<p>The more I read about Northwestern the more obvious it becomes to me that it will be my first choice school. So, my stats by college admissions time will be: </p>
<p>Rank: Salutatorian
UW: 3.75 (Shooting for a 3.8)
W: 5.0
SAT: 2190 CR 740 M 760 W 690
ACT: 33
In running for National Merit (probably end up commended)
National Hispanic Recognition Scholar
PSAT: 209
Most difficult course load (15 APs out of 17 offered)
Freshman Year: Not allowed to take AP, All Honors Classes
Sophomore Year: Honors and AP Art History: 3 AP Human Geo: 4 AP Psych: 4
Junior Year: AP Euro (Probably 3), AP English Lang (Probably 5), AP Calc AB (Probably 4), AP Environmental (Probably 4), AP Statistics (Probably 4), AP US (Probably 5)
Senior Year (Will be): AP Gov, AP Micro Economics, AP Physics B, AP Bio, AP English Lit, AP Calc BC
Dual Enrollment throughout Sophomore, Junior and Senior Years (Enough credits for AA) </p>
<p>EC (Sorta Weak):
SGA Treasurer 11th, 12th (Not allowed to be Pres of other clubs--time consuming)
National Science Honor Society Treasurer 10th, 11th, 12th
National English Honor Society Historian 10th, 11th, 12th
Other unimportant clubs (ie. Volunteering with Key Club)</p>
<p>Over 600 Volunteers hours since 9th volunteering with children--tutoring, daycare </p>
<p>My essays will be strong I imagine and creative as I truly feel passionate about Northwestern and think it will show well. </p>
<p>Considering applying ED. Should I?
Reach? or Match? (likely reach I'm sure, just curious)</p>
<p>Blue:</p>
<p>We all have the same data – be it that published by USN&WR, any of the college guides, the Common Data Set (which you can google), etc.</p>
<p>Clearly, most of the students that NW accepts have stats that are in your range. So, I guess you’re a ‘match’ for a school with a 20% acceptance rate, and that claims to have rejected more than 3000 students with SATs above 1500 (we all assume this means the two part SAT, i.e.,CR and M). So this also means that many students with your stats also get rejected.</p>
<p>So here’s the question – what do you think your chances are and why? It looks to me like your class rank is a bit higher than average (though 3.75 looks a bit low for salutorian in most places) , and you suggest your ECs are weak. Otherwise nothing jumps out. What else should we know about you to give an opinion that is meaningful?</p>
<p>FWIW – most people think that ED is perhaps a bit easier to gain admission than RD. So if NU is absolutely positively your first choice, it’s probably worth it to go that route. Otherwise, don’t panic and apply anywhere ED, ‘just because’. With your stats, if you take the process seriously and responsibly (i.e., include a couple of semi-safe or safe schools and put the effort into their apps), you will likely get multiple admissions offers at fine schools. You’ll very likely get into NU or a peer school, though this is not a guarantee. If you’re willing to drop down a level or two from NU, you can probably find merit scholarships at a number of places. </p>
<p>I don’t think anyone can say more than this, but if you share about yourself, and what makes you special (or what your weaknesses are), we can share your thoughts.</p>
<p>Thank you!
And I don’t really know what would be considered special…
I’m from a family of no college grads. I’m hispanic. I’m not really sure what I’d need that would make me stand out… Other than my ability to write essays. 
To explain salutatorian, my school has 150 kids, and is nothing close to competitive, along with ranking being calculated based on weighted gpa, and not unweighted at all. So it really was never too difficult to get to that spot.
Wow 3000 kids is so many, there acceptance rate has dropped quite a bit. I guess it really will depend on how well I can make myself stand out…</p>
<p>Being Hispanic and first-generation to go to college should be definitely be a hook. (sorry, I read your stats quickly and it was late last night, so I missed this). My guess (and I’m not in admissions, so it’s only a guess) you’d probably be admitted to NU.</p>
<p>The only disadvantage to ED for you (and please forgive me if I’m being presumptuous) is that you can’t shop around financial aid packages. </p>
<p>Wherever you go, I’m sure it will be an excellent school. First to go to college is something for you and your entire family to be very proud of.</p>
<p>Being an URM is worth about 400 SAT points, you’ll be fine, don’t fret. I’ve seen a hispanic person with better than average ECs get into Harvard with a 1950 and another URM with an 1860, mediocre ECs and a ton of service hours get into Cornell. You’ll most likely be fine…(:</p>
<p>Really being first generation and hispanic is that good!?
Well thank god i have that going for me 
I REALLY want to be at Northwestern.
And exactly how does the Financial Aid thing work when applying ED Zephyr15?</p>
<p>You posted: “UW: 3.75 (Shooting for a 3.8)
W: 5.0”</p>
<p>How does that work? What am I missing? All As would be 4.0 UW and 5.0 W, right? So, how do you get a 5.0 W, but only a 3.75 UW?</p>
<p>Other than that your stats and ECs look top-notch.</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly what you mean, but I had a bit of a bad spell at the beginning of sophomore that I got a good number of B’s. Overall though my grades have been mostly A’s, and since most are dual enrollment or AP they weigh heavily into my weighted gpa, if youre wondering why tahts so high.
and thank you! :)</p>
<p>Oh and also, weighted gpa is on a 6.0 scale so a 5.0 isnt the BEST i can possibly get. But by next year around admissions time (including the straight A’s I’ve got this year) my UW will probably be a 3.8, which is why I say such :)</p>
<p>bluesmiles – </p>
<p>If you apply ED, you agree to go there if you get in. NU will calculate your aid package based on your financial circumstance. Virtually every school claims that you get the same package whether ED or RD (and this is probably true with respect to need based scholarship).</p>
<p>However, schools have different formulae for calculating need-based financial aid. Some places may offer you more than NU and some less. So, if maximum need-based financial aid is a must, an ED student really doesn’t know if s/he is getting the most money offered.</p>
<p>This is a problem with ED, it favors students who have financial means to make up for a disappointing package. I believe that if NU’s package really doesn’t make it financially feasible for you to come there, they will let you out of your ED commitment, but doing this is REALLY frowned upon.</p>
<p>One more point – I AM NOT saying that NU’s financial aid isn’t fair in meeting demonstrated need as compared with other schools. Just pointing out that different schools offer different packages.</p>
<p>Ohh I understand.
And now I get the presumptuous thing, but no worries.
I would think so too, but no financing college will probably not be much of an issue thank gosh!
Thank you so much for you input too by the way you know so much :3</p>
<p>Your GPA and your AP scores(not sure if they care about the scores in the admissions process though) are weak for Northwestern, but everything else looks good. I’d say you have a pretty good chance, but you’re not a shoe-in.</p>