Do I have a chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

<p>I applied to the UMN in the middle of October (had to retake ACT on sept. 21 ) and I still haven't heard back from them. I applied to CSE(biomedical engineering) as my first major and CBS(biochemistry) as my second major. Now I know that this may have been a mistake. I should have applied to CLA as my second. I am really worried that I wont get accepted to the U which is really killing me inside. Here are my stats:
G.P.A: 3.67 W Didn't do the best junior year, but in tri 3 i got 4 A's, 1 A-, and 1 B
(Tri 1 senior year: 2 A, 4 A-)
Class Rank: Top 11% 51/435
Class course load: By graduation I will have taken 9 AP and honors courses.(Also, I am enrolled in Principles of Engineering, a Project Lead the Way course)
Test Score: ACT score of 26 composite Its bad, I know)
English: 28
Math: 27
Reading: 23
Science: 25
Extracurricular activities: (Haven't had much time because I was taking care of my brother after school)
-Orchestra(Freshmen and sophomore year)
-Tennis(sophomore year)
Volunteer Work:
I have done service for Feed My Starving Children. Only 16 hours.
Work Experience:
I have worked at burger king all of Junior year, so 7 or 6 months. I am currently looking for a job.</p>

<p>Current Schedule Senior Year:
Tri 1:
English 12
Effective Study
AP Calculus
High Performance Physics
Principles of Engineering
Positive Leadership</p>

<p>Tri 2:
Gov't and Citizenship
English 12
AP Calculus
High Performance Physics
Principles of Engineering
AP Microeconomics </p>

<p>Tri 3:
Sociology
English 12
AP Calculus
Intro to Business
Principles of Engineering
High Performance Physics</p>

<p>A little Bio:
I am a African American male who lives in Minnesota. I attend an average school. I live in a single parent household in a family of 4(Me, brother, mom, and grandmother.) We do not get child support from our father. I do qualify for Free lunch at school. My brother has ADHD. I also might have it(although I am not sure of the symptoms) because lately I have a had a hard time concentrating on my school work. I had another brother who died of leukemia when I was around 5 or 6.(Recently, my moms bank account was emptied by the credit card company because she used that card a decade ago to pay for my brother who died's treatment)</p>

<p>So, is there any chance that I could still be accepted?</p>

2

<p>I feel that you do have a good chance. I just got accepted and saw who got accepted/reject at my school.</p>

<p>Try to do some community service. I received a personalized letter of acceptance. In my letter the admissions person wrote about how he was impressed by my community service. I also got a scholarship, which I feel was due to my community service.</p>

<p>So my advice would be to keep them updated on your community service. Something that can take only 2 weeks to do and looks great is organizing a Comfort Object Drive (blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, etc…) and donating it to a shelter. I did one last year and printed out handouts with the shelter’s name, my name, my address, and list of objects I was collecting. I went around my neighborhood and gave them to people. I was really surprised by the amount of donations. This is something quick and easy you can do but that has meaning.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>Just from a quick look, I think the ACT is going to be a killer, given that the 25th percentile for admitted students last year was a 30, and it’s only going up given that they got a ton more applications this year than they did last year. Your GPA is a bit low, although Northeastern has a formula that they use which gives honors and AP’s more weight, so that might help you. Also, I don’t know how the admissions office will view your family circumstances and if it will give you a boost(Won’t hurt you, that’s for sure). </p>

<p>I’d say it’s a pretty big reach, but not impossible. I don’t know if it’s too late to retake the ACT, but if it isn’t, I’d do that, if you can get that 26 up to a 28 or 29, that would help you a lot. Good luck and hope to see you in Boston!</p>