Do I have a shot at Northwestern?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>Hi, I'm applying to NU RD, and was wondering if I had a chance at Northwestern. I was deferred from Duke so I'm having second thoughts about my competitiveness, but I was close to ED'ing Northwestern actually. </p>

<p>GPA: 3.86 unweighted, 4.34 weighted
SAT: 2290 (740 CR, 750M, 800W)
SAT II: 780 Math II, 730 World History
Rank: top-16% (I'm really worried about this)
most rigorous courseload, senior year I'm taking 6 AP classes, (8 AP tests)
AP tests: 5's in World History, Psychology, Lang, Calc AB, 4 in US History and 3 in Physics B</p>

<p>Important EC's:
-award winning amateur sportswriter covering the Seattle Mariners for a large website, my work has appeared on sites like USA Today and Foxsports.
-co-founder, president/captain of chess team, team placed 6th at state. Individually, top-15 rated player in my grade in the state. Started a program to help with an elementary school chess club, and private chess coach.
-very involved with a homeless shelter in Seattle, reach out to the homeless on the streets of Seattle, also my commonapp essay topic
-President of Astronomy club, VP of Key Club, Senior Class officer
-DECA- I got top-5 in two categories at state last year (double qualifying for nationals), including 4th of 70 competitors in Sports & Entertainment marketing. More awards to come this year.
-Paid marketing intern at Microsoft working 15 hrs/wk this year, very selective program (20 get hired from >250 applicants)
Decent essays and recs, I think. My counselor knows me well and is trying to do what he can for me because of my low rank. </p>

<p>How much does not being in the top-10% of my class hurt me?</p>

2

<p>I think you look like a competitive applicant. I don’t really know about rank as our school doesn’t rank. It sounds like you are at a competitive high school as well. I think you would likely have gotten in ED but really, who knows these days. You definitely should apply.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Calmama, I question whether Duke was the best use of ED but it was my top school at the time, and I hope that if I had gotten into NU ED they’d take me just the same in RD. Our school is definitely competitive, top-50 Newsweek/US News ranking type. Part of the low ranking is that I didn’t know to play the “class rank game”. Anyways, I found something that I thought was interesting regarding NU and rank:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4555391-post1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4555391-post1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>My friend got in with a 27 ACT, so I think you have a great chance. Good luck!</p>