Chances of Getting In?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

I’m currently a rising senior from Miami, FL and I really want to go the a school in Boston. I’m very picky about my schools and am applying to some very selective ones (including Northeastern). Actually, my top choice is Northeastern and Harvard. Harvard is a stretch obviously. I have good everything but a ehh SAT score. It’s not terrible but it’s not amazing.
Here is my info:

GPA: (unweighted) ~3.75
(Weighted) ~4.83
PSAT: 173
ACT: never took it
SAT: 1800 (combined). but I’m taking it again in October. My practice tests indicate I’ll get roughly between a 1850-1900

freshman year classes:
GEOGRAPHY HONORS: 98
BIOLOGY HONORS: 90
RELIGION 1 (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP RELIGION IN MY SCHOOL): 98
HEALTH (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP HEALTH IN MY SCHOOL): 95
PE: 100
ALGEBRA 1 HONORS: 88
SPANISH SPEAKERS 3: 92
ENGLISH 1 HONORS: 92
COMPUTER LITERACY (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP COMPUTER CLASS IN MY SCHOOL):96

sophomore year classes:
WORLD HISTORY HONORS: 88
CHEMISTRY HONORS: 86
RELIGION 2 (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP RELIGION IN MY SCHOOL): 95
ART 2-D (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP ART 2-D IN MY SCHOOL):100
GEOMETRY HONORS: 88
SPANISH SPEAKERS 4 HONORS: 92
ENGLISH 2 HONORS: 94
COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP COMPUTER CLASS IN MY SCHOOL):93

in my school, we can’t take AP classes until junior year unless you are an alpha (top scholars group).

junior year classes:
AP US HISTORY: 90 (got a 1 lol)
PHYSICS: 87
RELIGION 3 (THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP RELIGION IN MY SCHOOL): 98
PORTFOLIO HONORS:99
ALGEBRA 2 HONORS: 83
AP SPANISH LANGUAGE: 95 (got a 5)
AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE: 91 (got a 3)

senior year classes: (current)
AP ECONOMICS:
ANATOMY HONORS:
RELIGION 4(THERE IS NO HONORS OR AP RELIGION IN MY SCHOOL):
AP STUDIO ART:
PRECAL HONORS:
AP SPANISH LIT:
AP ENGLISH LIT:
AMERICAN GOV HONORS:

CLUBS:
National Honors Society
Science Honors Society
Spanish Honors Society
English Honors Society
Art Honors Society
Pre-med Club
Grace Club (works with kids with autism)
Student Ambassador

SPORTS:
Club (outside of school) Volleyball: end of freshman-whole sophomore year

AWARDS:
I have won awards in my city,state,and school such as:
city: mayors award, do the right thing award
state: president’s award
school: have won honor roll multiple times’

I have an community service project that has been recognized by the president of University of Miami and by the Mayor of my county. I have about 1385 community service hours and 99% sure I’m gonna be a candidate for silver knight.

I have been studying most summer for the SAT but I only have one more chance bc in December I’m doing a subject test. I’m gonna keep my old reading score of a 600 and I’m concentrating on raising my math score to a 690+ and my writing score to a 720+. I think I can do it because I’m very good at the writing section and math section.

-female
-hispanic
-parents didn’t go to college in USA so I guess I’m first generation
-14 year old sister
-Catholic (go to a catholic high school)

DREAM SCHOOLS: Harvard, John Hopkins, Tufts, Dartmouth, Tulane, Amherst, Notre Dame, Boston College
REALISTIC SCHOOLS: Boston University, University of Miami, University of North Carolina (Chapell Hill), Northeastern
BACK UP SCHOOLS: Florida International University, University of South Florida

Does anyone know if Northeastern will accept me with at least a 1850?
Also, anyone know any good websites with free SAT practice tests with explanations.
As you can see, I’m not a good test taker. I get nervous and tend to do average. I got everything else down though.

2

also,

-mom is Colombian
-dad is Bolivian
-mom went to Harvard for extension school
-cousin went to Cornell
-mom has friends who have helped me get to know ivy league life better
(connections in Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth)

3

alsoooo, (lol) I forgot to put that I’m interested in a Pre-med or medical sciences major

4

To be frank: I think all Ivy leagues are out of the question unless your mom has some SERIOUS strings, and your “dream” list too for that matter. For what it’s worth, UNC- Chapel Hill looks out of place with BU, NU, UMiami. It is incredibly difficult for OOS students as there is a mandate on a small percentage of OOS students. It is more difficult than BC at least, imo.

What’s impressive; rigor of classes, passion for community service; being hispanic will give you quite a boost (look into National Hispanic Scholar stuff?)

What’s not: really low SAT for the schools you’re interested in. It’s quite a bit below the 50th percentile for most of your “match” schools.

few EC’s other than community service- why did you quit volleyball? so many “Honor Societies” doesn’t look impressive to me nor do I think it will to an admissions officer, it just looks like resume padding.

your relatively high GPA with the low SAT & AP; makes me think your grades are ridiculously inflated. A 90 in APUSH should never result in a 1 on the AP test. The 3 on AP English doesn’t look great with a 91 average either, though it’s less of a red flag.

your science grades are typically your lowest of all, when you want to be pre-med.

So… personally, I see a lot of red flags. Maybe if your application was otherwise flawless, I could see a “dream school” forgiving your SAT but given all the other things on your application that doesn’t look like it’s happening. Did your parents go to college elsewhere? I don’t think that makes you first gen if so, though that would help a lot too. Try the ACT, you might be better at it instead.

5

the apush teacher was horrible, they fired him because this is the second year that most of his students get a 3 or lower (with only a handful getting 3’s). he didn’t teach us how to do DBQ’s until 2 weeks before the exam. He sucked and we all knew we were gonna fail. I quit volleyball bc it was getting expensive. Also, my dad lost his job last year? How would that help me with scholarships and financial aid? He has a job now but he lives in another city because of it and we have to pay for two houses now (my house here and his house in the other city).
My mom is a journalist and a writer and my dad is a computer engineer. They are immigrants so they grew up and went to college in their countries. I didn’t think that made me first generation but for NU apparently it does. idk why but they count someone whose parents didn’t go to college in the USA as 1st generation.

Thank you for your advice!! :slight_smile:

6

I forgot to put that I’m involved with a lot of art classes and I’m in the art honor society because I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a little kid. It’s my mine passion besides community service. And also, I took 8 years of Piano classes

7

Colleges to not want to read a list of excuses for less than stellar performance.

8

With a sub 2000 SAT and 3 and bellow APs, you are going to have a hard time getting into NE. They are very much stat driven, URM will get you only so far.

9

Welcome to Tulane class of 2020

10

I’m sorry. I’m just answering that persons questions. I don’t know how saying how my dad lost his job is considered complaining but ok. :-?

11

^^^You were complaining about your teacher. Never do that.

12

ivies are out of the question as well as UNC. You shouldn’t have too much difficulty getting into NEU especially since you are URM.

13

with a 1800?

14

@MrInformed ^^^^^

15

@ClarinetDad16 with a 1800?

16

Out of curiosity, how does one get a 1 on the APUSH test? Even if you had the worst teacher in the world, you could guess your way to a 2 or even a 3 with just basic knowledge.

17

Your scores are below the 25 percentile for all of your “meet” schools, AP scores are low and rigor of course is not that great. As much as schools would like to report how holistic their approach is, often GPA and SAT are more important since they (especially SAT) are standardized. Anything can happen but I would suggest applying for some schools you would be happy going to between your “meet” schools and “safety” schools. Good luck!