I edit, keeping up my other grades, and I have actually just received a leadership position in my a cappella group as well)</p>

<p>Rigor of curriculum is a major consideration at all of the most competitive schools.</p>

<p>Regarding difficulty of admission: I didn’t say that Brown and Dartmouth (both of which are smaller than NU) don’t have lower admit rates; they do. I meant that as great academic institutions, the three are pretty equal. It’s a matter of personal preference.</p>

<p>Right, of course, thanks for your clarification. I knew dropping the AP would hurt my chances, I was just wondering if it could make or break my application.</p>

<p>As you mention, your GPA is a touch low. So, will adding one negative no matter how small be make or break? Who knows.</p>

<p>I guess the question is what is the upside to dropping APUSH? </p>

<p>(I know you have a lot going on, both academically, and EC, but so do most students).</p>