Complicated Chance Me? Northeastern

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

Black, Female, 2020, applied EA, did not check the NU.in box, Private school

GPA: 3.3 unweighted - my school doesn’t do weighted and we also don’t have a class rank

Explanation for low GPA: My freshman year I got a bad concussion and didn’t tell anyone for the first month so it progressively got worse so I struggled in school until I told teachers doctors and stuff you know the gist…so my freshman year GPA is low because of the prolonged recovery I had. However, from sophomore year onwards I’ve had a 3.5+ and my counselor indicated this in my school profile/rec). Also, it’s important to mention that I go to a very difficult and demanding school, it is in the top 20 private schools in the nation. Students with 3.9-4.0 are few and far between and usually, colleges that are familiar with my school are aware of this through due to the rec provided school profile. This is why I don’t know what my chances are because Northeastern emphasizes scores/gpa but given the context that I provided I cannot tell where I stand since it’s a bit of a niche. Usually, this inquiry would be solved with my school’s Naviance graph but, there isn’t enough data sets available so the scattergram doesn’t show up. Also, not many students from my school applied, I think 3/4 at the max, including myself.

ACT: 30 (33 English, 33 Reading, 28 Math, 26 Science…yes, I am aware science is low), can’t retake ACT and I’m a bad tester anyway

AP’s: AP Chem, AP Spanish Lit, AP Comp Sci, AP Bio, AP Calc AB

Hooks: I applied with for/with a double major in computer science/political science which is a unique combination. Minority women in STEM fields and diversity are also hooks but I don’t know how much Northeastern cares about that.

Recs: I know for sure my recs were very good due to the close relationships I have with the teachers that wrote them

Essays: My common app was good. NEU doesn’t require any supplemental essay questions so there really wasn’t anywhere else I could showcase myself.

EC’s: I do have sort of a consistent theme with my EC’s, most if not all are related to compsci, or polysci, my two main interests

  1. Dancer (Classical Ballet, Modern, Contemporary), 17+ hours a week, 9-12th grade
  2. Highly Selective 4-week political summer program 2019
  3. Political Club at my school 10-12th
  4. ModelUN, attended Vamun, Ilmunc 11-12th
  5. Volunteer work with an underserved bilingual school 60+ hours, 10-12th
  6. Cyberpatriots 12
  7. Tutor at my school 10-12, tutor in chem and Spanish
  8. Science Olympiad 10-12
  9. Black student Union 9-12

I know I included a lot of information, but it’s because I really have no idea what my chances are. There are strong aspects of my application (Essays, recs, EC’s, challenging coursework, minority(?)) but then there are my crappy test scores and grades, as you can see it seems like the good and the bad balance each other out. Allegedly, Northeastern cares a lot about grades/scores so I’m lowkey assuming they’ll prioritize that and I’ll be rejected, but I would love some feedback and opinions. I really want to get in, and I find out soon, but I don’t want to get my hopes up or anything so if you see this post please give feedback.

2

NEU is probably a reach because they do care a lot about stats. You’re strong in ECs and you seem like a good writer. It’ll probably come down to whether or not they can overlook/accept your freshman year struggles.

3

I don’t think anyone here can tell you much beyond “it could go either way,” which you already know. It’s too bad that NU has moved their EA notification so late; I guess when they were notifying EA and ED applicants in December, it wasn’t incentivizing enough people to apply ED.

Do you have matches and safeties that you’d be happy to attend?

You might like the Data Analytics program at Denison; it combines CS and Data Science classes with a concentration of the student’s choice which can be poli sci - and the school is strong in both of these subjects. The dance department offers a major and a minor, and hosts many visiting choreographers and dance companies. And Denison meets need, if that’s a criterion for you. Their RD deadline is 1/15.

Not trying to signal pessimism about NU with the suggestion - it’s just always important to have good matches and safeties, and I don’t think anyone can predict how NU will weigh all the different factors. Good luck!

4

Good luck! Based on the accepted student profiles posted last year, you have a chance. My kids attend/ed a competitive high school without ranking and I would guess that was taken into account when my son applied EA last year.