Chance me for a chance back? Northwestern

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I will be applying ED Northwestern, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD, USC, U of M, WashU, Cornell, BU, BC, UIUC, Tufts, and NYU. I really want to know if there is any chance of me getting into NU.
Hooks:
Lived alone since 7th grade, Mom survived breast cancer, lived in Saudi Arabia for 5 years, rural low-income public school

Stats:
GPA: 3.47 UW
ACT: 34 C (33 E, 35 M, 33 R, 33 S)
NEW SAT: 1420
PSAT: 1460 (730 E+W, 730 M)
SAT II: Chem- 780, Math IIC - 740

Course Load:
Junior - AP Language & Composition, AP Chemistry, APUSH, IB Math HL, IB Spanish SL
Senior - AP Lit, DC Biology, AP Gov, AP 3D Design, IB Math HL year 2, IB Spanish SL year 2
Also took AP Enviro & AP Bio independent study

Sports:
Varsity Swimming: 2 years (state champions both years)
JV Lacrosse 1 year
JV Golf 1 year
Extracurriculars:
Band (Trumpet) 4 years - first chair in highest band
MUN - 4 years
Debate - 3 years
Community Service Club (VP) - 2 years
Culture Club (VP) - 2 years
Volunteer at local thrift store - 2 years
Volunteer at local food bank - 2 years
Ceramics Club 2 years
Scholar Bowl - 2 years
Musical (pit) - 1 year
Research Paper with college - 1 year
Leadership:
VP of 2 clubs
1st Chair in Band (section leader)

Internships:
Children’s Gym 2 years (summer)

Awards and Certificates:
National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test 2016: Semi-finalist
AP Scholar Award 2016
College Art Day Artistic Excellence 1st Place/Best in show (out of over 700 students & 37 schools)
2nd Place in the Problem Solving Event at the 2016 Math Olympiad
Community College Art Day 2016: Honorable Mention in Digital Photography
Community College Art Day 2016: 3rd Place Team Clay Competition
Chemathon 2016: 8th Place (out of over 500)
Trumpet Solo Spring 2016: Division II Rating
Interscholastic Forensics Association Novice State Debate Tournament 2015: 13th Place
Trumpet Solo Winter 2015: Division II Rating
Baritone Solo Winter 2015: Division II Rating
PADI Open Water Diving Certificate 2014
Global Leadership Program for Youth 2013: Outstanding Innovation Award
Heartsaver CPR Certificate 2013

Strengths:
I do a lot of art visual and performing and I have a really unique persona. I have moved around a lot and my GPA is really low because I was at a really rigorous boarding school and then moved. The current public school I am at now is in the middle of nowhere and extremely low income. I also have decent extracurriculars. GPA has a really good upward trend though - from 3.3 in fresh/soph to a 3.9 junior/senior

Weaknesses:
Weak AP scores, GPA, Asian, moved schools in the middle of junior year

What do you think?

2

I think you have a solid chance, especially for ED! Your many activities, good scores and difficult past circumstances shape you up pretty well! Chance back? :slight_smile:

3

I think you have a pretty solid chance as well! You have scores that are in/close to their range, a unique past and strong extracurricular resume. Why is being Asian a weakness? I’m Chinese and I’ve been told it is a strength in college applications. Chance me back?

4

You need more safeties and matches. Because of your gpa I wouldnt consider any except for 1 maybe 2 to be a safety/match… You have great extracurriculars and scores, but those are standard for top schools. I dont see anything that particularly stands out or any type of theme in your application. Please please at matches/safeties. Are you instate for UC’s or U of M?

5

@woshigusta I just think being Asian is a weakness because there are more of us, we are held at a higher standard, and we have to work harder to stand out. I used to live in California and like 80% was Asian and all of them were good at everything. Your region or district may not be high in Asian population, and my current area has like 0 asians, but I know from past experiences that there is way too much competition.

6

@Eva12344 What would you say are safeties for me? My current organization is:
Safety: UCSD, BU, UC Irvine, and UIUC
Match: NYU, BC, U of M
Reach: NU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, WashU, Cornell, Tufts
would you agree with this? I feel like having around 7 reach/match schools is safe enough? Let me know what you think!

7

What state are you in?

8

@Eva12344 I am in Missouri currently. I just moved from a prestigious boarding school that was a feed school to U of M and my FAFSA is California. Idk if this info matters but I think I might qualify for in state in CA? not sure.

9

I would not consider UCI and UCSD to be safeties if you are not instate. You should go compare your gpa with theirs uc gpa because it is very different from normal. NYU BC and U of M are not matches for you (not really for anyone except they insane highschoolers) they are low reaches best case scenario. I would consider BU UCI and UCSD to be matches. UIUC would be a high safety IMO.

10

oh gosh I was not even considering finances. If you are applying for financial aid that may make it a little bit more difficult. Have you run the NPC’S or EFC’S (I cant remember which one)?

11

I don’t think so ? I have no idea what you are talking about tbh

12

NPC is net price calculator, EFC is estimated family contribution.

I would agree that I only consider 1-2 of the schools on your list to be safeties. I think UCSD and UIUC could be considered safeties.

UCI and BU are definitely not safeties. U of M would be a low reach at best, and I would classify UCI, BU, NYU, BC as matches, although still on the reachier side rather than the safety side of matches.

13

“GPA: 3.47 UW”

This seems really low for Northwestern, UCB, UCSD, UCI and BC.

What is your Weighted GPA and UC GPA?

14

@londondad yeah i would say my GPA is the biggest thing holding me back :frowning: my previous school was a top 10 private school and was extremely rigorous. We had no honors classes because all classes were considered rigorous so I didn’t even get a good weight for my GPA from taking extremely hard classes. However, my grades in grades 11&12 have been 3.9-4.0 range and I have a decent ACT score. I think my weighted gpa is a bit over 3.7 and UC GPA is like 3.64