Extenuating Circumstances
I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in November. I have been battling severe symptoms since my sophomore year, which caused me to do poorly academically since my GI tract was inflamed severely. I am now medicated and in remission, but my condition negatively affected my academic performance. I used my position in school medical awareness clubs to raise awareness for my illness and show growth.
Academics
GPA (UW/W): 92.2 UW / 97.5 W
Rank (or percentile): N/A
Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.:
All honors
18 APs by the end of Senior Year + 3 DE
Senior Year Course Load:
Chamber Orchestra
Calc II/Calc III
AP Physics C
AP CSA
AP Literature
AP Econ
APEH
Standardized Testing
SAT: 1520 Superscore → 780 M / 740 V
AP/IB: Only reporting One 5 and 4
Extracurriculars/Activities
Founder & Voter Drive Liason/Gov. Contact of Election Awareness NPO
Head Scriptwriter & Fundraiser Organizer for Social Media Group
Years: 10, 11, 12
11 hr/wk, 26 wk/yr
Reach 200k followers on social media. Organized MENA Disaster Relief raising $5k. Write intl. news scripts, short films & humanitarian issues.
HS Orchestra Concertmaster & Program President, State Youth Orchestra
Years: 9, 10, 11, 12
10 hr/wk, 42 wk/yr
Play at highest level for state orchestra for 5 years. Manage ~150 students. Prepare orchestras for state evals through sectionals. Tutor students with 1-on-1 lessons.
Paid Intern & Organizer for Voting Rights Organization
Years: 11, 12
10 hr/wk, 26 wk/yr
Support policy advocacy through statewide community organizing. Organize local candidate forums and voter drives. Interview voices on politics.
President/General Secretariat and Head Coach for Model United Nations
Years: 9, 10, 11, 12
5 hr/wk, 10 wk/yr
Manage state conference for 100 participants. Teach members public speaking/research techniques. Create workshops on policymaking/political analysis.
Speaker of the House & County Party Chairman for Boys State
Years: 11
96 hr/wk, 1 wk/yr
Learned caucusing/agenda-setting. Managed proceedings & maintained order. Wrote & had five bills enacted. Won public speaking contest.
Editor-in-Chief/Digital Media Director/Columnist for School Magazine
Years: 11, 12
8 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr
Host magazine podcast (1k+ followers) on students’ lives. Report local news, student council & club news to the student body weekly. Write editorials.
VP/Local Charities Liaison for School Amnesty International Chapter
Years: 9, 10, 11, 12
6 hr/wk, 36 wk/yr
Plan school events supporting causes: refugee rights & sexual abuse awareness. Organize charity drives: collected ~350 books & 950 pantry goods.
VP & Head Coach for Events for FBLA
Years: 9, 10, 11, 12
5 hr/wk, 36 wk/yr
Teach simulated stock markets to ~40 students. Fundraised ~$3k. Invite & organize business leader talks. Prepare members for events.
LORs
Internship Advisor: Shared LOR with me. A little generic but focused heavily on community since that is what our entire internship covered. Went into depth on my impact on the community and my voter registration efforts. 7/10
AP Lit/Seminar Teacher: Dedicated every MUN and Debate award to her at all my conferences and tournaments. Had her my junior and senior year. Talked about my research in her class with lobbying and food corporations harming public health. Guessing she focused on those two EC’s and my love for politics. Very good relationship overall. 8/10
AP CSA/CSP Teacher: Shared LOR with me. Talked about my illness and my resilience through it all. Also discussed my love for learning and how I never shied from expanding my knowledge and it adds to my passion for an interdisciplinary environment. 9/10
Counselor: Relationship is not as extensive but I meet with her and talk to her more than her average student. She talked about my overall school activities and clubs, but I am assuming it will be somewhat generic. 5.5/10
Essay
Talked about a shirt I was gifted my sophomore year and how it formed my relationship with politics, taking me out of my apolitical household and into the forefront of policymaking and elections, shifting my relationship with my dad and bringing politics not only into my household, but also my community. 8.5/10 since my target school gave me a scholarship for it. specifically.
You have an impressive profile! 18 APs is no small feat. The 92.2 GPA does concern me. That could mean a lot of different things. How many B grades did you earn? What kind of classes were they in? Your activities are good.
I’m quite surprised that a school magazine podcast has 1k+ followers. How big is this school?
How nice of you to dedicate your wins to your AP English teacher. My DD’s friend did something similar after her wins in Science Olympiad with her AP Biology teacher and I thought that was so sweet.
It is great that you got a scholarship from your target school. I wasn’t aware many target-type schools had even released decisions yet. You have a shot at Northwestern, and that legacy will be a good boost!
You have persevered through a tough thing, and I hope you get at least one of your reaches. I would not say it is a sure thing, but with proper explanation of your circumstances I could see you getting into at least one of the T10 LACs (assuming you applied to the top 10).
Thank you for your feedback!
Based on our semester system: 39 A’s + 14 B’s + 1 C
The one C was during my first semester of AP Biology. Most of the B’s were from AP classes during my sophomore year. I’ve had an upward trend since, which I am hoping will work in my favor on top of my course rigor.
Oh wow. That is a lot more Bs than I thought. Not sure what to think. 3 or 4— fine. 6 or 7— yikes. 14? The rest of the application certainly needs to shine.
Would a 3.72 disadvantage me quite a bit? I applied social policy, which is NU’s smallest school (SESP), and I have heard that NU values EC’s, specifically community-related activities, quite a lot, more than other T20. I am taking it with a grain of salt, of course.
Honestly, a 3.72 is on the low side for Northwestern. The other question I have is why you have taken many AP classes but are only reporting 2 scores. Schools may question that (or not, of course. as I know it isn’t required).
As much as possible with such low acceptance rates, you stand a decent chance for SESP bc your profile matches what they’re looking for + ED+ legacy. The concern may be many AP classes, including Bs, and no score. Everything else is solid but of course it only means your odds are 1 in 10 rather than 1 in 20.
You’ve applied - no matter what I say or anyone says on here - you’ll know soon enough. i can’t answer you - only NU can.
You’ve certainly excelled outside the classroom - and hopefully your counselor noted your illness and struggle.
Not sure why you took such a rigorous schedule (beyond any norm) and not sure why you got a 5 and 4 and nothing else high - that will send a red flag unfortunately.
If you would be totally happy attending your safety target school, then this list is fine. Northwestern and T10 LACs will all be high reaches, and, while you certainly have a chance to be admitted to one or more of them, there is equally the chance that you wouldn’t be accepted at any of them. Those schools all reject many many very qualified, high stats applicants, all with great ECs, rec letters, etc. So, fast forward to the future (next May) and imagine not getting into any of the reach schools, and having only the safety/target school as your one admission. Would you feel fine/good about that, or would you, in retrospect, have wished that you’d applied to more target and low reaches to give yourself additional options? Right now, you have plenty of time to add in some applications to some additional schools. I would recommend doing that - it just costs you some time (and money) but will give you options in the event Northwestern and the other T10 reaches don’t work out.
Not sure why you’d want to attend GT since you got into one of the top IA programs in the country
It’s a bit like getting into GTech for CS and wondering whether you’ll get into UGA for that major.
GT has unrestricted major change for first-year students. I would want to switch to their Industrial Engineering program with a concentration in Economics and Finance since that is a good pipeline for consulting. I always wanted to end up doing consulting or going pre-law.
I am gearing more towards management consulting, and NU is a target school for that and GT has a good pipeline for consulting firms through their Industrial Engineering program, which I would switch into granted I was accepted.
