Chance me, Low GPA, High SAT, Special circumstances ED 2020

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

Please chance me!

Country - USA
Gender - Male
Race - Asian
Location - CA

GPA - UW: 3.5 Weighted: 3.81 as of Junior year end
SAT - 2270(CR 760/M 740/W 770)
SAT Subject Tests - USH: 770 (Will retake it), Bio E: 750, U.S History: 690(ugh… may retake)
AP Scores: AP Lang - 4, Bio - 5, Comp Sci - 3, APUSH - 4, AP Spanish - 4, AP Psych -4(yeah… lot of 4s. Even averages out to a 4)
AP Classes I took so far - Bio, Spanish, Honors US History(essentially AP), AP Lang
Classes I will take Senior year - AP Lit, APES, AP Stats, AP Gov(but 2nd semester), Oral interp, TA

Extracurriculars - Co founder of the investment club, paid freelance writer for financial blog, writer in Op-Eds in Asian newspaper, Treasurer in 2 clubs, Golf 3 years JV, started community service organization helping old people

Work Experience - 2 internships at a wealth management company and a real estate company, one paid, one not

Planned major - Gender/sexuality(lol jk. This interests me but obviously I need a job, so finance/business/econ)

Recommendation letters - I think it’ll be 9/10 for my chem teacher, 6-7/10 for the other.

Languages - English (1st language), Chinese, Spanish(4 on AP test, a bit worse than my Chinese skill)

So here are my special circumstances that could get me out of the hole I’m in with my GPA. My dad essentially got framed for a business deal gone wrong in China and was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. I haven’t had contact with him since I was 6. His sister proceeded to steal all of the money he accumulated as a businessman, so my mother had to go and try and win the money back. I had to help as well, and this took a lot of time from my studies. Thankfully, we hit a major breakthrough, and my responsibilities have dropped considerably. I’m thinking of mentioning this in the additional information section, and trying to win some points back, because this took a major portion of my time, and hampered my abilities to focus on my studies significantly. I will be writing this in my essay as well. Preliminary feedback has said it’s pretty good so far.

Secondly, because I suddenly have a bunch of free time, I’m taking online courses to help boost my GPA. They are not on my school transcript, but there are 2 semesters worth of As there. Also, if you factor in my projected* grades for 1st semester senior year, I have a 4.0 W and 3.6 UW.

So chance me? I will chance back if requested!

2

I can’t really chance you, especially with special circumstances like that. I will say that NU seems to like weird stories, so that might work just fine. Your GPA really isn’t that bad and you have a year to pull it up. Your tests are good, and so are your ECs.

One note though. Double majoring is easy at Northwestern so don’t be dissuaded from pursuing Econ and Gender Studies. We do not have finance or business, but our Econ department has great placement into those fields.

3

Just because I don’t know how Northwestern will view the special circ, it’s really hard to tell. You should definitely go ED that is by far a better chance for you. Maybe as it is right now, 25-45%. Really depends on how they view it. If it were me, I’d put you closer to the 45-50 range. Chance back?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1798119-chance-northwestern.html#latest

4

@jsweets17 I’d say you need to retake the SAT and then you’d be match, 55-65% chance.

5

@Howardyuan what about the 640 where I stand right now? Is that alone enough to reject me? I have lots of journalism related experience, a rec from a Pulitzer Prize winner, and no Bs in mostly APs and honors… Just curious for your thoughts

6

Do not retake the SAT. That would be a waste of energy and money. I think your special circumstance should be the focus of your essay and show how it affected you. Connect each problem that was encountered to your own life. Unless it had a direct impact on your HS academics, I don’t think it should be included in your additional info section.

7

I would say keep your special circumstances quiet. You have really good chances already. That may just seem irrelevant and unnecessary… http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1809306-chance-me-for-early-decision.html#latest