Chances of getting in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

This is my top choice school. My SAT is about 30th percentile so I know it might be a bit of a reach but I’d love to hear other people’s opinions. I applied regular decision as a first-year undergrad with an undecided major in the communications college.

Personal profile: white, non-immigrant, lower middle class, both parents attended college but did not complete degrees from a 4 year institution but i don’t think that makes me first gen

GPA: 3.91 weighted/unweighted not reported 4.0 scale. 4.18 GPA last semester, my gpa was brought down significantly due to taking a high-school level language course in 8th grade and getting a C the first semester. this was explained in the additional info section in a non-whiny way, stating i brought it up in the subsequent semester and scored much better in french II.
class rank not reported
SAT 1320
ACT didn’t take

4 AP courses, 2 hs early admit college courses. part of 2 clubs relating to my major, student newspaper, 2 honor societies (French and national). 250+ community service hours at my underfunded local library, junior orchestra and ensemble, script supervision for local indie movie, and peer/K-5 assistance and tutoring. also do various committees such as prom committee.

awards/leadership/honors: junior orchestra member distinction and section leader, NHS and French NHS, honor roll.

I go to a statewide cyber-charter school so my high school experience is much different than other more competitive high schools. clubs and activities (with the exception of national honor society and student gov which was an affordability issue for me) do not have leadership positions and the local high school is exclusionary of homeschool or cyberschool applicants.

my letters of recommendation were hopefully good, i did not see them but i got 2 from english teachers who liked me and vice versa, 1 from my exceptionally nice counselor and 1 from the head librarian at my library who i have a fantastic working relationship with.

I am relieved at least that I did the best I could with the resources available to me but again, I would appreciate some feedback.

Thank you so much.

2

@ACollegeHopeful3 There are websites with calculators that will chance you based on your stats. While they are really not to be relied on, they do give you an idea of where your stats alone fall in a school’s typical admitted student profile. Your SAT unfortunately really drags down your chances at a school like Northeastern because they have been so stat obsessed(lots of articles written) as a way of climbing the rankings. Your GPA is good, but your courseload is not rigorous enough to overcome the SAT score. There are other equally good colleges out there that will accept you because your overall application is pretty good, I just think you might have a tough time getting into Northeastern.

3

@EDHDAD thank you for your feedback. i also applied to emerson, boston university, penn state (Accepted university park), pitt, duquesne, and carnegie mellon. i figured northeastern and carnegie mellon would be reaches for me since i did not do any better on my december SAT. i used niche to calculate it and it said I was doing better than about 65% of applicants overall and 91% of rejected students and the scatterplot put me smack in the middle of accepted students, so i guess i will just have to wait and see. i was hoping asking could ease my anxiety, haha.

4

If it’s your first choice choice why not do EDII?

5

i looked around and i got a lot of conflicting opinions on whether or not it was really gonna increase my chances, and financial aid is a big problem for me so i did not want to accept a school before comparing aid packages. @maby56

6

@ACollegeHopeful3

As far as easing your anxiety, I’ll tell you the same thing I told my son: You have applied to a bunch of great schools and if you don’t fall in love with any single one of them then I’m sure you will end up happy and with some great choices.

7

i toured northeastern, BU and Emerson and absolutely adored all of them, i guess i just have to wait and see. you’re one of the nicest people to reply so far on my posts so thank you! @EDHDAD

8

I got in with ed and needed a TON of aid, I got nearly nothing so you’re smart to hold off. My family will try to make it work regardless but NEU does not have a reputation of being especially generous with aid.

9

@maby56 i’m really sorry to hear that. i calculated my net price using the collegeboard and it said i should get major aid based on need if i get in. my family’s income is less than 60k, no assets. i don’t work.

10

I’m in the exact same boat, literally everything. But yeah don’t get your hopes up for good aid. I’m fortunate my family has alternatives for being able to pay off the tuition but obviously I don’t know your situation.

11

@maby56 yeah i dont have many alternatives, i applied based on the net cost estimate i got that said i would get nearly all aid thru school grant. i guess i will wait and see what happens, i applied to about 6 other schools as well so heres hoping.

12

Best of luck, NEU is certainly a wonderful school so you could say the extra cost is worth it, but if your heart is set for NEU like mine was, talk with your parents to see what you can do if the offer is less than what you expected. Also, don’t trust their calculator. Gave us 15k and their offer expects us to pay 35-40. Hopefully that helps you prepare for what might come.

13

@maby56 thanks for your help, maybe i’ll see you fall of 18!

14

No worries. Keep me posted!

15

@maby56 do you mind if i ask what your stats were as far as the SAT and gpa?

16

32 act, 3.7 weighted. I go to a top 100 public school and I have taken 5 aps. I’m doing something in music so I’m sure that boosted my case.

17

Thank you so much. Yeah it likely did, I participated in music activities but I’m not going for it. Your SAT equivalent is higher than mine too. Anyway, thanks for replying and I’m sure i’ll be in this thread again if I get accepted!

18

Niche is not an effective way to look at your chances. Those statistics are the REPORTED stats by the students. There are so many errors that could be involved in that. People could report incorrect stats, incorrect decisions and it’s not a representative sample of the entire applicant pool. Would not recommend.

19

@ab2002 it might be more helpful to me if you recommended sites you thought accurately represented school stats and chances then. are there any?

20

Most colleges publish their CDS on their websites @ACollegeHopeful3. That’s a good resource to refer to and see where you stand.
https://www.google.com/search?q=northeastern+cds