chance me: Northwestern admit class of 2024?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

Hi everyone!

I’m a rising senior and I have my heart set on Northwestern for ED this fall. I know that applying to any highly selective college is a crapshoot for everyone, but I’m curious to see if any of you have any insights into what Northwestern (or any colleges, for that matter) might see in my profile and maybe what you’d estimate my shot to be. And feel free to suggest any colleges you might think I’d like based on this info!
Thank you so much!

Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Intended major: History or political science, possible double major or minor in creative writing

GPA: 4.65 weighted / 3.9 unweighted
SAT: 1540 (790 r/w, 750 m), plan to take 3 subject tests in June and August (Literature, US History, Math II)
Top public high school in Rocky Mountain state, very competitive
IB Diploma candidate / all AP classes when IB is not always available

Predicted recs: 7-8/10 (maybe? I can’t read my teachers’ minds haha)
Predicted essay: 9/10 (I absolutely love writing and spent my childhood in Africa for my dad’s job, so I have a few unique stories to tell)

  • I'm likely going to send an arts supplement for other schools if I don't get into Northwestern (I know NU doesn't accept arts supplements). More on that next to jazz choir.

Main EC’s: ( ** indicates leadership role)

  • ** (10, 11, 12) National Honor Society - Leadership Team (treasurer) in 12th. My school's chapter is pretty big and has authority over student council, honor council, and quite a few other leadership organizations, so being appointed to the leadership team is pretty big and requires a lot of work outside of school. Some of the projects I created/organized with NHS are included as separate EC's as well because of the time and effort they required. ?> (also a member of French Honor Society, but the club is kind of a joke and I might not include this on my common app).> Being on NHS LT also includes being a part of Honor Council and a school-wide leadership council
  • ** (10, 11, 12) Speech and Debate. Team captain junior/senior year, placed top 6 at state two years in a row, double qualified to Nationals this year (will be competing in a few weeks) in speech/interpretation events.
  • (9, 10, 11, 12) Musical theater. Every year of high school, I've been a cast member (both lead and ensemble roles) in my school's musical theater productions. Freshman year, I was also part of a very intense independent theater company, which was a great experience but prevented me from doing a lot of other EC's, so I transitioned to my school's program in order to be involved with other things as well.
  • ** (10, 11, 12) Nonprofit organization that promotes mental health in middle and high schools - Leadership Team in 11th, 12th. As a volunteer member, I travel to other schools in the district as well as community fundraisers and give interactive presentations on suicide prevention and the risks, warning signs, etc. of depression. My leadership team responsibilities include running meetings, managing social media, organizing fundraisers, applying for grants, etc.
  • ** (11, 12) Created, organized, and hosted an off-brand TED-Talk event with presentations given by my school's students for the community on issues and topics they are passionate about, where all admissions proceeds were donated to a local charity (we raised a pretty substantial amount of money)
  • (11, 12) Jazz choir. In addition to being in traditional choir for four years, I also sang in two of the country's top high school jazz choirs at my school junior and senior year (we frequently perform at state and national conferences, etc.). This is pretty rare for anyone doing the IB Diploma at my school and I think it might set me apart. I also had to give up a lunch period second semester junior year to fit this in, so the dedication is pretty apparent haha. Because I want to emphasize this part of my application and the fact that I'd love to continue singing in college, I think I'm going to send in a recording of my solo performance from our solo night concert as an arts supplement for other schools in case Northwestern doesn't work out (NU doesn't accept supplementary materials).
  • (10) Co-taught a 7th grade English class at the middle school next door through a program at my high school, but I'm putting it in EC's because it required a ton of work outside of school. Through my experience with speech and debate, I developed and taught a new 7th grade debate curriculum and also taught other miscellaneous lessons. It was an amazing experience and might ask for a letter of rec from the teacher, who I also had for two years in middle school and knows me really well.
  • ** (9, 10, 11, 12) Coordinated and managed a library program for NHS where high school volunteers are paired with an elementary schooler and work on reading skills and mentorship. Volunteer 'big pal' 9, 10; coordinator 11, 12.
  • (9, 10, 12) JV tennis team

Awards and honors:

  • Placed 7th nationally at the National History Day competition in Washington DC (essentially science fair for history projects) in a performance category (after getting 2nd at state)
  • 4th, 6th at state speech and debate sophomore and junior year
  • Qualified to debate Nationals. Will be competing in a few weeks so I'll update how I do afterwards
  • I'm also very into creative writing and have won awards at a few big regional and national competitions:
  • Scholastic
  • Women on Writing
  • Polyphony Lit (pretty competitive publication) I'm waiting to hear back about a few submissions too so we'll see how that goes ?

Summer internships/work:

  • (11) Paid internship with state university history professor this summer, helping her with her book's bibliography and editing
  • (9, 10, 11) Volunteer camp councilor at an educational summer camp for elementary school kids. I assisted the instructors in teaching lessons and entertained/played games with campers in their free time.
  • (11, 12) Job at ice cream store

I’m also very interested in the environment (took AP Environmental) and might be starting an internship with a local nonprofit to pass legislation to save bee populations.

Okay, there we go! Yikes, I’m sorry that was so long but hopefully you get an idea of what my app’s going to look like.

Thank you so much for any imput/advice!

2

Nobody can actually calculate your chances exactly. You are competitive, but for every kid as competitive as you who are accepted, 3 or 4 are rejected. So your chance is likely higher than the 10% acceptance rate, but low enough that you are still much more likely to be rejected than to be accepted.

As for alternative colleges, you need to give a better idea as to what you are looking for in a college.

3

FWIW, I think you sound like a good match for NU. Their quarter system makes double majoring easier and there is a vibrant music scene, not only at Beinen.

Good luck and also have target and safety schools on your list that you are equally excited about and that your family can afford.

4

So that all of you have your facts straight, NU’s admit rate for Class of 2023 was 8.8%, below Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth. (The world has changed - the 8 Ivies are simply not the “Top 8” schools anymore.) That said, I still think you’ve got a pretty good shot. Be sure to spend a lot of time on the “Why Northwestern” essay. Very important. Best of luck.

5

@DWM1967 just so you have the facts correct Brown’s total acceptance rate for 2023 was 6.6% and 4.8% regular decision. Also when referencing rankings you should include the following…

WSJ
1 Harvard
2 MIT
3 Yale
4 Columbia
5 Caltech
6 Stanford
7 Brown
7 Duke
9 Princeton
10 Penn

Forbes
1 Harvard
2) Yale
3) Stanford
4) MIT
5) Princeton
6) Caltech
7) Penn
8) Brown
9) Dartmouth
10) Duke

Not suggesting Northwestern isn’t in the same league…it is. Just hate to see that conclusion reached based on hyperbole, “rank shopping”, and erroneous info.

6

Upon further review and for the sake of accuracy, NU’s 2023 acceptance rate was 8.9% (not 8.8% as @DWM1967 states) and had risen from last years 8.5% per NU press release…

https://dailynorthwestern.com/2019/04/03/campus/northwestern-acceptance-rate-rises-for-first-time-in-10-years/

Here are the admit rates for all schools below 20% except Stanford and Vandy who don’t publish…

Once again @DWM1967 you are incorrect as both Dartmouth and Brown are lower then NU

Harvard REA + RD: 1,950 out of 43,330 (4.5%)
Columbia ED + RD: ~2,171 out of 42,569 (~5.1%)
Princeton SCEA + RD: 1,895 out of 32,804 (5.8%)
Yale SCEA + RD: 2,178 out of 36,843 (5.9%)
UChicago ED + EA + RD (5.9%)
Brown ED+RD: 2,553 out of 38,674 (6.6%)
MIT EA + RD: 1410 out of 21,312 (6.6%)
Duke ED + RD: 3,064 out of 41,613 (7.4%)
Penn ED + RD: 3,345 out of 44,960 (7.4%)
Dartmouth ED + RD: 1,876 out of 23,650 (7.9%)
Rice ED + RD: 2,364 out of 27,084 (8.7%)
Swarthmore ED1 + ED2 + RD: 995 out of 11,400+ (8.7%)
Northwestern: 40,579 applicants (8.9%)
Bowdoin ED1 + ED2 + RD: ~831 out of 9,332 (~8.9%)
Johns Hopkins ED+RD: 2,950 out of 32,231 (9.2%),
Colby ED1 + ED2 + RD: 1,295 out of 13,584 (9.5%)
Cornell ED + RD: 5,183 out of >49,000 (~10.6%)
Amherst ED + RD: 1,144 out of 10,567 (10.8%)
USC: 7400 out of 67,000 (11%)
Barnard ED + RD: ~1,053 out of 9,319 (~11.3%)
Williams College ED+RD 1205 out of 9,715 (12.4%)
Tulane EA+ ED1+ED2+RD: ~5,400 out of 41,365 (~13%)
Pitzer ED1 + ED2: 532 out of ~4,409 (~13.2%)
Harvey Mudd ED1 + ED2 + RD: (13.4%)
WashU ED1 + ED2 + RD: ~3,556 out of ~25,400 (~14%)
Tufts: 22766 applicants (14.6%)
Emory (Decatur) ED1 + ED2 + RD: 4512 out of 30,017 (15%)
Notre Dame: 3,410 out of 22,220 (15.3%)
Wesleyan: 2.114 out of 13,358 (15.8%)
Middlebury ED1+ED2 +RD: 1,547 out of 9,750 (15.9%)
NYU ED1+ED2+RD: 12,307 out of ~85,000 (~16% overall, 14.4% NY Campus)
Hamilton ED1 + ED2 + RD: ~1,334 out of 8,338 (16%)
Haverford ED1+ED2+RD: 801 out of 4,968 (16.1%)
Washington and Lee - 1,115 out of 6,178 (18.0%)
BU EA+ ED1+ED2+RD: ~11,260 out of 62,210 (~18.1%)
Georgia Tech EA+RD: 6940 out of 36936 (18.8%)
Emory (Oxford) - 3432 out of ~18,000 (19%)
Wellesley ED1+ED2+RD: ~1,298 out of 6,488 (20%)

Also as long as we are looking at National ranking services Niche is as follows:

1 MIT
2 Stanford
3 Harvard
4 Yale
5 Princeton
6 Penn
7 Columbia
8 Duke
9 Brown
10 Caltech
14 Northwestern

Just making sure we are including the entire picture and being accurate @DWM1967.

7

Based on your interest in creative writing, you might like colleges with particularly notable literary aspects:

https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/

http://flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america

8

Funny, Nocreativity1 seems to be quoting the rankings of every publication which ranks colleges and universities . . . except from the source that college applicants actually use, which is US News. And so again, the US News Rankings are:

  1. Princeton
  2. Harvard
  3. Tie - Columbia, MIT, Chicago, Yale
  4. Stanford
  5. Tie - Duke, Penn
  6. Tie - Northwestern, Hopkins
  7. Tie - Caltech, Dartmouth
  8. Tie - Vanderbilt, Brown
  9. Tie - Cornell, Rice

So again, I stand by my statement. The world has changed. The 8 Ivies are still fantastic choices, but they simply not the “Top 8” anymore. Northwestern and JHU have taken share, and are now ranked ahead of 3 of the Ivies.

9

Funny DWM1967 has only been able to be factually correct when quoting the one ranking that validates his position. Why do you feel the need to misrepresent NUs position or stats in every other post? Do you at least acknowlege the numbers you quoted are wrong?

Beyond USNWR do you have anything to support your theory of NU dominance over Ivies? Are any of my numbers wrong that have provided across other national surveys silica as WSJ, Forbes, Niche, admission stats etc…?

Here are some more numbers…,

Cross admit data for NU versus a variety of peers per Parchment. I will list the peer followed by the % that choose not to attend NW. As an example Harvard 72% vs 28% NU

Harvard 72
Stanford 75
Yale 72
Princeton 81
Brown 64
Dartmouth 64
Columbia 56
Cornell 53
MIT 69
Duke 76
Penn 74
U Chicago 70

So when students had a real world opportunity to choose between NU and all Ivy extended schools a majority in each and every cas choose the alternative to NU

Here are some further peer school’s to NU

Notre Dame 59
Georgetown 50
JHU 26
Vanderbilt 32
Rice 42
Williams 62
Amherst 55
Swarthmore 60

Based on these numbers NU fairs well versus JHU, Vandy, and Rice but lags behind top LACs, and ND and is a peer to Gtown.

While some of the sample sizes may be small the results are fairly consistent.

10

@DWM1967 “The world has changed. The 8 Ivies are still fantastic choices, but they simply not the “Top 8” anymore. Northwestern and JHU have taken share, and are now ranked ahead of 3 of the Ivies.” Not exactly…

Forbes annual survey ranks Northwestern a very reputable #17 (behind all of the Ivies, Gtown, U Chicago, Duke, Stanford, MIT, etc… but ahead of JHU AT #22).

https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/#32bf24381987

11

@Nocreativity1 DWM wasn’t saying NU was dominant. The point was just that quite a few non-Ivy schools are as good as Ivies. Niche ranking does have NU above Cornell and Dartmouth, for example. NU is gonna be higher in some and lower in others vs the “lower Ivies”.

Forbes ranking takes alum salary into consideration which penalizes schools with many grads in journalism, performing arts, music, and education like Northwestern (1/3 of the student body are in those programs for which NU is considered among the top in the nation). These field don’t make you rich but they enrich us.

12

OP: I think that you are a very strong candidate for admission to Northwestern University. Important to apply ED & important to include specific reasons as to why NU.

I do not understand the other poster’s hostility toward NU.

13

@IWannaHelp I agree that Northwestern is an outstanding school but DWM was saying a lot of things such as…

“Not sure why you would put USC and Michigan in the same league as Northwestern. Northwestern is ranked #10, ahead of 3 of the Ivies. USC is #22. Michigan is #27. Fine universities, don’t get me wrong, but not the same tier as Northwestern.”

He also repeatedly said things like “get your facts straight” and then quoted incorrect facts.

He also tried so conflate NU with HYP, Chicago and Stanford in the following…

“Northwestern, Chicago, Stanford and Vandy have all taken share against the Ivies and are now either Ivy League equivalents, or equivalent to HYP.”

So he was suggesting NU was “dominant” based on inaccurate stats.

My point was to just provide the OP with a most recent survey absent the hyperbole. OP appears to be a great candidate that will have numerous opportunities. No need for a pro NU poster to modify or manipulate stats or facts. Not “hostile” but factually correct.

14

Your scores and grades look fabulous. Not sure how your extracurriculars stack up, but one thing did stand out to me in reading your post: multiple spelling and grammar errors. Make sure you use spellcheck, and then have two sets of eyes check your application/essays/etc for errors. I know many incredibly smart and successful people who are not great with grammar, and two who are truly dreadful spellers, and they are all extraordinarily successful in their chosen fields. That being said, NU is going to want to see that you (a writer) pay attention to this. Disclaimer: I’m a Medill grad from the 80s.

15

@Nocreativity1 Actually regarding that quote, I read that differently. I don’t think DWM was coflating NU with Stanford/HYP. I think DWM was saying Stanford/Chicago/Vandy/NU as a group is comparable to Ivy (perhaps in his/her mind, Stanford is HYP equivalent while NU/Vandy is comparable to say, Cornell/Dartmouth).

I have a lot of respect for UMich and I think it’s in the same league as NU though the two are so different that it’s hard to compare. I don’t see anything wrong in thinking USC isn’t in the same league, just like it’s not in the same league as Brown. The gap between NU and Chicago has traditionally been smaller than the gap between NU and USC (by gap, I mean gap in measures like test scores, USN college/dept rankings and world rankings, etc). If it’s ok for you to think Chicago is above NU, I’d think you should be ok with DWM putting NU above USC.

16

Seriously people, rankings are popularity and wealth competitions, and, on top of all of that, are not at all helpful for the OP. If the OP is accepted to NU, she will have the exact same level education that she will have at Harvard, Princeton, Rice, Vanderbilt, U Michigan, UIUC, OSU, Wisconsin, UCLA, etc. A different education, with different emphases and different social interaction, but she will graduate from each with the education she needs to work, go to grad school, etc.

The only important things for the OP about NU are whether she wants to attend it because she feels that it’s a good fit, and the fact that the acceptance rate is less than 10%, making it more likely than not that she will not be accepted. Whether one poster or another believe that it is better or worse than UPenn is entirely irrelevant not only for the OP, but for almost every other college-bound student out there.

17

@IWannaHelp I am entirely ok with anyone having any opinion they believe and expressing it publicly. I am not ok with people misstating facts in an authoritative tone to support their opinion that may mislead the uninformed reader. DWM stated the following:

"So that all of you have your facts straight, NU’s admit rate for Class of 2023 was 8.8%, below Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth. (The world has changed - the 8 Ivies are simply not the “Top 8” schools anymore.) " post#3.

In fact Northwesterns acceptance rate was 8.9% (not 8.8%) which is higher (not lower) than Brown’s 6.6% and Dartmouth’s 7.9%. 3 of 4 assertions made by DMW in this statement are demonstrably false. I had PM’d DMW to allow him to self correct the error (which was repeated in several threads) and got no response beyond continued assertions of NUs “dominance”.

Once again I think NU is an outstanding school that can stand on its own factually correct credentials and needs no embellishment to impress. OP would in fact receive a world class education (comparable to all top peer schools) at NU but should make decisions based on accurate information not agenda driven hyperbole.