Hey all. I’m 16 White Male from a suburb of Chicago (not in chicago). I have never put effort into my classes or schooling but now that I have matured more and now am a Junior in High School I have enrolled in more challenging classes and I really want to get into a college that I doubt I can get in to. I don’t really know where to start, but Freshman and Sophomore year of HS I wasn’t the best in classes and had a couple C’s each year. Mainly B’s and A’s though. This year is when things started turning around. I wish I could redo those first two years and take more harder classes and put more work into my grades. I have shown a lot of improvement since the past 2 years. I took no honors or AP classes FR/SO years, this year I am in 2 honors classes and my GPA is currently 3.0430 for my entire high school “career”. I hate it. Everytime I look at it I get sick because I know Northwestern won’t accept that. I really want to boost my GPA. Is it possible to boost it to at least 3.5? I am willing to take classes over the summer and take AP and Honors classes next year as well if that would matter for college apps.
I got a 22 on the Practice ACT last year, (when I was a slacker. I think I didn’t even do the Lit part fully). I plan on taking the SAT and the ACT this year. I will have a personal 1 on 1 tutor for both tests because I need to do well on these tests, it’s make or break for me.
EC: I am in Boy Scouts and should have my eagle scout sometime this year or next year. I know eagle scout is big, will it be what gets me into northwestern? I feel embarrassed even posting this because I can imagine how much I am going to be shot down by people responding to this.
I want to go to school for Computer Engineering or some sort of computer science degree. I love computers and tech. I want to go to a school somewhere in the city or near the city. I don’t need a scholarship, my dad is a Lawyer and he can pay for my education thankfully. (He’s a pretty well known lawyer, will that help me get into northwestern??)
Thanks so much!! Northwestern is really my only option. I have a dream to go to school in Chicago, downtown ( or Evanston, it’s in the area) I only want to go to school IN State in illinois where I live. I can’t really go out of state. I can’t leave my family. This is why Northwestern is my only option because it’s the BEST school in Chicago/chicagoland area. I’ve been considering DePaul but they have little to no engineering department.
I’m going to go back and note to some of the things you mentioned.
First off, what do you mean by all of this:
“also, do something that will make you STAND OUT. instead of focusing on your GPA and trying to take summer classes, try to get accepted into a research program in computer science, or a free (!!! free is important, it shows colleges that you worked hard and got in, not that you have the money to pay for a sophisticated program. dont bother with programs you have to pay for) program/study in computer science. look up these programs in your area, im sure you will find something.”
It’s very confusing to me. Research programs? Free? What?
Is it possible for me to get my GPA up? Keep in mind I haven’t talked to my counseler yet (high school counsler) so I don’t know too much. We apply in the springtime. Am I allowed to apply to colleges senior year? I am taking 2 honors classes this year and next SEMESTER this year I will be taking only 1 as the first 1 I took was an elective. I want to take more honors classes over the summer, and I can try to convince my counseler to let me take some more honors classes and a single AP course.I have one in mind… AP Comp Sci.
Next question I have is what are subject tests? You said to take subject tests for the 4 classes I’m in? I’m in 7 classes. I don’t understand this:
SAT subject tests, especially since you haven’t taken too many AP courses. Choose the most important 4 classes (especially if they pertain to your major) which you mentioned you got C’s and B’s in, and take subject tests in those areas. STUDY like crazy for your subject tests.
And for extra curriculars.
EC in school just isn’t an option. I go to the 21st best high school in Illinois. I really am not bragging, I only say that to tell you that getting a position in student council is near impossible. I do want to try getting a job or internship in computer science locally, but where do I start? I live near a few computer stores, actually pretty close to CDW which is a massive computer part warehouse. I don’t think I could get an internship there. Maybe over the summer, but then wouldn’t it be too late cuz college apps are this year?
I can get on and talk more later I gotta go to bed though.
Geez that’s so much. I don’t even know if it’s all worth it… But I want to get in there so I’ll try and do some stuff. I’ll take an internship over the summer and I’ll do some volunteer hours over the summer as well to try to get some more. Would an internship be better or would a job be better? (for computer related stuff)
I don’t think I can take those classes you suggested, it seems like too much work and I doubt I will get in.
Where do I take subject tests? Also, I’m terrible at physics. currently it’s my worst grade… 78%.
We have a computer science club that I will try to join, but like I said Idk. There’s so much stuff to do to get into this college and I don’t know if I can do it all mentally. It’s a lot of work that I’ve never done. This may be normal for people like you to do all this work but keep in mind. I was a slacker until this year. This is all new to me.
I will consider everything you said. Thank you so much. I thought that I could just use my Eagle Scout to carry me but I think I’ll consider those other colleges. I’ve just never heard good things about UofI Chicago or Uof CHicago. Are those good schools? And is depaul a good school?
Northeastern IS in Chicago, near Pulaski and Bryn Mawr on the North Side. Northern Illinois University is not (it’s in DeKalb); you may be conflating them.
Could you afford NU or U of C if you somehow were to get in?
My father is a well known lawyer in the chicago land area. I really don’t mean to brag when I say this but he has a separate fund that he started for my college since I was a baby so I am good on cost for pretty much most colleges in the state.
The main thing I look at when determining a college is the top 10 in the state. I know it sounds stupid but I just feel embarrassed kinda that it’s not on a top 10 list of best colleges in state.
@cooledwhip so when you say instate remember private college and state college are two different price tags. You may feel different about leaving when you are applying - visit schools close and far. Don’t let the distance discourage you. Keep your options open. You’ll see on the threads lots of amazing students get rejected from NW. It’s not the end of the world. Also as a college student being near the city is not as big of a deal as you think it is.
If you want to stay in Chicago and do engineering, I would look at UIC, IIT, and Loyola. However, UIC and IIT are stronger in engingeering and cheaper tuition. Plus, UIC is in a cool area.
Loyola does not have engineering themselves. They have cooperative programs with Illinois Tech and other engineering schools though.
If you really want Computer Engineering and to be close to Chicago, then Illinois Tech and UIC are your options outside of Northwestern, which as everyone has mentioned, is highly selective and will be a high reach for you. If you want Computer Science instead, there are many more options in the city, including University of Chicago, Loyola University, DePaul University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Roosevelt University. Leaving out university of Chicago, which is as selective or more than Northwestern, the strongest ones are definitely IIT, UIC, Loyola and DePaul.