<p>transcript: i would be somewhat concerned about your gpa (3.84 uw by my calculation). if i were you i would not apply ed or ea--use your first semester to raise your gpa and perhaps also class rank, assuming you have one.</p>
<p>i'm also concerned about your science background. you look humanities-oriented, but i'm worried that you've taken no science except biology and no science at all in soph and junior years. remember that most colleges will have a science requirement (the exception obviously being the wild brown/amherst/smith open curriculum).</p>
<p>testing: how is your act breakdown? are certain sections bringing your composite down? if so, try the sat, assuming it's available where you live. i score about the same as you on the act but much better relative to that score on the sat. </p>
<p>also remember that northwestern strongly recommends three sat subject tests, so you do need one more. also, both of your subject tests are in humanities. while it's not required, i think you would do well to take a math or science sat ii </p>
<p>more important, on ec's:</p>
<p>ditto the above poster. it's important to keep in mind that even if you're good at your ec's in an absolute sense, offices won't necessarily be impressed by them if nothing really stands out. they're trying to build a campus community, and if your activities & awards are very similar to those other applicants have, you need to be extremely good at your ec's for them to swing in your favor.</p>
<p>music is a good example. i'm sure that probably 25-30% of the people applying to "ivy plus" schools each year have been seriously involved in music and won meaningful awards. but the offices at those institutions have more that 20,000 applications to read every year. unless (again, for example) your music awards are sweet enough that you would be breezing downtown from columbia to juilliard or harvard to berklee during admitted students weekend, they won't add much to your application.</p>
<p>the thrust of this is to be critical of your own ec's. do you have things which officers haven't seen literally six thousand of already? if not, it doesn't mean you'll never get in- you just need to work harder on your essays.</p>
<p>(a little tangential, i realize, but something i think should often be said when people ask for chances and just say their ec's are "good")</p>